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CALL FOR ARTISTS

Trafford Council: Public Artwork Commissioning Opportunities

Aims and Objectives

We are seeking expressions of interest for new permanent site-specific public artworks to be suited in Sale, Greater

Manchester, commemorating 200 years since the birth of physicist James Prescott Joule. To celebrate his legacy we

are offering an artwork commission for a prominent ‘gateway’ location alongside an opportunity for a smaller

commissioned artwork. These significant commemorative artworks will be accessible, inclusive and will facilitate a

sense of pride and ownership amongst the local community.

Context

James Prescott Joule was an English physicist, born in Salford 24 December 1818. He lived the most part of his life in

Sale, and died on 11 October 1889 aged 70. As a weak child with a spinal disorder he was tutored at home by the

chemist John Dalton and went on to become a great experimenter. As an amateur Joule’s papers were met with

hesitancy, Joule persisted with his patience and ingenious experiments and was eventually acknowledged for his

work. He is best known for his studies in the nature of heat, establishing its relationship to mechanical work. These

experiments, although first met with silence, eventually disproved the Caloric Theory of heat from 1783.

After many years of researching he designed an experiment which led to the discovery of the first law of

thermodynamics. This Law of Conversation of Energy states that ‘Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed; it

can only be transferred from one form to another’. In recognition of Joules contribution in relating heat and

mechanical motion the derived unit of energy, the Joule is named after him. His lifetime work was extensive from

formulating the absolute scale of temperature [with William Thomson] to researching magnetostriction. As H.J.

Steffens says in his biography on Joule: “He was certainly more than ‘just an excellent experimenter.’ His

experiments led and shaped his speculations, but his speculations stood boldly against accepted scientific theory and

postulated a new, exact order in the universe. ”

His gravestone is in Brooklands Cemetery, Sale and a memorial unveiled in 1905 can be found in Worthington Park,

Sale. A statue of Joule resides in the Manchester Town Hall and there is a white marble memorial to him in the north

choir aisle of Westminster Abbey near the graves of Newton, Herschel and Darwin.

A Joule Museum was established in Acton Square, Sale in 1950, displaying artefacts and documents from collections

including that of the Tappenden family, relatives of Joule. This unfortunately closed though the artefacts passed to

UMIST Museum of Science and Technology and its successor the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in

Liverpool Road, Manchester. The manuscripts and documents passed to UMIST Library and are now held by the John

Rylands Library, Deansgate.

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James Prescott Joule’s grave in Brooklands Cemetery and his memorial in Worthington Park

Commission Brief

We are all familiar with the Joule as a unit of energy, yet perhaps we would struggle to describe it or concern

ourselves with its relevance to our everyday lives. These commissions need to celebrate Joule’s legacy and

acknowledge his services rendered to science. We are looking for your inspiring ideas, approaches and solutions to

capture the imagination of the audience, especially 11-25 year olds. This age group will also form the core influence

for direct engagement in the artists’ design development.

Prior to this call out research was undertaken to demonstrate the need for direct community consultation and how

important it is for our younger generation to be inspired, especially in the sciences. We are therefore looking for a strong

programme of meaningful engagement in the development of these commissions, allowing the time to explore and

develop the best celebratory and commemorative outcomes to the brief.

The commissions can be realised in any medium and due to the wide interpretation of the brief we are open to your

forward thinking ideas to create engaging artworks. However, overall they must be realistic within a practical public

environment for quality, durability and maintenance.

We are looking for an artist with proven track record for the main ‘gateway’ artwork, with the smaller commission being

open to an early career artist. We anticipate support for the early career artist from the lead artist in conjunction with the

project team. Together the artworks would become a feature of the town to attract visitors from the locality, as well as

regionally and nationally.

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Location for artworks

Commission 1

On exiting the metro at Sale you can look across to the Town Hall as shown below, the paved area is the proposed

location for the Gateway Artwork. We are not looking for figurative sculptures, though it could be as a stand-alone

piece or have more of a presence within the area.

1) view to location for main commission, outside of Town Hall, next to Waterside Arts Centre

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2) view to location for main commission, from pedestrian crossing outside of Metro entrance

3) view from location for main commission, with back to Town Hall, looking across to Metro

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Commission 2

This paved area is adjacent to the canal and one can walk along the canal to Brooklands Cemetery, or take the metro

one stop from Sale to Brooklands. The half mile route is a casual 15mins stroll to the cemetery gates; the path is

adjacent to residential areas, popular with walkers and cyclists and forms part of the Bridgewater Way. We are

suggesting a connection between the two locations for the second commission, which for example, can be as a trail

or as highlights for each end destination, we are however open to your proposals.

