ARTIST CALL OUT: ARTIST TO CREATIVELY ARCHIVE CITY ARCADE’S HERITAGE

The Show Windows: Reflections is a series of commissions that spotlights and celebrates Coventry’s
pioneering post-war heritage by bringing together creatives, communities and collections in the city
centre. It is produced by Historic England, Coventry BID and Coventry City of Culture Trust, as part of
The Show Windows Programme during Coventry City of Culture 2021.

For the final commission, we are excited to be partnering with DASH, the Disabled led visual arts charity.
DASH creates opportunities for Disabled artists to develop their creative practice. Together, we are
inviting Coventry-based artists who identify as d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent to creatively archive
City Arcade before it is demolished for a new development.

What are we looking for?

• An artist who identifies as d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent with a CV postcode to develop a
new artwork that will preserve and celebrate City Arcade’s architectural history as well as its
communities. The artist will be working between January and March 2022.
• An innovative and imaginative way of archiving that considers how architecture and heritage can
be more widely accessed and interacted with. Any medium can be used.
• Creative responses that bring the voices of local people into the process or output; collaboration
and partnership with City Arcade’s communities e.g. shop owners, visitors
• Documentation (photographs, videos, sound recordings etc.) of your archiving process e.g.
places you visit, people you encounter, creative turns in your making etc.
• Content or work that can be put on The Show Windows: Reflections site on Smartify.
• Willingness to help promote the commission and be available to the Assistant Curator to create
additional content, e.g. interviews / behind the scenes sketches / mock ups etc.

The chosen artist will be able to physically or digitally visit the Historic England Archive, the nation’s
archive for records of England’s historic buildings, archaeology and social history, and speak to the
archivists for inspiration and insight. All outputs from this commission will have the potential to be
considered for Historic England’s Archive and we will also explore opportunities with local cultural
partners to exhibit or take the final artwork.

The fee for this commission will be £2000, including artist fee and production costs. This is for approximately ten days of work, with a £200 day rate. However, there is flexibility in how many days you work and how much of the fee goes towards production.

To apply, please provide us with:

• A short artist bio, including links to website and social media (max. 250 words or
max 3 minute video recording)
• Images / examples of previous works (max. 5)
• An introduction to your approach and/or any initial visual thoughts of what you would to creatively
archive City Arcade (max. 300 words or max 5 minutes video recording)
• A short sentence on your thoughts about Coventry 2021, to be included in press & communications
• An Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form

We are able to offer up to £100 for access support requirements or towards a fee for an Access Support
Worker for those who need access support on their application. You will need to find your own Access
Support Worker.

Please email culture@coventrybid.co.uk at least two weeks before the deadline to discuss how we can
help with this, and for any other questions regarding your application.

The deadline to apply is Midday 29 November 2021.

Timeline
• 29 November – Deadline for applications
• December – Sifting and appointing of artists
• January-March – Artists in commission / production of works
• End of March – Final works delivered
• April – Evaluation

Fee
£2000 excl. VAT, to include artist fee and production costs. 50% of fee provided upon commission, the
final 50% of the fee provided after installation / final delivery.

There is also a seperate access support budget.