Granby Winter Garden Horticulture Commission Call for Applications Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust, in partnership with Bluecoat, seeks an artist or collective to work with the design team, Assemble and the local community to develop a horticultural work or series of works for Granby Winter Garden. We are particularly keen to hear from artists who actively engage with communities or public within their practice, or who can demonstrate an interest in planting and growing within their work. Applications are welcomed from artists and makers working in any discipline or art form, or at any stage in their career, except for those who are currently studying. The project will take place between May and October 2017. An Artist s Fee of 4500 and a production budget of 4000 is offered. Deadline for applications: 12 noon 3 rd May 2017. This commission is the first in a new programme of artists projects, commissions and residencies for Granby Winter Garden. This project is supported through public funding from Arts Council England, and a number of philanthropic trusts and foundations. 1
Artists Brief We wish to appoint an artist to devise and develop the planting scheme for the Winter Garden, in collaboration with our design team and local people, including That Bloomin Green Triangle a group of residents who have carried out extensive guerrilla gardening in the four streets over the past decade. There is the opportunity to propose further interventions into the Winter Garden space, or within the local neighbourhood, and to propose events, performances or workshops that accompany the making of the garden. The appointed artist will spend time researching and working with local people to shape an artistic vision for the planting of the garden. They will be able to draw on horticultural expertise from our supporters at University of Liverpool, Sefton Park Palm House and the Eden Project. Those who apply should be open to working collaboratively on the research, development and delivery of the project and accompanying activities. The artist will be supported in developing a proposal that reflects the needs of the site and community from Granby Arts Working Group (which includes artists, Community Land Trust Board Members and advisors, including Bluecoat). A freelance Curatorial Assistant is also currently being recruited to assist the delivery of the project. The artist will be provided with workspace on site in Granby and with guest access to facilities at Granby Workshop and Bluecoat (see Practicalities). Application and Selection Process We aim to keep the application process simple and straightforward and we do not require a detailed proposal at this stage. Your application should include: An introduction to your artistic practice. A brief response to this opportunity, describing what interests you about Granby and the Winter Garden, and your initial ideas and approaches to the project. Examples of works or projects that you feel represent your work and its relevance to the project. Please provide images and information in your document or as web links. Video work or documentation can be provided via a web link to Vimeo or Youtube) A current CV or biography. Please send this information as a single Word or PDF document no larger than 5 pages or 5MB in total. Artists will be shortlisted for interview on the basis of: relevance, quality and ambition of artistic practice and ideas their approach to the opportunity approach to community engagement and evidence of this in their work Applications should be addressed to Maria Brewster on granby@scottbrewster.co.uk. Please ensure that both your name and WINTER GARDEN appear in the subject line. 2
Selection Process Up to 4 artists will be invited for an informal interview on 16 th May in Granby. Those unable to travel may be interviewed via Skype. Reasonable UK travel expenses to attend will be reimbursed on the submission of receipts. The interview panel will consist of: Sufea Mohammed Noor, artist and CLT Board Member Michelle Peterkin- Walker, artist and CLT Board Member Eleanor Lee, local resident, community activist and CLT founder member Marie- Anne McQuay, Head of Programme, Bluecoat Site Visits We can offer site visits and guided walks around the area on Thursday 20 th between 12 noon and 7pm and Saturday 29 th April 2017 between 12noon and 3pm. Applicants are invited to join members of the local community for conversation and informal lunch at 1pm on either day. This is not a pre- requisite: travel expenses for site visits cannot be reimbursed. We kindly ask that artists do not make site visits outside these times. Please let us know if you plan to visit by contacting Maria Brewster on granby@scottbrewster.co.uk. About Granby and the Community Land Trust Granby Winter Garden is a key part of the Granby 4 Streets CLT long term plans to preserve and transform the area. The historic heart of Liverpool s black community, Granby L8, is a beautiful neighbourhood but one that until recently has been under threat of demolition. The centre of the Toxteth Riots in the 1980s, the area was left to managed decline, enduring decades of dereliction. The CLT and its projects have grown out of the community s long campaign to rebuild the area through collective activity - cleaning, greening, growing, painting - small actions carried out on a big scale - creating community- driven change. Combined with some original thinking, smart negotiating and surprising collaborations, a doomed area has become a place with a future. Granby 4 Streets CLT was established by local residents to rebuild Granby as a thriving multi- cultural place to live & work. We do this through projects that bring local people together with common purpose; and by developing community- owned assets by refurbishing housing stock that has been left empty for decades. Since 2013 we have worked with artist- architect collective Assemble on many projects, from the design of housing refurbishment, and the Winter Garden, through to Granby Workshop, a social enterprise creating design products from locally sourced materials, and the design of the Winter Garden. Supporting creativity & culture is at the core of everything that we do. The four streets - the only original Victorian housing left standing are now undergoing a major refurbishment programme by a mix of partners. As once- derelict houses are brought back into use, and new people move in, the Winter Garden project will support the cultural expression of all the communities who are, and will be, making up the new Granby. It will encourage, nurture and support the continued development of the neighbourhood as an artistic and creative hub, created by and for the L8 community. 3
