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Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Sustainable Development Fund supported video project based at Blythburgh Church, Suffolk

Please note, this opportunity is currently only open to W&BA members. Membership is £15 a year, providing many benefits for working artists. It can be purchased via our membership page.

Background

A series of videos will be commissioned by Waveney & Blyth Arts (W&BA) and created by an Ecologist, Artist(s) and Poet taking inspiration from the landscape and species found at the Blythburgh Holy Trinity Church site in Suffolk. The aim of the video series is to creatively engage people within the natural landscape, which is also the organisational aim of Waveney & Blyth Arts.

The project is part of our ‘Bugs & Blossoms’ programme of events, taking a creative look at biodiversity in our patch. See https://waveneyandblytharts.com/bioblitz-arts-may-2020/ for a blog on the project and sample poem from our Vice Chair, Melinda Appleby.

The videos will encourage participants to take notice of nature, learn more about the Blythburgh Church site and surrounding areas in the AONB and encourage (safe) visits.

Outline

We are seeking a Poet to record an on-site video for families and adults.

Editing of this video will be done in-house and will not be the responsibility of the Poet. The Poet will provide multiple clips or a longer video for editing. The video will either be edited as one longer piece, or cropped into bite-sized videos, which cover a series of prompts, approaches or methods of taking inspiration from the Blythburgh Church site and surrounding areas to create original poetry. The video will be edited down to c. 20 minutes, so please supply adequate filmed material to work from.

The workshop video will be published on the W&BA YouTube, website and across our social media sites.

The successful poet will be paid a commission of £100 for recording the video inclusive of prep time. There is an additional budget for materials and for travel at £0.25p per mile for research visits to the site, if required – these will need to be pre-agreed with W&BA prior to claiming.

We ask that the selected Poet have the following: 

• Access to a suitable video recording device to record on-site 
• Poetry facilitating skills with a clear and engaging communication approach 
• Take into consideration the limited materials that people will have access to at home to take part – keep it simple but imaginative
• Create a poetry workshop with easy to follow approaches which will respond to the Blythburgh Holy Trinity Church and surrounding landscape 
• Be familiar with the Suffolk Coast AONB area

The selected artists will be provided with support to work up a suitable plan with resources from Suffolk Coast AONB.

Timeline

• Deadline for proposals: Friday 14th August at 5pm 
• Poet notified of selection and arrange an informal phone/Zoom meeting to discuss project plan: 17th – 19th August (tbc) 
• Plan presented to W&BA committee for confirmation: 20th – 21st August 
• Filming by Poet: 22nd August – 4th September 
• Deadline for filmed material: Friday 4th September at 5pm 
• Broadcast via W&BA: w/c 14th September (tbc)

Submit an application

Applications are welcome from professional and non-professional poets but you must be a member of W&BA to be eligible.

We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups in the arts, including people with disabilities, Black and Minority Ethnic groups and those identifying as LGBTQ+, or other protected characteristics.

To apply, please submit a written proposal (up to 400 words) or a video proposal (maximum 3 minutes).
Please outline in your application:

• Your relevant experience – poetry engagement or workshops; family and intergeneration projects; writing projects inspired by place, nature and environment 
• Your workshop idea – how you will make this clear, accessible and enjoyable for people to take part in 
• If you are an existing member of W&BA, Suffolk Poetry society or other local poetry based in Norfolk/Suffolk

We would also welcome a short overview of your work and a CV.

Applications should be emailed to info@waveneyandblytharts.com.

The deadline for this opportunity is Friday 14th August at 5pm. Please make sure you can meet the dates outlined in the timeline above.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Suffolk Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Sustainable Development Fund supported video project based at Blythburgh Church, Suffolk

Please note, this opportunity is currently only open to W&BA members. Membership is £15 a year, providing many benefits for working artists. It can be purchased via our membership page.

Background

A series of videos will be commissioned by Waveney & Blyth Arts (W&BA) and created by an Ecologist, Artist(s) and Poet(s) taking inspiration from the landscape and species found at the Blythburgh Holy Trinity Church site in Suffolk. The aim of the video series is to creatively engage people within the natural landscape, which is also the organisational aim of Waveney & Blyth Arts. 

The project is part of our ‘Bugs & Blossoms’ programme of events, taking a creative look at biodiversity in our patch.

The videos will encourage people to take notice of nature, learn more about the Blythburgh Church site and surrounding areas in the AONB, and encourage (safe) visits.

Outline

We are seeking 2 x Professional Artists to each facilitate a live 1-hour Zoom art workshop for families and adults. The activity will take inspiration from the Blythburgh Church site and surrounding areas.

The workshop will be recorded so that it can be shared to a wider audience later in the year.

