Kendal Calling & Walk the Plank

Kendal Calling & Walk the Plank

LOST EDEN - Art Commissioning Brief

APPLICATION GUIDANCE AND INFORMATION

About Kendal Calling

Kendal Calling is an innovative and multi-award winning independent festival based in the Lake District. Punching well above its weight with its high quality line up and fields full of entertainment it’s become a key fixture in the UK festival calendar.

The Kendal Calling Commission Awards

Kendal Calling, in partnership with Walk the Plank & supported by Arts Council England, will be making a series of awards to individuals and organizations wishing to produce new artworks that will be presented as part of the Kendal Calling 2015 programme, in a newly launched, immersive woodland area called Lost Eden. The commissions will be presented alongside other programmed installations and performances.

Award levels

We invite proposals from artists for £1000 to £4000 level commissions

Application & Commissioning Process

Artists are required to complete an online application form to be considered for an award. All completed applications will be reviewed for award by a panel, which will include representatives of Walk the Plank and Kendal Calling.

APPLICATION FORMS CAN BE ACCESSED ONLINE HERE:

bit.ly/KClosteden

Timescales

• Applications return deadline – 1st May 2015
• Panel review and shortlisting – 5th May 2015

At this stage you may be required to provide more information or clarity to your proposals.

• Awards made – 8th May 2015
• Delivery - May to July 2015
• Presentation – July 30th to Aug 2nd 2015

Lost Eden Art Brief

‘Lost Eden’ is a new, woodland arts area within the Kendal Calling festival site. It is set to be an immersive arts experience and major attraction at the festival, inviting participants to journey through an eclectic range of interactive art forms, performance areas and small venues. By day, a journey to Lost Eden will escape the raucousness of the main arena, providing an ambient space to reconnect with nature. At night, the idyll will be transformed into a nighttime bacchanal of light and sound. As an after-hours space, we encourage the use of light and projection as a key artistic medium for the commissions.

As the title might suggest, ‘Lost Eden’ will play on the contrast between a state of nature and the metropolis. As participants wander through the area, they will experience a transitioning emphasis from the organic to the technological, with one side of the site dedicated to ‘earthly’ arts, reminiscent of Eden, and the other to Eden Lost. While this might imply an innocence lost to a dystopian present, the vision for this side of the area is to celebrate, through the programming of appropriate arts, the positive aspects of modernity: enlightenment, interconnectedness, digital creativity, innovation and the aesthetic of contemporary design. This conceptual framework will be used to determine the positioning of artists, their selection and the overall look and feel of the space.

Eligibility

• The award fund is open to organisations and individual artists.
• The project must be presented at Kendal calling 2015
• Activities must be related to literature, music, visual art, the performing arts, digital media or performance, or any combination of these.
• If the project is literature related, it can include creative reading activities, creative writing, or text based arts, for example visual art or sound art projects which have a strong text / words element.
• All project expenditure must take place after the panel decision has been formally announced to successful applications.

Payment of Awards

The awards will normally be paid in two installments:

• 90% at the start date following confirmation of funding and provision of a detailed budget.
• 10% on satisfactory completion of the project and the project self-assessment and evaluation.

Assessment

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria

• Does the project have a connection to the Lost Eden conceptual brief?
• Does the project further the vision for the Lost Eden woodland area?
• Is the artistic idea clearly described?
• Is the project suitable for a woodland setting?
• Do the plans indicate that the artistic aims of the project are likely to be achieved?
• Has the applicant demonstrated that they have a track record of achieving their artistic aims?
• Does the application demonstrate a commitment to artistic excellence and ambition?
• Will the activity provide an excellent experience for those that engage with it as audiences, readers or participants?
• How innovative does the project reflect the themes of the 2015 commissioning project?

• Is there evidence that the activity will involve good quality public engagement?

• Does the proposed activity engage new participants, readers or audiences?
• Does the applicant understand who the intended audience / readership for the project are? Do they have a realistic plan for how the work will reach that audience / readership?
• If the activity is about developing rather than presenting work, the application must demonstrate how the fund will eventually help them to reach an audience or readership for their work.

• Are the plans to deliver the activity clear and realistic?
• Does the applicant have a demonstrable track record of delivering similar projects or activities?
• Does the application demonstrate that those involved in the activity have the relevant skills and expertise?
• Is the timetable for planning and delivery realistic?
• Does the applicant have a sustainable policy for producing work?

• Is there evidence of value for money?

• Is the budget for the activity realistic?

• Is there a clear and realistic breakdown of income and expenditure?
• Has the applicant provided payment details?
• For individual applicants, has s/he provided a reference?

Project Delivery and Monitoring

Each successful applicant will be expected to provide the panel with a detailed budget and a project plan for how the project will be carried out (including the end date). The budget and project plan will be submitted to the panel by the start date agreed by the applicant and panel.

In addition, each applicant will be required to submit an interim report on a date agreed with the panel (or panel delegate), and liaise with the Walk the Plank on H&S compliance and production delivery. All successful applicants will be required to submit information and evidence for evaluation of the project and festival.

The panel can offer successful applicants advice and support during the development of the project, adding to the overall learning experience.

APPLICATION FORMS CAN BE ACCESSED ONLINE HERE:

bit.ly/KClosteden

Contact –