Call for applications:
Conference Programmer
Engage international conference 2017, Hull
Equality, diversity and access to the arts and arts education
Freelance, May-November 2017
Based in own office, some visits to London and Hull required
Fee: £4,000 (inclusive of VAT), plus expenses
Application deadline: 9.30am, Tuesday 2 May 2017
Engage wishes to commission an innovative Conference Programmer to develop the concept for the Engage international conference 2017, and to programme this important annual event. This is an opportunity to play a key role alongside an enthusiastic team in a national visual arts education organisation, programming a major annual event that brings together c.180 arts and education professionals from the United Kingdom and overseas.
The theme of this year’s conference is Equality, diversity and access to the arts and arts education – all urgent issues for consideration within the arts and education sectors in the UK and beyond. We’re delighted to be hosted by Hull, this year’s UK City of Culture, in the newly refurbished Ferens Art Gallery, at the time of the Turner Prize. Delegates will also have the opportunity to find out about Hull 2017 and visit some of the many cultural venues across the city - such as Hull Truck Theatre, the Maritime Museum, Art Link and the Humber Street Gallery.
Hull, a world-famous port with a tradition of radical independent practice, is the birthplace of anti-slavery campaigner MP William Wilberforce. During Hull 2017 the concept of freedom will be explore though art and theatre. This provides fertile ground for the Engage 2017 conference themes of equality, diversity and access to the arts.
The Programmer will work closely with the Engage Director, Engage staff and colleagues in Hull and Yorkshire in developing their ideas for the conference and will have agreed the main shape of the programme and the majority of contributors by mid/late June 2017.
Engage staff will work with the Programmer on the practical planning of the event - dealing with logistics including liaising with contributors and bookings of venues, catering, transport etc.
Engage is the lead advocacy and training network for gallery education, with over 800 members in the UK and internationally across c.270 visual arts organisations. For more information see: www.engage.org
Should you need application details in another format please contact Engage on 020 7729 5858 / .
Engage Conference Programmer brief
Conference
The Engage international conference is a major annual event that brings together c.180 gallery and museum educators, artists, teachers, directors, academics and curators from the UK and overseas. The conference aims to stimulate debate about gallery and arts education and issues affecting practice; to inform delegates about current cultural and educational policies and developments in the visual arts; to assist in raising the status of gallery education; and to enable networking amongst Engage members and other delegates.
Location: The conference will take place across 2-days in Hull on 29 and 30 November during Hull City of Culture 2017 and will be accompanied by fringe activities across c.1½-days. Delegates will have the opportunity to find out about Hull 2017 and visit some of the many cultural venues across the city - such as Hull Truck Theatre, the Maritime Museum, Art Link, the Humber Street Gallery and the Ferens Art Gallery where the Turner Prize will be taking place this year. We are grateful to Hull’s Heritage Learning for their support of Engage conference 2017.
Theme – equality, diversity and access to the arts and arts education: Engage conference takes place during Hull’s tenure as UK City of Culture, a brilliant setting to explore the challenges of equality and diversity within the arts and access to the arts and arts education, particularly for under-represented groups.
Engage conferences are centred around practice in the broad context of the visual arts and education sectors, and the programme is analytical and solution-focused. Conference traditionally takes the format of keynote presentations, presentations and workshops - exploring research, theory, case studies and practical examples - which provide opportunities for delegate exchange, debate and peer learning. The Programmer will be asked to draw on relevant experience amongst educators, artists, policy makers and funders, and from case studies across the whole of the UK and internationally for conference content.
Please see the Appendices section below for more detailed information on the conference theme, context and structure, and for information about Engage.
Programmer role
Engage is seeking a Programmer who will work with colleagues at Engage to:
· Develop an overall concept for the conference within the broad theme outlined
· Devise facilitation/other activities that enable discussion and participation
· Define the areas to be debated
· Identify key contributors and their role in the conference, in liaison with Engage staff and members/colleagues in Hull and Yorkshire
· Identify other contributors in consultation with Engage, members and stakeholders
· Develop a programme that satisfies the interests of gallery educators and associated colleagues from the UK and overseas, at different stages of their careers
· Invite contributors (keynote/speakers/ facilitators/chairs) for the main programme and breakout sessions, working to a template and fee structure agreed with Engage
· Provide contact details for proposed contributors
· Provide alternative suggestions for contributors in case of changes in availability
· Brief all contributors
· Attend the conference and provide support for contributors and staff
The Programmer will work within a limited budget of £4,000 to programme contributors for the main keynote and plenary sessions, and breakout workshop sessions. Engage would expect there to be c.25-35 contributors in total; some contributors (keynote/speakers/facilitators/chairs) will also run breakout sessions; some contributors (speakers/chairs/facilitators) will be local. The Programmer will visit Hull and consult with sector colleagues and members in Yorkshire and Hull (Engage will set up and manage this consultation)
The fee for this work is £4,000 (inclusive of VAT), plus up to £500 expenses (including travel, accommodation etc. during conference). The Programmer will work from their own home/office. Regular meetings will be held between the Programmer and the Engage staff team via Skype or conference call, though some visits to London/Hull will be required.
