Engage Scotland seeks proposals from visual arts organisations / galleries across Scotland to deliver a co-produced project with young people as part of a new youth arts programme.
ART Evolution is Engage Scotland’s exciting new collaborative and responsive programme supporting young people aged 16 – 25, freelance artists, creative educators and visual arts organisations/galleries as we emerge from the pandemic.
Application process
Please read the information below along with the supporting documents before submitting a proposal.
Organisations interested in submitting proposals for funding to deliver projects should complete the ART Evolution application form and submit it by email to [email protected] by Wednesday 7 July 2021 at 12pm.
Please use the form provided to submit your proposal. Please contact us if you need the application information in another format.
If you would like an informal conversation about taking part in ART Evolution please contact Hannah Rye, Engage Scotland Youth Arts Project Freelance Coordinator. [email protected].
ART Evolution is supported by Creative Scotland.
We are delighted that one of the three ART Evolution projects will be supported by The Fleming Collection.
Along with the Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation, The Fleming Collection exists to further an understanding and awareness of Scottish art and creativity across the UK and beyond through exhibitions, events, publishing and education. Its Museum without Walls strategy uses the collection to initiate touring exhibitions of Scottish art, such as the Glasgow Girls and Boys and the Scottish Colourists, through partnerships with public museums, art galleries and institutions. Read more about the Fleming Collection here.
Project Overview
ART Evolution is Engage Scotland’s exciting new collaborative and responsive programme supporting young people aged 16 – 25, freelance artists, creative educators and visual arts organisations/galleries as we emerge from the pandemic.
In April/May 2021 Engage Scotland undertook a scoping and consultation exercise, to understand what support the visual arts sector needs to ensure inclusive engagement with young people, as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from the scoping phase are available in a short report available here.
The next phase of ART Evolution aims to support the sector to tackle some of the challenges and barriers; but also explore some new ideas/approaches; around engaging young people with the visual arts, as identified in the scoping report.
Engage Scotland is now seeking proposals from 3 organisations to each deliver an exemplar, youth-led visual arts project that engages with young people aged 16 – 25; each project will include support for an associated, paid youth traineeship; as well as fairly-paid opportunities for freelance artists/creative educators.
Engage Scotland is interested to receive proposals for innovative projects that focus on at least one of the following criteria around engaging young people with the visual arts (as identified from the scoping phase):
Fostering positive mental health and wellbeing
➢ Engaging and supporting young people who face barriers to participation that
have been exacerbated by the pandemic
➢ Using a person-centred/youth-led approach to project design
➢ Exploring the outdoors and/or the natural environment as a way of tackling
barriers to young people’s engagement with visual art
➢ Exploring high-quality, innovative and inclusive approaches to ‘blended
engagement’ (i.e., a combination of remote and in-person)
➢ Exploring innovative solutions for safe in-person working
➢ Reinforcing models of partnership or collaboration with other organisations, e.g., 3rd sector, local authority or other cultural partners
Evaluation and Project Dissemination
A dedicated evaluator will support ART Evolution funded partners to develop a robust project evaluation framework. Engage Scotland will spread the impact of the work through wider sharing, networking and training opportunities around youth arts for the visual arts sector in Scotland.
Project Budget
The following funding is available for each visual arts organisation/gallery partner:
£6,000 – to support project work with young people (x 3 projects)
Note: freelancers contracted to projects must be paid at Scottish Artist Union rates.
£2,000 – to support a paid trainee position for a young person aged 16-25. (x 3)
The trainees will work alongside the artists and young people to deliver the projects in each organisation. They will be involved in all aspects of the project delivery including planning meetings, preparation, delivery of workshops, marketing, set up and clear up, presentation/showcase/exhibitions, trips and evaluation of the project.
Partner organisations will need to commit to providing £2,000 of in-kind support for ART Evolution.
Project timescales
ART Evolution project activity will take place between September – December 2021. However, given the ongoing uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic, we are aware that some flexibility may be necessary, e.g. in the event of any significant changes to government guidelines that might impact project delivery.
We plan to let you know the outcome of your application by Friday 16 July 2021.
Supporting Documents