Call for Artists: Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award, Artist Commission 2020 at The Tetley, Leeds

Application deadline: 10:00 am, Monday 11 November 2019

Artists are invited to apply for the 2020 Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award (ARMA), Artist Commission, hosted by The Tetley, Leeds, worth £15,000. The Award in 2020 focuses on the mental health and wellbeing of young people. The Award funds an artist (or artists) to conceive and deliver a participatory project which engages a group of young people aged 16 – 25. The group of participants will be identified by The Tetley and at this stage is likely to be a group of care experienced young people. As an outcome of the project, the artist will realise an exhibition, performance or other form of public engagement in the Shirley Cooper Gallery, one of the main gallery spaces at The Tetley in summer 2020. ARMA was established in memory of the artist Alexandra Reinhardt and is supported by the Max Reinhardt Charitable Trust (MRCT).

The successful artist(s) will work with The Tetley and a partner organisation between late May and early September to deliver a participatory project with young people. The artist, working with the participants, will share and exhibit the outcomes of the project in the Shirley Cooper Gallery between late May and early September 2020.

The artist will work closely with the Participation Producer at The Tetley to plan and deliver the project.

This is an exciting opportunity for an artist or artists to undertake a highly respected commission which is well supported by project partners. The ARMA Commission will form part of The Tetley’s artistic programme and will be widely promoted, both nationally and internationally.

ARMA 2020 is managed by Engage, the lead advocacy and training network for gallery education, with some 870 members across 270 museums, galleries and visual arts organisations. Artist Lindsey Mendick was awarded ARMA 2018 at The Turnpike, Leigh; Alison Carlier completed ARMA 2016 at aspex, Portsmouth; Anne Harild was selected for ARMA 2015 at the Bluecoat, Liverpool; in 2014, Maria Zahle was hosted by New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester and in 2013, Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva was at mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art. 

The Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award (ARMA), Artist Commission 2020

The 2020 Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award (ARMA) will be hosted by The Tetley, Leeds. The Tetley is a pioneering centre for contemporary art located in the stunning art deco headquarters of the former Tetley Brewery on Leeds South Bank. The Tetley is situated in the City and Hunslet ward of Leeds, though not in an area of low cultural engagement as defined by ACE as it includes all areas of Leeds, it is bordered by some of the most deprived areas in the UK.

The Tetley’s 1930s building was transformed in 2013 to house unique gallery spaces, a learning studio for the award-winning participation programme, an artist residency studio, offices for creative businesses, a Bar & Kitchen and spaces for meetings and events.

For artists, The Tetley are mentors and champions, providing support, investment and development time and space. To the public and local communities, The Tetley is a destination to explore new and exciting works, take part in workshops, talks and events and explore their creative selves.

Over 130,000 people each year visit the Tetley to discover, create, relax and learn. The Tetley believe that everyone deserves to explore their cultural potential no matter their economic background, from messy play workshops for the under-fives, to professional artists at a pivotal point of their career.

The aims of ARMA 2020 are:

• For an artist to conceive and deliver a participatory programme or project which engages a group of young people aged 16 – 25. 
• For the artist to co-produce artwork with the group of young people.
• For the artist, working with the young people, to realise an exhibition or public display in the Shirley Cooper Gallery, one of the main gallery spaces at The Tetley in summer 2020.
• For the participatory project to benefit the mental health and wellbeing of the participants.
• To provide an active voice to young people in shaping The Tetley’s artistic programme.

The participatory project

The participatory programme or project will give the artist the opportunity to work directly with young people, gaining insight and inspiration from their experience, and to work on the co-production of artwork.

The group of participants will be identified by The Tetley and at this stage is likely to be a group of care experienced young people. We expect the artist to be able to work with up to 10 – 15 young people in the group. The artist will work with The Tetley’s partner organisation and will be supported by them when working with the group. At this stage we expect there to be a minimum of 8 sessions the artist will need to deliver with the group, either on site at The Tetley or off site. However, we would like the project to achieve a deep level of engagement over a sustained period of 8 – 10 weeks during summer 2020. The artist will be supported by The Tetley and Engage to conceive and plan the participatory project.

The Shirley Cooper Gallery

The Shirley Cooper Gallery, one of the main gallery spaces at The Tetley ARMA 2020, will be dedicated to use for ARMA 2020 from late May to early September 2020 (final dates to be confirmed). The artist,will realise an exhibition, performance or other form of public engagement in this space. 

