My World My City My Neighbourhood: Artist Brief WHO Are you an artist living in Leeds who works in a socially engaged or participatory way? We’re looking for artists who want to work with people to co-create creative projects and facilitate residents to Let Culture Loose in their neighbourhoods as part of LEEDS 2023. You might be a poet, storyteller, illustrator, theatre-maker or dancer - this is an opportunity for artists working in any artform. You could make live art, films, or work in the public realm, what matters most is that collaborating with people is central to your work. You will need to demonstrate a track record of co-creating with communities in your work and be able to identify which community you want to work with and why. We are particularly looking for artists who live in Leeds and want to work with people within their own neighbourhood. If you haven’t worked in this way before but would like to gain that experience there will be other opportunities to be part of projects like this in the future. ABOUT LEEDS 2023 LEEDS 2023 will be a landmark year of culture for Leeds and the wider region. Starting on 1st January 2023, it will be an extraordinary, year-long programme of creative experiences. Co-created with local, national and international artists, LEEDS 2023 will be for Leeds, with Leeds and inspired by Leeds. A showcase of creativity across all forms of culture: from dance to design, art to architecture, poetry to pop, sculpture to sport, grassroots community theatre to performances on our world class stages, LEEDS 2023 will have something for everyone. Fuelled by a belief in the power of artistic expression and cultural experiences to transform lives, LEEDS 2023 will unlock talent and creative opportunities for people from every district in the city. THE PROJECT My World My City My Neighbourhood is a LEEDS 2023 project that celebrates the creativity and culture that exits within the many neighbourhoods that make up this city. As a city that speak over 170 languages, we want to enrich the many creative voices of Leeds’ communities – and this project is the start of that journey.
Our city has a new story to tell through its wealth of talent, sometimes in things that people don’t think of as ‘culture’. We know the last year has been hard for many of our communities and these commissions are designed to help us understand where
they are in their creative journey and help realise their ambitions for the future as we work towards our Year of Culture. My World My City My Neighbourhood will see 23 artists working across 23 communities for an initial period of six months, between September 2021 – February 2022. At the end of this first phase of the project we will deliver a series of cross- community sharings in partnership with Leeds Community Foundation. These sharings will enable us to see how each of these communities can make LEEDS 2023 their own, and where we can continue to facilitate and support the fruition of their projects as part of the LEEDS 2023 programme. BRIEF
We want you to respond to the LEEDS 2023 banner ‘Letting Culture Loose’ in a way that will amplify the many voices within a specific community in Leeds. The exact area of the city can be proposed by you, and we are open to how you may want to approach working there. What is important is that you outline a process of co- creation, as opposed to an end outcome. We are specifically looking for proposals that focus on collaborating with communities in order to help realise their creative ambition and ideas.
There are many definitions of co-creation. For us, it is where the agency of the community represents at least 50% of the decision making both creatively and in how the project is delivered. We’re not expecting realised artworks.
At the end of the project we would like to see developed ideas for events and activities that represent each community. This initial process should facilitate and enable the generation of those ideas. LOCATION Across the project we will work with 23 wards in Leeds. Each artist should have a connection to the community they want to work in, whether they live there, grew up there, have family or friends, or have worked in the neighbourhood before. Artists will be matched with anchor community organisations in the different wards, such as Touchstone Leeds, and other asset-based organisations, and will be supported by the producing team to widen their reach.
TIMELINE The project will take place from August 2021 to April 2022. Key milestones: May 28-10 June 2021: Open Q&A sessions with the LEEDS 2023 Creative Team June 3-July 19 2021: Applications open via the LEEDS 2023 website (link at end of this document) July 19 2021: Deadline for applications 12pm UK time August 2021: Artist Briefing with Leeds 2023 and Planning September 2021 – October 2021: Co-Creation Stage One- and mid point evaluation November 2021 – January 2022: Co-Creation Stage Two February 2022: Community Sharings March 2022: Evaluation and planning for next steps ACCESS AND SUPPORT As part of the process you will be supported by the LEEDS 2023 Creative Team and be assigned a Lead Contact. If there are any further support measures we can put in place to make the process more accessible for you, you are welcome to include this within your application. Additional resource is available for access. If you would like any further information on access please contact Taneesha on [email protected] or 0113 511 2027. BUDGET The artist fee is £6000. We have a budget for delivering events and activities in each location of £2500. A further £1000 will be allocated for the community sharing events, where communities and artists have the opportunity to share their proposed outcomes from the commission.
ARTIST RECRUITMENT AND DEADLINE A link to the application form is included at the end of this briefing document. Complete the application form by 12pm on 19th July 2021. The questions that will be on the form are included below for information. If you would like to make an application by video or voice recording it should be no longer than 5 minutes and can be provided as a link within the form (remember to change the privacy settings or let us know the password). Please note you’ll need to answer the questions outlined below whichever format you choose to apply in. We will be running open sessions on: Friday 28th May 3.30pm – 4.30pm Wednesday 2nd June 6pm – 7pm Thursday 10th June 10am – 11am To book a space CLICK HERE. These are drop-in sessions where you can ask us questions. During the sessions we won’t advise whether you should or shouldn’t apply. However, we can answer any questions you might have about the project or process. We will let you know by Friday 30th July 2021 if your application has been shortlisted.
APPLICATION FORM - please apply via the link at the bottom of this document. Name Contact information
Format of application - Written - Audio or Video If you are planning on submitting an audio or video application we would suggest you follow a similar format to the application form by directly responding to the questions below. Written application questions: 1. Tell us about you 250 words
2. Which community or ward do you want to work with and why? 250 words
3. What is your approach to co-creation? Please describe the process you will use and how you will help your co-creators Let Culture Loose. 500 words
4. Who do you hope will be your co-creators? Please describe your approach to reaching them. 350 words
5. What experience do you want your co-creators to have? 150 words
6. Is there anything else you would like to say? 250 words Do you have any access requirements you would like us to be aware of?
Please find the application form here.