Commission Two Open Call

Although the brief refers to a single artist it may also mean more than one person working in partnership. This doesn’t need to be a legally constituted arrangement and may bring different creatives together (such as artists and producers). Artists working with or within organisations would not be excluded. 

We welcome submissions artistically led by those essential to the project’s creative development with a desire to collaborate with our producing team. The contribution of e.g. agencies providing marketing or technical input may be better reflected elsewhere in the project structure and budget. We are not seeking to appoint another organisation to deliver the commission objectives. 

Please note that the commission’s total allowable fees and budget remain the same whether applying as an individual or collective. 

The submission process aims to enable you to reflect your relevant current practice and areas of interest as well as to provide examples of recent work that will inform how you will meet the brief. We are do not expect a fully developed proposal at Open Call stage, partly as we want to respect the time involved but also as we see the value in this being developed in response to the context of Plymouth and the National Marine Park. This said, we welcome a clear understanding of your approach, and where you do have specific groups of people in mind that you feel are appropriate to the development of the work, it would be helpful to outline this and share how the engagement approach will meet the aims of the brief and correlate to our intended audiences.

The second commission is focussed on a community co-creation process, as well as a collaboration with The Box, so we would expect a high level of engagement, and the creation of appropriate opportunities to underpin this project. To provide a comparison between the intentions/brief for the second commission and those of other projects in the programme, please see this presentation which includes a thumbnail sketch of each of the four projects as initially developed. The scope and intention of commissions will be reviewed continuously as the programme develops.

This requirement is not being quantified (by number of days) in advance but given our aspirations for this work to be developed from a response to context and connected to our audiences, we will expect to agree a meaningful process for the development of work and ideas and co-creation processes. We believe this will involve a number of extended visits to Plymouth during development as well as direct involvement in a delivery phase that may include workshop or other activities and presentation of outputs, though we recognise that there may be other potentially effective ways of achieving this by activating relationships with others in the city. We are mindful of the importance of environmental impact and sustainability of our work so this engagement will need to be achieved in a way that is align to PSNMP’s values and environmental commitments.

Legacy is very important in several ways. We see the opportunity for each commission to contribute to longer term programming whether through connecting with ongoing engagement work, or developing relationships, approaches, or assets that lasting impact. For this commission, we welcome an engagement with opportunities related to building creative capacity within communities and connecting this to our aspiration for longer-term transformation, cultural engagement and environmental action. In this way, we hope to ensure the work’s lasting impact for the city whilst also actively seeking partnership opportunities for the programme in the UK and internationally.

The audience focus of Sea for Yourself is directly linked to priorities established for Plymouth Sound National Marine Park through an 18-month ‘discovery phase’. This identified challenges to access, piloted activity, and evaluated engagement to arrive at target audiences. The development of the SfY commissions now creates a valuable opportunity to develop more granular engagement plans. We will prioritise access and develop our work with awareness of the barriers to engagement with both art and culture and the National Marine Park actively addressing barriers that include disability, cultural and socio-economic background, digital literacy and access and more.

More information about this may be found in the Creative Industries Plan which refers to growth areas for Plymouth and the size of the subsectors: Creative Industries Plan - Plymouth Culture

Invest Plymouth also has a page and fact sheet about the tech/digital sector: https://www.investplymouth.co.uk/digital

Yes. Although the brief refers to a single artist, this may also mean more than one person working in partnership. This partnership doesn’t need to be a legally constituted arrangement and instead may bring different creatives together (such as artists and producers). This is also applicable for artists working with or within organisations.

We welcome applications that are artistically led by those intrinsic to the project’s creative development, with a desire to collaborate with our producing team. The contributions of others such as agencies providing marketing agency or technical input may be better considered elsewhere within the project structure and budget, as we are not seeking to appoint another organisation to deliver the commission objectives.

Please note that the commission’s total allowable fees and budget remain the same whether applying as an individual or collective.

Sea for Yourself is being delivered in partnership with Plymouth Sound National Marine Park and Plymouth City Council, and additional partnerships with Arts University Plymouth, Real Ideas, Theatre Royal Plymouth, University of Plymouth, and The Box.

The second commission is being developed in collaboration with The Box and working closely with the PSNMP Rangers Team. In addition, we have existing relationships with numerous organisations across the arts, culture, environment (including marine) and education sectors in the city and beyond. We will look to develop relationships further where it is a benefit to individual commissions or the programme's longer-term strategy.

We are defining digital as the creation of shared nature-based experiences that use digital technology. In this commission, digital technology could be an infrastructural element such as the use of communications tools as an embedded part of the project, a digital interface through which the work is experienced such as an interactive element, a screen based digital output, or a product that is digitally distributed.

For the second commission we are looking for imaginative approaches that prioritise the relationship between digital technology and co-creation processes, while also reaching broader audiences.

There are opportunities for practice development within this commission for those whose experience of digital may be less well-developed, however, since Sea for Yourself is a programme with a strong digital focus, we want to understand how you would achieve both the depth of engagement and reach we're seeking. Where this involves the use of technology, it would be helpful to outline the degree of experience you bring and if you would draw on external expertise or support.

The project budget, as distinct from the artist fee, is for any cost of realising the project as long as it is an appropriate use of public funds. Project costs may include e.g. paying other creatives, technical services or equipment, travel and transport, and exhibition materials. The artist's fee is ring-fenced and remains separate.

Budgets will be managed and approved by the producing team, but we expect a collaborative relationship with artists to structure budget appropriately, with milestones for development and approval of production plans.

We don't expect major capital costs for this commission (e.g. construction or large equipment purchases) and propositions which create longer-term storage or maintenance needs will need to be carefully considered and balanced against project outcomes. We are committed to principles of investing in creative talent in Plymouth by prioritising budget spend locally wherever practical.

If you are unsure whether an essential cost of the project is appropriate or excluded, we advise raising this at time of shortlisting and interview.

We want to commission a project that creates new outputs through relationships specific to Plymouth (including working with communities in relation to the National Marine Park), but it can certainly be appropriate to use a methodology or ideas that have previously been developed. What is crucial is that the approach allows for genuine opportunities for co-creation that are meaningful and relevant to communities in Plymouth.

Sustainability is central to the project because of its focus on our relationship with the environment. We’re interested in how the artist’s approach can create lasting value, not just by minimising negative environmental impact, although this is very important, but also by fostering ongoing interest in PSNMP and cultural engagement. Our goal is to inspire people and build confidence and appetite for longer-term participation and care for the environment.

Artists will retain intellectual copyright in their work. Our agreements reflect the need for Plymouth Culture to have appropriate rights to exhibit and promote the work across the life of the programme.

All artworks commissioned for Sea for Yourself will be temporary. There is however a commitment to ensuring public access to outcomes funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund for up to 20 years after the delivery of the project. While the forms of this access will be dependent on the work, this is most relevant for digital and documentation outputs.

We are not asking for a budget or detailed timeline as part of the application, though questions of delivery will likely be part of the interview process.

For submission, we want you to give us a clear idea of your approach and methodology, how you might manage the project and your engagement with communities, and what the intended digital inputs and outputs will be.

Yes. We don’t want to duplicate the work of a very strong existing schools programme for the National Marine Park, but we can help support engagement that might aim to reach, for example, families from lower income neighbourhoods through this form of activity.

We are currently working with our partners and PSNMP, including the Rangers, to finalise individual participation and will provide this information to shortlisted artists in advance of interview.

We are looking for a project that is generous, inclusive, ambitious, inspiring and even joyful, prompting an emotional connection with participants and our broader audience.