Open Call | Westport Arts Festival 2018, Street Art Project
Application deadline: 30 January
Westport in Co. Mayo and Limavady on the Causeway Coast have had a long relationship together. They have stood together during times when it has been a challenge to understand what each community was experiencing. Over the period since the Good Friday Agreement they enjoyed building connections that have seen them welcoming each other at different occasions both sporting and artistic.
Over the last three years Westport Arts Festival has been commissioning street art to give the town a somewhat different look. Of course it does not approach in scale the tradition of street art that we see in Northern Ireland. So Westport Arts Festival (WAF) is inviting expressions of interest from artists to deliver a public art project that reflects the relationship between Westport, Co. Mayo and Limavady, Causeway Coasts and Glens Borough, Northern Ireland. They are calling the project ‘Where To Now’ and are interested to hear what people in both communities think about this initiative.
The format for the ‘Where to Now’ project will comprise of three gable end murals. The project is to be completed by September 2018. This project is the 4th in an annual program of street art commissioned by WAF over the past 3 years. The work should respond to the relationship between the communities during the recent time of conflict, the current time of peace and a vision for relationships between our communities in the context of evolving political structures post Brexit. As part of this work artists should be open to a process of active engagement with community members whose perspectives may inform the work.
WAF are seeking expressions of interest from artists working both north and south. Please send your expressions of interest, to include:
- examples of previous work
- an artists CV and/or artists statement
- and any immediate ideas that you have for this project
- an outline budget to include artist fee and other costs
Please send the above in a single PDF document to info@westportartsfestival.com.
Further to the receipt of the expressions of interest Westport Arts Festival will shortlist approximately 5 artists who will be invited to make more detailed proposals. A more detailed brief will be provided to stage 2 shortlisted artists.
Open Call | Westport Arts Festival 2018, Street Art Project