The project has now commenced and we would like the Zoom art workshops to take place in August 2020, at a mutually convenient date as agreed with W&BA and the selected artists.

The 2 x successful artists will be paid a commission of £100 for a 1 hour online workshop inclusive of prep time. There is an additional budget for materials and for travel at £0.25p per mile for research visits to the site, if required – these will need to be pre-agreed with W&BA prior to claiming. 

We ask that the selected artists have the following:

• Zoom application on their computer with a good, reliable internet connection
• Art facilitating skills with a clear and engaging communication approach
• Take into consideration the limited materials that people will have access to at home to take part – keep it simple but imaginative
• Create an arts workshop which will respond to the Blythburgh Holy Trinity Church and surrounding landscape 
• Be familiar with the Suffolk Coast AONB area

• Provide a copy of a recent DBS check and suitable insurance cover 

W&BA will provide a representative during the Zoom art workshops to provide technical support, e.g. muting participant microphones/cameras and asking questions submitted via the chat box from participants. W&BA will schedule a short test call before the live workshops take place to check that the set-up is working sufficiently. 

The selected artists will be provided with support to work up a suitable plan with resources from Suffolk Coast AONB.

Submit an application

We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups, including people with disabilities, Black and Minority Ethnic groups and those identifying as LGBTQ+.

To apply, please submit a written proposal (up to 400 words) or a video proposal (maximum 3 minutes). 

Please outline in your application:

• Your relevant experience – digital/online arts engagement or workshops; family and intergeneration art projects; art projects inspired by place, nature and environment
• Your workshop idea and chosen art-form – how you will make this clear, accessible and enjoyable for people to take part in

We would also welcome a simple overview of your work and a CV.

Applications can be emailed to info@waveneyandblytharts.com.

The deadline for this opportunity is Friday 31st July 2020 at 5pm. We will notify all applicants within 1-2 weeks of the deadline.

Waveney & Blyth Arts

UPDATE 1/3/21

With the new roadmap out of lockdown we are pleased to announce a programme of key events for W&BA this year.

Sculpture in the Valley 

UPDATE 5/01/21

With the new lockdown announcement we are reviewing the 2021 programme again but hope to deliver a streamlined series of 3 key events.

Please come back for new updates, or visit our social media for regular updates too.

UPDATE 19/03/20   

It is with great regret that we at Waveney and Blyth Arts are postponing all decisions about our Celebrate programme for the next 30 days, in response to Government guidelines and our internal risk assessment. 

As the situation with Covid-19 is changing rapidly, we have decided to postpone all decision-making about our events for at least 30 days. This involves putting production of our brochure on hold, and sadly having to cancel some of our earlier events, including the Gt Yarmouth Photography workshop. We are in contact with our event hosts and volunteers regularly to continue to monitor the situation accordingly. 

After Easter, we will make a decision on whether to continue delivering parts of the programme or not, again in line with Government advice and our risk assessment. Our first priority is and will remain public safety and wellbeing.

We’d like to thank everyone for their support and understanding during this difficult time. 

17/03/20   

In light of the recent spread of Covid-19, we wanted to give our members and wider audience an update on how we will be ensuring the safety of visitors coming to our events this year.

At this time we have not made any final decisions on whether our full programme of events will run. As many of our events are run by volunteers, we will of course be assessing the risks with them and everyone else involved, in order to reach conclusions over whether or not to postpone or cancel certain events in the coming weeks. In other cases where we consider the risks to be very low,  we will hold off on cancelling and wait to see how our ticket sales fair.

We will publicise any decisions on delays and cancellations as soon as they are made, so please check this page and our social media pages for updates.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

A talk series from Tanya Harrington

This monthly talk series on the fourth Thursday of each month, continues at cosy Mettingham Village Hall. The theme is ‘The History of Portraiture’ and looks at the Northern Renaissance, when artists strove for naturalism and detail, made achievable with new developments in oil technique – and yet these portraits are infused with a religious and sacred mood which speaks of the past.

Our next session is from 10.30am – 12.45pm on Thursday 27th February

Entry £10 (£5 for carers and under 18’s)

Designed as stand alone talks. All are welcome. Sessions include a 20 minute break for refreshments at the tea rooms just down the road.

Find out more at TanyaHarringtonTalks.co.uk

We’re collaborating with Beccles Town Council to install BBQ stands along Beccles Quay for sunny outdoor picnic days.

Beccles Town Council have been concerned that people are using disposable BBQ trays at the Quay and thereby burning the grassed areas. To stop this happening the Council wishes to install three stands on which to place the disposable BBQ trays and thus reduce damage to the grass. The commission is open to W&BA members to submit their design ideas for the permanent stands which can withstand all weathers, including storms and potential flooding, and be used by the public to hold their disposable BBQs.

