Listening & Sharing Events in Dacorum_ Artist Opportunity

Dacorum Borough Council has commissioned cultural consultancy, Bridget Sawyers Limited, to inform the development of a new arts and culture strategy for the borough in collaboration with its residents.
One of our guiding principles is ‘You are the expert of your place or space.’ We begin any project from the perspective that the people who live and work in the environment in question are the experts. Their knowledge, guidance, and insights are invaluable.
That’s why we are organising a series of Listening and Sharing events that will include artist-led activities generating conversations about current cultural provision and people’s aspirations. The purpose of the events is to gather people’s knowledge about the existing arts and cultural offer and insights into what they are missing, what they wish to engage with when it comes to culture and creativity in the borough. We specifically plan to organise these events with groups that often miss out on consultations and whose voice needs amplifying.

Event Format
- Listening & Sharing events will take place in established spaces where community already gathers and we might link to existing activities (e.g. coffee morning) to enhance it with our presence; or to create a more bespoke event where there is more lead in time;
- Listening & Sharing will take place at different times of the day – morning, lunchtime, afternoon and potentially early evening;
- We want to create a relaxed atmosphere;
- We will be operating it as a drop-in activity – not expecting people to stay for a fixed amount of time – unless the group in advance sets a time for us;
- We want to put emphasis on quality over quantity – it is not about a mass experience and we are valuing more in-depth conversations and exchanges;
- Events to last circa 2-3h + set up and take down (tbc);
- At each event light refreshments will be served, where possible and a cultural consultant will be present to support facilitation of the conversations;
- At each event we will have an art activity led by an artist. The art activity’s aim is to collect people’s knowledge of existing arts provision, what barriers do they experience in accessing current offer, and explore people’s ideas/insights for what they want cultural activities they want to access in the borough using creative art forms. We are open to diverse art forms led
by the artistic practice, for example: creative writing, drawing, painting, installation, sculpture, printing, collage and more.

Listening & Sharing events will take place in diverse locations across the borough, yet to be confirmed. We will be coordinating these and liaising with the venues and any partner organisations. All costs (venue hire, refreshments, marketing and recording) will be met from another budget.

We are looking for artists, ideally who are based in Dacorum and the surrounding area or have a strong connection to the borough, working in any art form with a strong participatory practice or with very good understanding and significant experience of working with people. A valid DBS check is required.
Events will take place in October, November, December 2024 so we only seek artists who have availability in this timeframe.

Fee
♣ One day planning fee (including planning meeting on ZOOM and associated admin) x £250
♣ Session delivery fee (to include travel & costs, set up and take down) x £250
♣ Materials budget up to: £100
Artist may be appointed to deliver the activity on more than one day, so will be paid for each additional session delivery. Please note that the artist will be responsible for sourcing and bringing their materials.

Interested? Please email us:
♣ A short statement explaining your approach to this opportunity (up to 300 words) / You can submit this information in a short video or audio recording (up to 2min)
♣ Up to 10 images of examples of your work with credit info; ideally showcasing current projects that show your skills, especially when working with people;
♣ Up to three URL links to your current projects;
♣ Your CV (with full contact details)
Please send your application and any questions to: cultureindacorum@gmail.com

Deadline: Midday, Friday 4 October