Community Post Type: Callouts

Liverpool BID Company is launching a new Arts & Culture Fund for projects and events taking place in Liverpool city centre. 

The new fund has two levels of grants; one for small grants of less than £5,000 which can cover 100% of the project, and a larger grant which can cover up to 50% of the total cost of the project.

Eligible projects should align with Liverpool BID’s objectives, including driving footfall to the city centre, improving the city perspective, showing innovation and helping to showcase Liverpool as a thriving city, ensure the arts have a future in the city, meet both sustainable and ESG objectives, identity a commitment to equality and diversity. 

Applicants can be levy payers, or non Levy Payers. This can include charities, CICs and CIOs committed to increasing public access to the arts. Organisations can include, but are not limited to, museums, galleries, historic houses, archives, libraries, agencies and festivals. 

Two funding rounds will take place, in Spring and Autumn. The first deadline is Friday 27 March at 5pm and the second is 23 September at 5pm. 

Bill Addy is CEO of Liverpool BID Company, a not for profit private company funded through 1,000 organisations in BID areas across the city centre who pay a levy. 

“We have a long commitment to arts and culture in Liverpool and this fund is the next logical step, especially when the public purse is under so much pressure. Our desire with this fund is to bring animation to the city centre, to provide a gateway and access to the arts and to be part of the cultural landscape that makes Liverpool so vibrant. 

Our Culture & Commerce BID Area is home to many of Liverpool’s major arts organisations, including National Museums Liverpool, Tate Liverpool, Open Eye Gallery and more. If our extended Retail and Leisure area is approved in its ballot, Liverpool Everyman theatre and the Philharmonic Hall will join the Playhouse Theatre and Royal Court Theatre as levy payers. Alongside the public art we have supported with Liverpool Biennial, the Liverpool Plinth and Open Culture, we hope that this fund can support those who want to bring even more colour and creativity to the city centre”. 

To apply, organisations and individuals need to download the application form here https://www.liverpoolbidcompany.com/liverpool-bid-arts-culture-fund/

Thanks to YOU, Unity Theatre have now past the crucial 50% point of their urgent crowdfunder appeal to save their Open Call programme, which means applications are officially live!

Open Call provides Merseyside creatives with a guaranteed income of up to £1500, a slot in our Autumn 2023 programme and a package of mentoring and digital resources designed to help artists grow their career and promote Liverpool talent globally.

To date Open Call has funded 44 different Liverpool artists and companies, providing nearly £80,000 of support across two years

Their Crowdfunder will make sure we can give the next wave of Merseyside creatives this same support AND increase the minimum fee they can receive by 25% in line with cost of living. They need it now more than ever

However, at only £5000 raised so far they won’t be able to support as many as they have in the past.
A donation from you today will mean they get to say a huge YES to even more Liverpool artists.

To donate, see here

Liverpool City Council is today launching the next part of its Eurovision engagement programme – EuroStreet

Following on from EuroFest, the two-week cultural festival, and EuroLearn, the education programme, EuroStreet, will make sure that communities across the city region get the chance to bask in Eurovision’s sparkle.

And not only that – there is now a chance for everyone to bring their brilliant Eurovision ideas to life with EuroGrants of up to £2,000.

A detailed EuroStreet programme will be released soon but events will focus on:

• Festival of Europe – Celebrating the cultures and heritage of all Eurovision nationalities in the city region
• Songs for Europe – Live participatory performances touring residential care settings
• Solidarity Disco Banquets – Food, music and crafts at community-based feasts.

• Chess for Everyone – A huge pastime in Ukraine, celebrated with in-person and online games.

EuroGrants are supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Community organisations and groups as well as schools from across the city region are now invited to apply to fund projects which will take place in May or June.

Projects should use Eurovision as their inspiration, focusing on local cultures, memories and the heritage of the region’s communities.

Applications from not-for-profit organisations will take precedence and projects and events should be free or low cost to attend.

Applications for grants of up to £2,000 must be received by 5pm on Wednesday, 29 March. Culture Liverpool will be joined by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in deciding which projects are successful with decisions being made by the end of the first week of April.

To apply and for a full list of conditions visit the Culture Liverpool website.

The team are seeking a local female vocalist/performer in or around Liverpool/Merseyside to support their ‘Celebrate Women In Music’ charity concert on the 18 November 2023 at Zanzibar, Liverpool, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, and campaigns for better cancer care.

Whilst they are not in the position to announce the line-up, the artist they are seeking will be joining an impressive all female line-up, and as such the genre we are looking for could be pop, Americana, folk, indie, jazz or soul, and will be a fantastic opportunity for an upcoming artist to increase their exposure, awareness and it will be a great experience whilst raising funds for a great cause.

Duo/solo performers are welcome, as are those who are in a band, they just ask that the lead singer is female, and it can be with a full band or half backing, and the set will be 20 minutes.

Any performers who are interested are encouraged to email info@ofevents.co.uk for further information, with a brief description of themselves, any links to any video performances, and dates if they are performing live. They may hold auditions via zoom.