1) entrance onto Bridgewater Way near Sale Town Hall and exit at Brooklands by cemetery

2) Bridgewater way between Sale and Brookands: lhs Sale to Brooklands, rhs Brooklands to Sale

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Expected Outcomes

A permanent physical artwork and a smaller permanent artwork[s] which have a strong visual impact and

encourages people of all ages to engage with celebrating the life and achievements of James Prescott Joule

The artists will creatively engage and consult with local people. A group of young people [aged between 11-

25yrs] will form a core influence throughout the process and development of the artworks

The artworks will be easily implemented, meet H&S requirements and require minimal maintenance

The artworks should have impact and be physically approachable so that they can be experienced close up

without for example being easy to climb or otherwise damage

The artwork will be robust and flexible enough to be successful at different times of day and in all weathers

The project steering group will support the selected artist to make local contacts and connections and to

source relevant information as required. The commission would be documented and likely to be showcased

as an informative exhibition alongside the unveiling of the completed artworks

The artists’ role

Independently research, develop and execute the commission in close consultation with the project team

Create a programme to deliver creative community engagement involving local stakeholders to inform the

development of the proposals. This delivery would be supported by the project team as an active community

engagement programme to embrace stimulating discussion and learning to aid a sense of ownership.

Consult with, attend meetings and maintain relationships with project team

Draw up draft proposals and share with project team and community for comments

Develop final detailed and costed designs to approval for fabricating accessible inspiring high quality public

artworks

Undertake or closely oversee the fabrication process

Undertake or oversee the installation process

Budget

Reasonable travel expenses will be paid to the short-listed artists selected for interview.

The budgets below for the commissions are subject to artists’ proposals and successful funding. Confirmed budgets

would then be offered to draw up detailed proposals.

Indicative budgets are anticipated in the region of £30k-£40k for the main prominent artwork and up to £10-12k for

the smaller commission. This fee is to include all expenses incurred by the artist in the creation of the work – design,

travel, preparation, materials, fabrication, installation. A payment schedule for the commission will be specified in

the artist contract.

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Copyright

Copyright remains with the artist. The shortlisted artists will give permission to Trafford Council and Creative

Industries Trafford to use their submissions for funding bids. The artist shall be credited as the author of the work in

any material including preliminary designs or sketches.

Process and Timeframe

We are looking for expressions of interests so that we can enhance our funding bids for realistic budgets to enable

the success of the commissions. The period between the selection of the preferred submissions and issuing of the

contracts will be used to raise funds and build awareness and enthusiasm for the project. Our funding strategy will

respond directly to our preferred artist submissions and costings. The timings outlined below are therefore

indicative.

Action Date

Phase 1: Artist selection to fundraising bid

Artist brief advertised Monday 10 July 2017

Deadline for expressions of interest Monday 31 July 2017

Interview for short-listed artists Tuesday 15 August 2017

Fundraising applications submitted September 2017

Fundraising decisions due November 2017

Phase 2: Final artists selected and implementation of engagement

programme

Shortlist artists informed to work on their ideas to present at interview November 2017

Appointment of artists and contracts given December 2017

Implementation of community engagement programme to development

of detailed designs for phase 3

January 2018 – May 2018

Phase 3: Proposals approved for fabrication and installation

Commission approvals June 2018

Commission fabrication July - September 2018

Installation of commissions October 2018

Official opening event of commission December 2018

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Expressions of interest

To apply please send the following documentation as one pdf document.

If you wish to send film or audio, we can accept up to 3 min reel.

Internet links are acceptable to demonstrate where the content of a submission has an online interface.

Written proposal detailing your initial response, approach and ideas to the brief context, max 2 sides A4,

please include your thoughts to public engagement programme with 11-25yr olds and what resources you

might need to make it happen, you may also add a page for any sketched ideas

Outline of indicative budget and schedule – artist time [engagement and design fee], resources, fabrication,

installation

Up to 10 images of previous relevant projects, if you are applying as an early career artist please submit

relevant examples of your practice and work explaining your vision for creating the public artwork

CV with two contactable references, public liability insurance level and DBS status

Any queries can be emailed to visualarts.waterside@gmail.com or you can contact Stella Corrall on 07776384550

Please send your application by email to

visualarts.waterside@gmail.com

Deadline is 5pm Monday 31 July 2017