ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CEO CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACK, MAY 2021 CONTENTS - Introduction - About Carlow Arts Festival - Organisational Structure - Job Description - Person Specification - Conditions of Employment - Appointment Process + How to Apply INTRODUCTION Dear Candidate, Thank you for your interest in the position of Artistic Director/CEO of Carlow Arts Festival (CAF). At Carlow Arts Festival we believe that the Arts are for everyone. This has been at the heart of our vision since the Festival was founded 42 years ago. The Festival aims to be extraordinary, and for a short period each summer, we engage with spaces, places and the people of Carlow through art, performance and spectacle. Over the past five years we've seen a period of growth and consolidation, creating a strong and sustainable position for the festival, including in the unexpected times all of us in the arts field find ourselves. We have become known locally and internationally for how we couple together audacious artists and their vision in a way that is truly accessible for all. The Artistic Director/CEO is a crucial role at the head of our organisation and in advocating for the importance of the Arts with and for the people of Carlow and beyond. We are looking for an ambitious and imaginative leader who will come to Carlow to build on everything achieved by our outgoing director Jo Mangan, and who will develop their own distinctive vision for the festival. We’re looking for someone who believes in the role of transformative art, diverse perspectives and inclusion, seeks out virtuosic artists to resonate, inspire and collaborate with the Carlow and national community, and who has strong organisational and entrepreneurial skills. You will be adept at working with and mobilising small teams, local people, funders and other vital stakeholders. If you believe in what we do, and have the skills and experience to join us at Carlow Arts Festival and make a bold and lasting impact, we would love to hear from you, With best wishes, Niamh Lunny Chair, Board of Directors Carlow Arts Festival (CAF) is an annual multi-disciplinary Arts Festival which takes place in Carlow and is the first of the summer Arts Festivals in Ireland. We believe - and insist - that the arts are for everyone. ABOUT CARLOW ARTS FESTIVAL Carlow Arts Festival’s vision is formed around four key pillars: • We choose transformative art, diverse perspectives and inclusion for all in the act of discovery. • We embrace the world of virtuosic artists to resonate, inspire and collaborate with our community. • We champion accessibility while introducing our audiences to new art forms and cutting edge work. • We create a vibrant temporary community that opens up horizons: creating space for discovery, delight and disruption. • Our Values are Inclusion, Audacity, Fun, Passion and Preparedness These values shape and define Carlow Arts Festival as it is today and as it will be in the future. We hold these values close in informing how we make the festival in the significantly changed environment post Covid-19. Our place is Carlow. As a long-standing audience member recently said: ‘it’s THE Carlow Arts festival. It happens in Carlow, nowhere else.’ The festival has played a crucial role in establishing Carlow as a centre of artistic excellence. We take great pride in Carlow town and in creating a festival that can make everyone in Carlow feel proud. In the coming years, we want to continue to build the visibility and presence of the festival and, in doing so, the value of the arts themselves. The Festival’s growth in recent years has strengthened Carlow as a destination, and the artistic and local community in Carlow and Ireland as a whole. Highlights have included: • Presenting Max Richter’s 8hour epic Sleep live to an overnight audience • Extraordinary Bodies - a work by people of all abilities, to audiences of all abilities • Creating Sugartown with 300 community members and an audience of over 5000 •Developing a whole realm of Digital work - including in 2021 a Virtual Festival Campus In 2021 our in-person, digitally native, online and virtual programme continues to highlight our ambition to carve out new territory The 2021 festival takes place between 4-13 June. With a hybrid approach to live and online content, 2021 highlights will include: • Woman in the Machine co-created with VISUAL, which has facilitated access to a landmark building where 50+ artists have been welcomed to interrogate and reimagine the life of the building for a short period • An entirely immersive 360 Virtual Festival Campus to house events in the digital realm from overseas as well as Ireland • An invitation to three Curators who have each created distinct programmes: Latin American Dance Film programme, Irish Shorts Season and a VR strand of films. At the end of 2020 the Festival distributed Wedge Funds to artists toward the • Free and Pick Your Price programming and events which have development of work. Two share the fruits of that work this year: Stuart Roche been created specifically for front line workers and those is streaming a reading of his new play The 20 Club, and Postal Project sees living in Residential and Care Homes artworks sent in the post in a generous ‘pay it forward’ fashion. We have been able to work with artists and commission works in 2021 that a limited audience will be able to experience live. • The stunning Irish National Opera/ Michael Trainor sound and light installation Invisible Opera • Fidget Feet’s epic A Handful of Dreams • Alan James Burns brainwave melting installation Open Mind, Closed System • Cian Kinsella’s site-specific (on his own farm) Grow • The regular ARTWORKS Exhibition is bigger than ever and presents the work of 22 extraordinary artists who work at the intersection of art, science, technology and new media Everything we achieve at Carlow Arts Festival we do on a modest turnover and with a small team. The Festival’s current budget is €455,000 and we were successful in increasing Arts Council Ireland investment to a revenue grant of €235,000 in 2021. After the Covid-19 pandemic impacted on arts and culture worldwide, we undertook a period of strategic planning over the summer of 2020. Through the festival offering last year we demonstrated our capacity to be agile and responsive. We needed time to take stock and decide how we would apply the learning from this experience to the plan for 2021-2023. This strategic review resulted in five strategic goals for the period 2021-23: • Sustained Commitment to Artistic Excellence + Artist Development by instigating a more formal artistic development approach in the programme from 2021 focused on dance, street art and circus artists, combining mentoring, on-site training and showcases • Inclusion + Participation as an intrinsic goal, and a commitment to investing in the long- term, often invisible work of participation, collaboration and engagement with local people • Opening up Carlow physically by using more of Carlow as our stage, and continuing to build on our central commitment of access to great art for everyone • Harnessing the power of digital technology to continue to rethink, reset and reinvent what we do, the work artists can make and how we reach audiences • Making the organisation fit for purpose including strengthening our partnerships, growing our financial resilience and fundraising capacity and skills and capabilities in the digital arena These goals guide our priorities and decision making as we look to the future under new leadership. They are underpinned by our commitment to the intrinsic goals of inclusion and participation, championing accessibility through free access and insisting that the arts are for everyone. ARTISTIC + PROGRAMMING JOB DESCRIPTION • Creative initiator of and ultimate responsibility for an innovative artistic programme for the festival which has excellence, innovation and access at its core and reflects the distinct Working closely with and reporting to the Board of Directors, the Artistic Director/CEO is identity of Carlow as a place • responsible for providing leadership for the festival and developing a distinctive multi- Oversee the overall planning and staging of the Festival in conjunction with the Executive arts programme. The role includes managing and developing relationships with key Producer • stakeholders, funders, artists, sponsors and the local community. Seek out artistic partnerships and opportunities with individual artists and with the local community The Artistic Director/CEO is the figurehead of a small and dedicated team. This means that that they also need to be willing to roll up their sleeves - especially during busy periods! MARKETING + REPUTATION • Oversee the continuing development of a marketing plan and oversee development of the creative campaign and materials required to promote the festival locally, nationally and LEADERSHIP, FINANCIAL + PLANNING internationally • • Work with the Board of Directors in developing a mid-term vision and strategic plan Give strategic guidance to the public relations efforts to ensure excellent media coverage (from 2024 onwards) that will guide the artistic direction and organisational health and positioning for the festival • of the festival Act as the focal point of communications between the Board of Directors, sub-contractors, • Ensure that the operation of the organisation meets the expectations of the Board of funders, media and participating artists • Directors, funders, sponsors and other key stakeholders. Be a public facing advocate for the