Please note, submissions must be submitted before 14 April 2023.

 

Art in Manufacturing is the National Festival of Making’s headline commissioning programme – providing artists with an incomparable platform to make new work in and alongside some of the UK’s major manufacturers.

As part of Art in Manufacturing Season 5, they have released two commission opportunities available as follows:

• One artist practitioner or collective will undertake a residency with Cardboard Box Company based in Accrington
• One artist practitioner or collective will undertake a residency with SWS UK based in Lancaster

Residencies will take place between the period of April and July 2023, with exact dates to be agreed.

During the residencies, commissioned artists will make new work to present as part of the National Festival of Making weekend in July 2023.

As well as taking direct inspiration from the factory floor, there is opportunity to study the history of manufacturing in Lancashire and the wider UK, its associated communities and making practices; impact and connection to global making; contemporary making practices, products and position in the contemporary making landscape – economically, culturally, environmentally and socially.

They are interested in hearing imaginative ideas and approaches for this artistic residency that should connect with the diversity of people who engage with our programme.

The project budget for each commission is £5000. The project budget should cover your artist fees, expenses and materials plus any other associated costs.

Visit www.artinmanufacturing.co.uk/news/ to download the full brief and find out how to apply.

A new sculpture is needed for The Liverpool Plinth, and the geographical area for eligible artists is expanding.

Established in 2018, The Liverpool Plinth is located at the Grade II listed Liverpool Parish Church, the Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, and is managed together with  Liverpool BID Company and dot-art. Part of the Public Art Strategy in place in Liverpool’s Commercial District, The Liverpool Plinth is the Northern response to London’s Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth. Celebrating and platforming sculptors, until now those living in the North of England, it is free to submit a proposal. The selected artist receives £1,000. 

For the first time, artists working from the Midlands will be eligible to enter their work to the high profile location. The winning sculpture is selected by a panel drawn from Liverpool’s commercial and cultural life. 

Since its inception, the project has brought public art into the city centre, exploring diverse issues including disability, mental health, climate change and heritage. Previous artists whose work has been displayed on The Liverpool Plinth include;

Tony Heaton with Gold Lamé

Sam Shendi with Split Decision

Gail Dooley with Tidal Shame

Faith Bebbington with Jimmy

Katie McGuire with 2400

The Open Call for 2023 opens on Monday 27 February and closes on Sunday 30 April at midnight. More details and how to apply can be found here  https://dot-art.co.uk/the-liverpool-plinth-call-23 

Lucy Byrne, Director of dot-art, says:

“It’s always exciting to open submissions for the Liverpool Plinth and I cannot wait to see what fantastic pieces the talented sculptors of the Northern half of the country have tucked away in their studios, waiting to be showcased. We are looking for visually impactful work that makes a real statement and provokes conversation – and even argument!”.

Wirral MakeFest, a free community event that aims to cultivate the public’s engagement with makers, inspiring future careers, hobbies and skills in the community and raising the visibility of local makers through the event and its accompanying website.

The event will take place at BOTH Birkenhead Central Library and Williamson Museum and Art Gallery. Save the Date! June 3rd 10-4pm

MakeFest is a fusion between art, science and technology: STEAM, and our makers will be from a wide range of arts and sciences, from plastic remoulding to VR and crafts to drama.

Calling All Makers! Calling All Makers!

This is the official call for Makers to take part in the inaugural 2023 Wirral MakeFest. They are looking for Makers, Craftspersons , Educators. Coders, Performers and Enablers in SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, ARTS AND MATHS.

If you would like to take part, please fill in the form (link below) to let them know and they will be in touch with you. Please note, this is not a craft fair, exhibition or trade show – so if you are only interested in exhibiting and selling, without sharing, talking or demonstrating this is probably not the best avenue for your practice.

All data will be handled in compliance with GDPR / ICO guidelines. They will keep your data safe and promise not to share it with anyone else.

Any questions, please drop an email to hello@wirralmakefest.org

To apply and complete the form, see here

 

Manchester Independents (MI) seeks proposals for new work to be completed in 2023 in any artform.

Proposed work:

• can be in any artform or combination of artforms
• involving GM communities is welcomed, but should be led by GM artists/creatives
• can have other support already in place or yet to be applied for
• must be new – yet to be created or can have been in development but not yet shown publicly
• may have a public outcome – e.g. public sharing, in person, online or in print/digital form – or if more process-based should have a clear start and end date
• must take place in Greater Manchester or be created in GM and take place online/print/digital format
  should be shared publicly between 1 June and 30 September 2023 or if more process-based have another outcome during this period

They want to hear from a wide range of people from across the city region. They particularly welcome applications from those currently under-represented in the industry as a result of barriers arising from social, gender, sexuality, financial, ethnic, cultural, religious, geographic or educational disadvantage, or disability.

If you would like to explore how they can support you in overcoming these barriers, please get in touch with them and they will happily explore this with you.

To apply and for more details, see here

Closing date: 24 March