The idea for the commission was sparked by Cllr Christine Wheeler whose attention had been brought to the scorched grass left by people using the Quay area for disposable BBQs. This poses a risk and has a negative impact on the surrounding habitat, so she thought that permanent stands would limit the damage to the site, whilst also encouraging visitors to enjoy the space for picnics.

The Beccles Quay has boat mooring, access to nearby marsh trails, picnic benches and a children’s play area, making it popular with visitors on boats, as well as cross country running, walking or organised wild swimming events. The Quay has also hosted fun fairs and music festivals previously. The BBQ stand commission asks that the artists bring in inspiration from the Beccles Quay and town, to make it distinctly ‘Beccles’ in its look and/or materials. We envisage that the 3 stands could potentially have 3 different designs from 3 artists.

We are very grateful to Beccles Town Council and Cllr Christine Wheeler for inviting W&BA artists to submit ideas for this public art commission. The deadline for proposals has been extended to Saturday 31st October.

BBQ Stand Brief

When deciding on the successful design, both attractiveness and cost will be taken into consideration. Your design must be:

• Fit for purpose – the stands must be weather-durable and able to withstand any flooding which may occur around their base.
• Complementary to the environment – the Town Council has declared a Climate Emergency so would wish the stands to fit with this principle.  (The Council is aware that BBQs are not environmentally friendly but consider that using stands is more appropriate than allowing the grass to be burned. We also recommend that those wishing to use the BBQ stands to source FSC approved UK charcoal).
• Embedded into the ground
• Brickwork as a base.
• Reflect the persona of Beccles Quay and its environs.
• Safe to use.
• Measurements:  
  • The disposable BBQ trays are 24.5 cms wide and 31 cms long.  The flat base of the stand must accommodate two trays sitting side by side width ways.  It should also be at least 31 cms deep.
  • The stands should be set at a workable height, approximately a metre.  (There are standard BBQ stands at Loddon Quay which will give an indication of an appropriate height)
  • The brick bases should be 1.5 to 2 metres square.

Design submissions with a fully costed budget should be made by 31st October 2020 to the Town Clerk, Beccles Town Hall, The Walk, Beccles, NR34 9AJ

Featured image from TourSuffolk.co.uk

We’re very excited to announce that next year’s sculpture event, Sculpture in the Valley 2020, will be held from 18th July to 2nd August at Potton Hall, Westleton. The event will be curated by well-known Suffolk based artist and curator, David Baldry.

2020 will be W&BA’s 10th birthday, so we wanted to develop the next annual sculpture event to celebrate our legacy connecting art with landscape and place over the past decade. We have devised the theme ‘Reflections on Landscape’ which asks artists to consider ideas about scale (micro to macro), and perspectives and interaction between wild and cultivated aspects of the landscape. It’s important to note that we are living in the context of climate crisis and this, along with broader perspectives on the landscapes we live in and our relationships with it, could be compelling ideas for artists to explore.

We are thankful to our sub-committee of practising artists – Mike Challis, Meryem Siemmond and Stephen Worrall – who have generously given time to develop the artist brief. Alongside curator David Baldry, the event will be coordinated by our new Chair Genevieve Rudd and the site will be managed by Simon Raven — pictured above: Genevieve, David and Simon.

About this year’s event, our curator David Baldry said: “When invited to curate this year’s Sculpture in the Valley 2020, I was immediately struck by the title Reflections on Landscape. This year we are blessed with a new and extraordinary site close to the East Suffolk coast with its woodland, heath, marsh and of course sky. Art is at its best when pointing to something we don’t always acknowledge or take for granted. This year artists will have every opportunity to think about, engage with and make sculpture in a very special location which embraces both garden and the wild. I hope we can use this to showcase all aspects of contemporary sculpture. The big, the small, the beautiful, the forever, the experimental and the ephemeral. Above all I hope that this exhibition will excite, delight and challenge its audience.”

Artist Call-out

We’re inviting W&BA artist members to submit proposals for Sculpture in the Valley 2020 on the theme ‘Reflections on Landscape’ in the fantastic Potton Hall location. The site includes a wild-flower meadow, vegetable/potager gardens, lawns with formal planted gardens with climbing plant archways, views across to Dunwich heath and woodland, a cascading waterfall feature and sheep grazing fields.

If you’re feeling inspired and looking for a project to ponder over the festive period, take a look at our Sculpture in the Valley 2020 page on our website which outlines details about the venue, theme and the application process. The deadline for applications is Friday 7th February 2020.

Before applying using the online form on our website, make sure you read the artist information document and have current W&BA membership.

We look forward to hearing and seeing how you respond to the brief!