Sculpture and Industry Schools Resources Project Commission

Call out for Expressions of Interest: opportunity to develop primary teaching resources exploring sculpture, inspired by Anthony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles.

We are seeking an arts educator to create resources for teachers in Primary Schools which explore accessible sculpture techniques.

About the Commission

Sunderland Culture are delighted to be hosting Antony Gormley’s Field for the British Isles from Arts Council Collection at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art from 24 July – 25 September 2021 as part of the National Partners Programme. The exhibition features 40,000 clay figures made by community participants and this is the first time it has been displayed in the region since 1996.

In September 2021, a new dray and horses sculpture by Ray Lonsdale (sculptor of Tommy statue at Seaham) will also be installed near the new City Hall to commemorate the former Vaux brewery on the site, commissioned by City Council. These sculptures sit against a backdrop of sculptures and public art in Sunderland inspired by the industrial heritage of the city including glass bottle maker John Candlish in , the keel line at Keel Square, the miner’s lamp at and Shadows in Another Light (the former shipyard crane ‘tree’) on the St Peter’s Sculpture Trail.

This presents a really exciting opportunity for Sunderland Culture to develop a primary schools programme around the theme of sculpture and industry and help schools to re-engage creatively with Sunderland Culture during this recovery period from Covid 19. We are seeking an artist who can help us to achieve that aim.

We would like you to work collaboratively with the Sunderland Culture Learning Team and a small group of 2 – 3 infant and primary schools in June /July 2021 to plan and test a set of 3 - 4 sculpture themed creative activities with accompanying lesson plans for use in the classroom or Sunderland Culture venues. The aim of the activities is to help schools and learners to:

• Understand different types of sculpture - from public to gallery based; and from figurative to abstract sculpture using Field for the British Isles and the new Vaux sculpture as examples, alongside other Sunderland sculptures inspired by the industrial heritage of the area • Understand the processes artists use when thinking about and creating sculpture • Understand the way artists have used Sunderland’s rich industrial heritage as inspiration for new artworks • Use affordable and simple materials for activities to remove barriers to participation (avoiding the traditional clay!) • Use their senses and develop confidence in exploring, talking about and asking questions about sculpture • Use open ended creative activities that don’t rely on a defined result

The resources will be developed into digital resources by Sunderland Culture’s designer to be hosted on the new Artsfix resource website for schools and launched in September 2021. Sunderland Culture will also use these ideas in a new set of staff-led workshops in venues from September 2021.

The commission also includes delivering activities at a Field for the British Isles teacher CPD event on Wednesday 15 September from 5.30pm – 7pm at the .

Fee: £3500

Project Timeline

12 noon Friday 21 May Deadline for applications 24/25 May Interviews (if needed) 27 May Commission awarded, applicants informed w/b 7 June Schools consultations hosted by Sunderland Culture 14 June – 2 July Research, Planning and Development of resources 5 – 16 July Testing in schools 19 – 30 July Refining, amending and finalising resources August Resources to be designed by Sunderland Culture for use with schools and in-venues Sept 2021 Weds 15th September 5.30-7pm Teacher CPD event co-delivery with Sunderland Culture team

How to apply

Please get in touch with us, letting us know:

• A bit about you – this could be a bio or link to your website • Tell us about your working style. We’re looking for someone to work as part of our team, who is open to collaboration and new ideas, and who can • Tell us about your experience creating activities for specific learning aims/outcomes. This isn’t limited to working in formal education settings. • Tell us about a time when you have had an incredible experience with sculpture. How would your work create that feeling of wonder for learners through these resources? • Tell us about a time when you have seen a project through to its completion. • Show us, or tell us about, an example of previous work that you think is relevant to this commission. • Show us, or tell us about, your budget breakdown. How you would use the fee to cover meetings, planning and research time, and any materials you might use in the development of the resources.

You can send us this information in a written application by email, or send us a video (10 mins max) with this information in it. Please send applications to Posy – [email protected] by 12noon Friday 21st May.

Field for the British Isles is on loan from the prestigious Arts Council Collection. The exhibition has been made possible thanks to a grant from the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund and is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. This is the third in our series of Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme exhibitions.