Dromore In Action, Co. Down, Northern Ireland.

Building Peace through the Arts

Tender to commission the appointment of an artist to work with local older teenagers and to design, produce and install an artwork in the public realm. The total budget available for the artwork is up to £40,000 Sterling (inclusive of VAT)

The deadline for expressions of interest is 5th December 2014 at 4pm. Late submissions will not be accepted. Applicants are requested to read the full brief carefully as it contains important information pertaining to all stages of the commission.  

BACKGROUND

The project seeks to develop a legacy artwork reflecting the group’s journey towards peace. The Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities Programme themes are community cohesion, regeneration through the arts, positive relations at the local level, peace and reconciliation, connecting communities.

Dromore in Action is an umbrella group in Banbridge, Co Down, approximately 31km South West of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

It represents a wide range of individual community groups from the area. The group came together to bring their community together and build positive relations which would benefit everyone. In the past Dromore held an 11th night bonfire which caused issues around sectarianism and through engagement and discussion throughout the community, the issue was addressed and there is no longer a bonfire night, this shift has positively impacted relationships.

Dromore Park runs from the Lurgan Road to the Banbridge Road and is maintained by Banbridge District Council.

At the Lurgan Road side of the Park there is an underpass where young people regularly ‘hang out’. This has had the result of discouraging the general community of using this entrance as the behaviour of the young people has been perceived to be intimidating. The young people have been engaging in drug and alcohol activities andthere have been regular incidents of sectarian graffiti appearing in the underpass. Dromore in Action are keen to address this issue and make the Park more accessible to all and that is how this project came about.

As a first phase of the project the group developed a local steering group to help manage the process. An Artist was recruited to carry out creative community consultation with a wide range of stakeholders in the community. She presented a report containing her findings to the steering group including possible themes and potential site locations for the proposed artwork. The steering group agreed that ‘Taking Stock’ was the theme most open to artistic interpretation. The preferred location for the public art is the Underpass in Dromore Park.

Theme : Taking Stock

Dromore has achieved relative peace brought about through the balancing act that is the Peace Process and the desire of local people to accommodate differences for the sake of providing a safe and welcoming environment for their community. Dromore traditionally was a market town; and though changes over the last 50 years are evident,working with the senior citizens would evoke a rich, historical, body of work to develop meaningful connections with the younger generation. This project will bring together all sections and generations of the community to work together to build positive long lasting relationships, recognise the contribution made by the older generations and build a strong sense of pride and identity forthe younger generations.

Dromore historically boasts the only medieval stocks in Ireland this lead to a discussion for a theme. Taking Stock, by definition is to think carefully about a situation or event and then form an opinion. Discussions included historical sites buildings and events for example the ‘mote and bailey’, Norman invasion etc. The theme suggests taking Stock of the town’s long unique history, and to promote it with artistic/community collaboration. This could be imagery, text, music, creative writing, dance etc.

The theme – Take Stock will

· Encourage older teenagers to have faith in their past and heritage.

· Build a positive proactive team of artists and volunteers who have experience to develop a relationship with the young people with a ‘front line practice’.

· An encouraging outlook and programme of events, could give confidence to older teenagers who maybe have problems with authority to get involved.

Requests for clarification

All requests for clarification or further information in respect of this EoI, or any questions about the procurement, should be submitted by email to the nominated person from the group dealing with the project, in this case Thomas Smyth, 64e Banbridge Rd, Dromore BT25 INE, Northern Ireland.

No approach of any kind in connection with this commission should be made to any other person within, or associated with the group or by any other means.

If the group considers any question or request for clarification to be of material significance, both the question and the response will be communicated, in a suitably anonymous form, to all artists/ artist teams who have responded or have expressed an interest, or those that show an interest before the EoI return date and time.

Any such communication from applicants must be received no later than two days before the closing date and time. Communications shall be treated in confidence, but shall be subject to this paragraph.

Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing by the group.

STAGE 1. - EXPRESSIONS OF INTERESTS MUST BE PRESENTED WITH THE ACCOMPANYING APPLICATION FORM, which is as part of the Full Brief, all of which is downloadable here

http://www.publicartonline.org.uk/downloads/news/ARTIST%20BRIEF%20Dromore%20Nov%202014.p

Further queries to  

Thomas Smyth,

64e Banbridge Rd,

Dromore BT25 INE,

Northern Ireland.