Depending on the project which the artist conceives, the dedicated gallery space could be used for production, public engagement and/or exhibition at different times during the period from May to September. One possible approach is for participation sessions to take place with young people in the space in June, before the space is opened for public engagement and/or display in July and August, though this is flexible. The space can be made private during participatory sessions.

The artist

Applications are invited from visual artists working in the areas of sculpture, paint, film, photography, performance, media and textiles etc. Collaborative applications from two artists are welcome. If two artists apply for the award the expectation is that one of them will be a visual artist and the other may work as a visual artist or in any other art form. Please note that the exhibition running alongside this commission at the Tetley will be sound based and therefore the use of audio in the ARMA Commission in the Shirley Cooper Gallery should be avoided to ensure there is no sound bleed in the main gallery spaces.

Artists should have a minimum of 3 – 5 years experience of practice outside of full time education, with some prior experience of working with young people through participatory or socially engaged projects. The artist will require strong communication skills when working with a broad group of people including young people, stakeholders and project partners. Artists should have experience of managing budgets, working to set deadlines, and skills in time management and project management and delivery in a creative environment.

The artist will be required to comply with safeguarding procedures and contribute to risk assessments, as advised by The Tetley, Health for All and Engage.

The Tetley can offer the artist the following facilities:

• Use of in house equipment- AV equipment, projectors, TV, monitors and printing facilities
• Dedicated space to deliver workshops in the learning studio suitable for dry and wet workshops
• Private meeting room space for planning, meetings with artists,  partners and collaborators
• In Kind Support from the Tetley Team including the main contact Participation Producer, (commission management, partnership management, budget planning, interpretation), Exhibitions Producer (exhibition realisation & curation aspects of exhibition planning, installation, invigilation and maintenance), Director, (promote and oversee Commission) Marketing & Press Co-ordinator (write copy, press releases, promote events and produce a marketing campaign for the Commission), Events Operation Manager (coordinate events and launch)  and Facilities Manager (risk assessment and safeguarding of the building and exhibition)
• Limited dry materials including paper, pencils, pens and stationary
• Technical support is available depending on budget (we have a small workshop to enable construction on site and have developed excellent relationships with AV experts and fabricators who we often use for exhibitions.) Access to the workshop will need to be supervised by our onsite technician depending on their availability, with budget allocated for their time

Celebratory event and exhibition

A celebratory event will be organised by The Tetley on completion of ARMA 2020. Material from the participatory programme or project; information about the commission; and material relating to ARMA, potentially including work by Alexandra Reinhardt, will be exhibited at The Tetley.

Communications

The Tetley will produce material to promote the ARMA 2020 Artist Commission and promotion of the award will be supported by Engage. The artist(s) will supply images of existing work for marketing material and access to images as the project progresses. The artist is encouraged to document the process and outcomes of the award using online media such as a blog, in compliance with any safeguarding procedures and documentation guidelines issued by the project partners.

Evaluation

An independent evaluator has been appointed to evaluate ARMA 2020. The Tetley and the selected artist(s) will be supported by Alison Unsworth, ARMA Coordinator and by Engage.

Budget

The award value of £15,000 will cover the costs for planning and delivery of participatory sessions; materials for the participatory sessions; artwork production, transportation and installation costs; artist’s time and any travel or accommodation expenses.

The Tetley, with support of MRCT, will meet the cost of the celebratory event, and other aspects of managing the artist commission, including the production of publicity and marketing material.

During the planning stage of the commission, the artist will propose a budget breakdown for the award value of £15,000 with support from The Tetley and Engage. The budget allocation is to be agreed with the artist, The Tetley, MRCT and Engage. Use of subcontractors is subject to agreement with The Tetley, and agreement of whether the artist or The Tetley will hold the budget for their payment.

Important dates

• Application deadline: 10:00 am, Monday 11 November 2019
• Artist interviews at The Tetley: 12 December 2019
• Artist induction at The Tetley: January 2020
• Participatory project at The Tetley: May-July 2020 (tbc)
• Shirley Cooper Gallery available: 28 May 2020 – 6 September 2020 (tbc)
• Celebratory event: August (tbc)

Who can apply

Visual artists are invited to apply. Collaborative applications from two artists are welcome. If two artists apply for the award the expectation is that one of them will be a visual artist and the other may work as a visual artist or in any other art form. Artists should have a minimum of 3 – 5 years experience of practice outside of full time education, with some prior experience of working with young people through participatory or socially engaged projects.