Background
The North East Artist Development Network is led by a small group of organisations committed to supporting artists to develop their work. It grew out of the NewcastleGateshead Cultural Venues Creative Programmers group coming together with the North East Venues group to form an independent network.
Vision and aims
The Network’s vision is to make the North East the best place in the UK for artists to develop work, by creating a strong and effective artist development infrastructure that not only retains talent in the region, but also attracts talent to the region.
The activity aims to:
• deliver a talent development programme which will influence the way artists/companies and venues work together
• initiate relationships between artists/companies and programmers
• increase the level of development support offered by venues
• promote the North East as a fantastic place to develop and present work
• stimulate critical writing about theatre and performance presented in the region
Residency programme
As part of the Network’s activities, an ambitious residency programme involving 15 venues across the North East region will take place during 2014/15, with each member venue hosting an artist or company for one week.
The residencies are designed to support artists and companies at the earliest stages of developing their work, providing an opportunity to work up an idea, with the support of a venue, to the point where is it ‘commission ready’ i.e. in a position to seek funding or other support to realise the work.
Financial support of up to £2,000 is available per residency.
Host venues for the first batch of residencies, taking place between Nov 2014 – Mar 2015 are:
• ARC, Stockton
• Arts Centre Washington
• Dance City, Newcastle
• Gateshead Arts Development
• Middlesbrough Theatre
A second batch of residency opportunities will be announced in early Jan 2015.
Timescale
Closing date for applications Mon 11 Aug 2014, 10am
Shortlisting w/c 8 Sept 2014
Interviews w/c 8 & w/c 15 Sept 2014
Decisions announced w/c 22 Sept 2014
The first batch of residencies will then take place between Nov 2014 – Mar 2015.
Residency package
Each residency offers:
• A week’s space for research and development
• A welcome on the first day in the venue to meet with the programmer and other staff
• A meeting with the programmer at the end of the week to view or discuss what you have done during the week
Financial arrangements
There will be financial support of up to £2,000 made available to the artist/company per residency by the North East Artist Development Network. Artists/companies applying are asked to supply a budget to demonstrate how they will use this money.
Selection Criteria
• Artists must be living and working in the North East region (as defined by Arts Council England)
• Applications must be from emerging artists/theatre companies – you may be graduates, or artists/companies who have made no more than one professional show since graduating
• We are interested in artists/companies making performance work (theatre, dance, spoken word) for indoor presentation for family or adult audiences
If you aren’t sure whether you are eligible or not, please email [email protected] to check.
The selection will consider:
• The artistic idea – is it interesting, original and exciting?
• How much will you benefit from the scheme – what impact on your future work and practice would a residency make?
• Have you considered who the audience for your work might be, and is this convincing?
• Is the budget realistic?
How to apply
Please email a proposal (max 2 x A4 pages plus budget) including details about:
• You/your company – who you are, what stage of development you are at, biogs of key members, reviews of previous shows
• The idea or show you would like to use the week to research and develop
• A budget for the week
• How you would benefit from the residency time, and what the next steps, after the R&D residency might be
• Some visuals to support your application
Applications must be submitted by email to [email protected] by 10am on Mon 11 Aug 2014.