ArtistCall Round Two applications are now being accepted for the schools TIGHS and St Thomas’s Centre with a deadline for receipt of 5pm on Friday 7th June 2013. Split between two rounds, ArtistCall is an equal opportunity for artists from all types of creative disciplines to apply online and be considered for 10 new residencies over both rounds, worth up to £10,000 each, and spread between 6 new or refurbished secondary schools in Blackburn. ArtistCall is part of latest phase of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s Building Schools for the Future programme. Before registering for the 4 remaining Round Two residencies, please make sure you refer to the two preliminary briefs, as listed on either the schools or blog pages. In the meantime, download a Word or PDF copy of the overall Brief or Read More

This website now allows artists to register their interest, up to 5pm on 7th June, for a second tranche of schools, obtain information on the two remaining briefs, and then to upload information on their practice. All artforms and artist types are encouraged to apply, although it is suggested that interested artists read the provisional artistic visions listed for each school on this website. ArtistCall Round Two will also by default include those artists already registered for it’s schools during their Round One registration. All artists can upload their profiles at any time.

Artist profile sections will not be publicly visible initially (although any document uploads outside the  ‘profile’ section will), and will be shown to schools as a private ‘intranet’. This will enable a panel drawn from Blackburn with Darwen’s Arts Development Services and the 6 schools from both tranches select 4 artists each for an initial commission. This will form a short-listing stage, and will allow artists to respond to each specifically developed  brief. This first commissioning stage will be worth £300 per artist, and will allow them to develop initial proposals  for the residencies.

Thereafter, an agreed school selection panel will help chose up to 10 separate artists in total for the final commissioning of a residency or residencies. The numbers of and length of these residency are as flexible as the art forms under consideration, as long as the budgets listed are not exceeded. At this stage they are envisaged as being up to £10,000 each, plus expenses. Note that no provision other than the stated artist expenses and materials budget, has been made for any artwork fabrication costs, and this fact will need to be considered by artists and selectors at the selection stage.

How it Works

Register your Expression of Interest and input profile with up to 6 work examples

We moderate submitted profiles and confirm long-list of 12 artists per school

Short-list of 4 artists per school appointed with £300 fee to develop proposals

Up to 10 school artist in residencies are commissioned worth up to £10,000 each

Make a Difference