Members of the South Beach Drop In, in partnership with St Peter’s Cofe church and the Transience Programme are seeking proposals from artists

Future Popular: Performs
South Beach
Artist Brief
May 2016

Members of the South Beach Drop In, in partnership with St Peter’s CofE Church and the Transience Programme are seeking proposals from artists, organisations or collectives interested in creating a site-specific performance based in the South Beach area of Blackpool. We are seeking commissions from artists working in traditional or non-traditional performance who are confident in challenging perceptions and encouraging residents to view their community in a different way.



The Group

We will be working with people who live in the South Beach area to participate in the project. They will be our performers, producers, volunteers and advocates. With the artist they will shape what the performance becomes and they will determine how it evolves after the project finishes.

The largest demographic of the people in Bloomfield is single adults from 25-60, this is reflected in the people who attend our services. We will be particularly working with those individuals who attend the Transience Programme’s weekly South Beach Drop In, at these sessions individuals are able to access housing, benefit and debt advice, support to find employment or training, access to computers to apply for benefits, look for work or build digital skills, and receive support from the People’s Team for a variety of needs. These Drop Ins have been running now for a few years and as such the Peoples Team have built up good relationships with the people who attend. We hope these relationships will help engaging individuals into the project.

We may also recruit individuals from the other projects/activities that take place within St Peters and the wider South Beach community.

The Area

Historically South Beach, was a vibrant holiday area, with streets full of B&Bs and local high streets of high end independent businesses and those selling Blackpool paraphernalia for visitors to take home as fond reminders of a family holiday. Today the area is still regarded as a holiday area, but many of the B&Bs have been turned into HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupation) and shops stand empty. This has led to high levels of transience and for those that live here, a feeling of a lack of community and a belief the area belongs to visitors and improvements or events are for the benefit of others and not for local residents.

Today the area hits the top end of all the wrong league tables. St Peter’s Church sits within the Bloomfield ward of Blackpool, which is recorded as one of the most deprived areas in Blackpool. Most of the individuals who access our services live within this ward and the neighbouring wards of Waterloo and Talbot.

Local people are all too aware of the negatives. What they, and you, don’t hear is the organisations and services that are operating in this area, the pockets of community, the resilience of the people that live here and the skills, knowledge and aspirations of every individual. This is what we want to promote and help change the perception of those within and out with the area.

We hope through this project to reclaim the streets! To create a community of residents that feel they are as welcome here as the visitors and to help build a sense of ownership, pride and strengthen the resident community’s voice.

The Commission

We are commissioning an artist(s) to work with the South Beach Drop In group to create a piece of performance reflecting this unique community. We welcome proposals from artists working in both traditional and non-traditional performance; we are open to new ideas so challenge us! We do, however, have a few non-negotiables:

• 
  The artist must include the group at every stage
  
• 
  We want to challenge perceptions of our area and start a new, positive conversation
  
• 
  The group must have the opportunity to develop new skills
  
• 
  The artist(s) must have experience of working with diverse and hard-to-engage groups
  
• 
  The artist(s) must be available to deliver workshops on Fridays between 1pm-3pm
  

The number of workshops is to be decided by the artist and group.

Some examples of work we like:

We liked the idea of learning skills which could be shared with the community. Could something like this be a performance?

Haircuts by Children (2006), Mammalian Diving Reflex

There are a lot of negative things people think of when they think about our area, how can we turn this into a positive?

Also we don’t have many open spaces, so could the beach be used?

Complaints Choir (2005-), Tellervo Kalleinen & Oliver Kochta-Kallenen

We liked the idea of ‘giving people permission’ to have their say in open spaces. Could we use something similar to strengthen community voice?

Tiza (Lima) (1998-2006), Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla

Other things we liked:

• 
  Time/Bank (2010), Juileta Aranda & Anton Vidokle (2010)
  
• 
  Museo De La Calle (1999), Cambalache Colectivo
  
• 
  UrbaNET – Hillbrow/Dakar/Hillbrow (2006), Stephen Hobbs & Marcus Neustetter
  

Do not let these examples limit your creativity! We just wanted to show what type of things we may be interested in.

Anticipated Timescale

June – Interview/Recruit Artist
July - Initial Workshops with Artist
Aug – Workshops/Rehearsals
Early Sept – Rehearsals
Late Sept – Final Performance
Oct – Evaluation/Feedback

Budget

£1,500 Artist fee to deliver workshops, rehearsals and oversee final performance (this fee is inclusive of any expenses required)

£700 Costs relating to performance/infrastructure (props/costumes/media/etc.)

How to apply

We are inviting proposals from interested artists who feel that their practice fits with our aims and objectives. We would like to see:

1. 
   Information about your practice (200 words)
   
2. 
   Three examples of previous work that you feel are relevant to this brief (link to websites or documents no bigger than in total than 5MB)
   
3. 
   Why you are interested in this opportunity (300 words)
   
4. 
   How you feel your practice would fit with the brief (150 words)
   
5. 
   How you would envisage working with the South Beach Drop In (300 words)
   

From this call out we anticipate inviting 4 artists to interview, from which we will appoint 1.
The successful applicant(s) will be self-employed and will be able to provide LeftCoast with a UTR number. The successful applicant(s) must also provide proof of public liability cover of £5m.

Please send your applications to [e-mail] by 12pm on the 10^th June 2016.

If you would like to discuss this commission further please contact Laura Brennan at [e-mail] or on 01253 476211.

Additional Info

LeftCoast is a programme of arts and creative activity happening across Blackpool and Wyre. They are all about creating amazing art on your doorstep. From jaw-dropping spectacle to intimate experiences in your neighbourhood, they want to make art happen. In the process they hope to inspire and support creatives who live, work and study here.

  

LeftCoast has been brought together by a local partnership of organisations including Blackpool Coastal Housing, Blackpool Council, Wyre Council, Blackpool Grand Theatre and Merlin Entertainments. We’re funded by Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places Programme.

This opportunity has been supported by LeftCoast through the Future Popular midi commissions scheme. LeftCoast is Blackpool and Wyre’s Creative People and Places Programme and is dedicated to bringing the very best arts and creative happenings direct to your doorstep. For more information visit www.leftcoast.org.uk
Find out more about Creative People and Places at www.creativepeopleplaces.org.uk