About the Winter Garden The Winter Garden will embed arts practice into the re- building of Granby, creating a unique resource for community building, creativity, cultural production and exchange. The idea for the Winter Garden grew from, and creates an indoor home for, the work of That Blooming Green Triangle whose extensive planting of the streets and public spaces has transformed perceptions and experience of the area. At the heart of a residential street, two traditional Victorian 2- up 2- down terraced houses will be refurbished to create a surprising new space behind an otherwise unchanged domestic facade. One house will be a contemporary urban greenhouse with an elegant glazed roof, and planting to the whole height of the building from cellar to ceiling; with a potting shed and pond at the rear. The second house - linked by new openings through existing walls will provide rooms for community use and a residency space for creative production. This will be a place for neighbours to meet each other, to work and learn together, to host visitors and occasions. An intimate domestic space will be opened up for sociability, creativity and skill sharing. Supported by our new partnership with Bluecoat, the building will also house an ambitious artistic programme of residencies across many art forms, with a focus on projects that are useful to the local community; and will nurture and develop artists and cultural producers in L8, offering a springboard and platform for their work. The building project has been funded through Arts Council England s Small Capital programme, The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation, The Granada Foundation, P.H.Holt Foundation, the People s Health Trust, and The Veolia Environmental Trust. More information and plans can be seen here: www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk/granby- winter- garden. 4
Practicalities Up to 4 artists will be invited for a site visit and informal interview for which reasonable travel expenses within the UK and per diem will be provided. Fee: The successful applicant will receive a fee of 4500 to be paid in three equal installments at the beginning, midpoint and conclusion of the project. The fee is based on approximately 20-22 days working on the project. Production budget: To be managed by Arts Working Group, the production budget of 4000 includes any costs related to delivery of the project including planting, but also including workshop fees, associate artists, sub- contractor fees, materials or equipment, technical support, installation etc. There is the opportunity to work with Assemble and Granby Workshop on elements of interior specifications the costs of which are covered outside this budget. There is a larger budget available to complete the Winter Garden planting as a whole, and some elements are being gifted to the project, including a tree from Mountview Nursery, Dublin from Adrian O Carroll. Travel and per diem: 500 to cover travel to and from the site and around the local area; and towards per diem, will be provided. This will be paid direct to the artist for them to manage as required. Accommodation: We are flexible about the artist s arrangements for living/overnight accommodation. This will be provided locally and will be organised by the team in discussion with the artist. Studio/working space will be provided on site at Granby Workshop and a further shared studio space is available for use at the Bluecoat. Guest access to production facilities at Granby Workshop (Ceramics) and Bluecoat Print Studio will also be available. Additional budget and resources for marketing and documentation will be available. All budget figures stated above are inclusive of any VAT. Key Dates Site tours: 20 th & 29 th April 12 noon- 3pm Deadline for Applications: 12 noon 3 rd May Shortlisting: 9 th May Informal Interviews: 16 th May Artists informed of outcome: 19 th May Project begins: by 31 st May. The project should conclude by end October 2017. 5
Project Partners Granby Four Streets Community Land Trust is a community owned and run organisation working to create a thriving, vibrant mixed community in L8. www.granby4streetsclt.co.uk Bluecoat is Liverpool s Centre for Contemporary Arts. Founded by artists in the 1900s, Bluecoat presents a year round programme of visual art, music, dance, performance and literature whilst also supporting residencies, artist studios, print rooms and a groundbreaking participation programme. In the last decade the gallery programme has included significant solo shows by William Kentridge, Keith Piper and Sonia Boyce whilst supporting the work of emerging artists. www.thebluecoat.org.uk Assemble Assemble are a collective based in London who work across the fields of art, architecture and design. They began working together in 2010 and are comprised of 18 members. Assemble s working practice seeks to address the typical disconnection between the public and the process by which places are made. They have been working with the CLT in Granby since 2013. www.assemblestudio.co.uk Granby Workshop Granby Workshop makes experimental, handmade products for homes. It was set up in 2015. Assemble set up Granby Workshop as a means of continuing to support and encourage the kind of hands on activity that has brought about immense change in the area. The Workshop sells a range of products that are Made in Granby at our current premises on 142 Granby Street by a collective of local people using experimental manufacturing processes. All products are manufactured using processes that embrace chance, improvisation and resourcefulness. Profits from sales feed straight back into the development of Workshop. www.granbyworkshop.co.uk For any other enquiries or information about the commission or the project, please contact Maria Brewster on granby@scottbrewster.co.uk 6