Person specification
Essential:
· Experience of programming a conference or large scale continuing professional development event
· Knowledge of gallery education and/or visual arts education
· Knowledge of cultural policy development in the UK, particularly in the visual arts
· Clear, concise communicator, confident presenting ideas in writing or verbally
· Ability to work on own initiative, and collaboratively as part of a small team
· Ability to meet deadlines and work within a set project timetable
· Ability to work within a set and limited budget
· Ability to prioritise and work under pressure
· Creative problem-solver
Desirable:
· Experience of programming visual arts events
· Knowledge of contemporary visual art in an international context
Application details
To apply, submit the following documents to by 9.30am on Tuesday 2 May 2017, using the subject line ‘Conference Programmer 2017: [your name]’:
· A proposal [no more than two sides A4] explaining how you will approach this brief. This must include ideas for theme development, potential contributors, ways of facilitating discussion and an outline budget with notes on how you would manage costs.
· A statement [no more than one side A4] giving evidence of how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the person specification and equip you to undertake this work
· A current CV, with details of two referees
· A completed equality & diversity monitoring form (provided via the link above)
Applications should be sent via email only. Interviews will take place in London on Friday 5 May 2017 11-4pm. Applicants shortlisted for interview will be contacted on Tuesday 2 May. Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.
If you have any queries, or wish to discuss the brief further, please contact Jane Sillis, Director of Engage on 020 7729 5858.
Engage is committed to equality of access in its employment.
We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
Should you need application details in another format please contact Engage on 020 7729 5858 / .
Appendix 1
Theme – equality, diversity and access to the arts and arts education
Engage conference will focus on the related themes of diversity, equality and access, as they relate to visual arts education and to gallery education. Issues which could be explored include:
· The lack of diversity in the gallery education and visual arts workforce and boards and how this can be addressed?
· The lack of diversity amongst audiences for the visual arts and strategies to address this?
· What does diversity and equality mean? What are the differences in different parts of England, the UK and internationally?
· Are there particular areas that gallery and visual arts education urgently need to focus on e.g. access to the workforce?
· Arts Council England (ACE) and Creative Scotland research shows that the arts and cultural workforce do not represent the diversity of the UK population. The situation is particularly acute in the visual art and visual arts education sectors with an under representation of disabled and black, minority and ethnic (BME) communities within the workforce. This is something that the visual arts and visual arts education needs to address. What positive steps can the visual arts and gallery education sector take to improve workforce diversity? Is there a place for positive discrimination? Are there initiatives which the sector could take to encourage more diverse and not in education, employment or training (NEET) young people to consider employment in the arts and cultural sectors and how can we support them?
· Education and learning colleagues in the visual arts work proactively to engage with audiences new to the arts. However, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) Taking Part survey still shows a predominance of ABC1 audiences for arts and cultural activities. What strategic or institutional change needs to take place to support new audiences to engage with the visual arts?
· Disabled and BME artists are under-represented in the UK’s artistic and cultural output. What more can the visual arts and education sector do to support a diversity of artists to present their work? How can initiatives such as Unlimited supporting disabled artists’ commissions and the Diaspora Pavilion at the Venice Biennale have a greater impact on visual arts and education programmes? How can the sector better support LBGT artists?
· How can the governance of the cultural sector better represent the diversity of the UK population? What is needed to encourage a greater diversity of leaders and trustees in the cultural sector? How can initiatives which support this such as the Clore Leadership programme or the young trustees on the boards of the Round House and Turner Contemporary inform practice across the sector? How can diversifying leaders in the arts impact positively on issues of equality, diversity and access?
· What are the barriers which still prevent some young people from accessing arts education? Darren Henley CEO, ACE has just launched an initiative to explore how children and young people 0-25 can access, participate, train and work in the arts regardless of their backgrounds. Sir Nicholas Serota, Chair of ACE, in his inaugural speech announced the Durham Commission to examine arts education. How can the gallery education sector respond to these and other initiatives to ensure an equity of provision to children and young people? How can we support young people to overcome the barriers to arts education within the state sector? Can the gallery education sector work in a more integrated way with higher education institutions, widening participation programmes to support a diversity of students studying arts at degree level?
· What are the barriers which prevent audiences new to the arts from accessing the visual arts? How can visual arts activities and venues be more welcoming and accessible to a broad diversity of audiences? What can we learn from the Creative People and Places programmes, Hull as UK City of Culture or the ARTIST ROOMS Young Ferens programme about engaging with new audiences, which can inform our practice?
· What role can the digital realm play in making access to the arts more equitable, from live screenings to sharing content on social media?
· Can we learn from other sectors such as housing, social care, health care or the corporate sector about good practice in terms of working in an equitable way with diverse communities? What can these sectors teach us about more equitable employment, governance and engagement?
· Are there models of practice outside of the UK which we can learn from, such as the Swedish initiative to create more women leaders through positive discrimination.
· The Engage international conference 2017 takes place in Hull while it celebrates its time as UK City of Culture this is an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of Hull 2017 opening up culture to new audiences and engaging with a diversity of artists. Hull is a famous port, with a tradition of radical independent practice and is the birth place of the anti-slavery campaigner MP William Willberforce. During Hull 2017 the concept of freedom will be explore though art and theatre. This provides fertile ground for the Engage 2017 conference themes of equality, diversity and access to the arts.
· Engage would like the conference to be analytical and solution-focused. The suggested issues for the Programmer to explore listed above were put together through consultation with members and colleagues; the Programmer may decide to select a more narrow focus for the conference. We would like the programme to suggest creative ways to encourage discussion and debate between delegates.
UK and international reach and diversity: through presentations and breakout/workshop sessions and discussion, the conference programme will need to share practice from across the UK and internationally, in particular, practice in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The programme needs to be aware of policies and conditions that contribute to the state of arts education and gallery education provision across the UK and internationally.