Introduction
Enchanted Parks is Gateshead’s innovative and magical after-dark arts adventure in the atmospheric setting of Saltwell Park. Taking place in midwinter, Enchanted Parks provides an unusual and playful artistic experience for a very broad audience and unique creative opportunities for artists working across a range of disciplines and media. We are inviting artists to propose works for the 2019 programme in response to the brief outlined in this document. Proposals can be for new commissions, existing works or adaptations.
The Event – Background
Enchanted Parks is a much-loved annual winter event – an after-dark trail of artworks through Saltwell Park, a beautiful gated Victorian Park with a wide range of interesting spaces to animate.
Over the last 12 years, Enchanted Parks has built up a loyal audience (an average of 30,000 people each year) and commissioned over 100 original artworks. The event sells out and attracts great press coverage and repeat visitors as well as welcoming new audiences each year.
The event is commissioned by NewcastleGateshead Initiative Culture Team working in partnership with Gateshead Council Culture Team. The Creative Producer is Maddie Maughan and the narrative is devised and written by Susan Mulholland.
The event will be open to the public each evening from Tuesday 10 December to Sunday 15 December 2019. It takes place over 4-5 hours each evening with allocated entry times every 15 minutes. Audience members follow a defined, one-way route through the park at their own pace, usually staying for around 90 minutes in total. In the past, the programme has included anywhere between 10 and 17 individual artworks from small and intimate to large and spectacular and across the full range of artforms.
Budget
In total, we will be commissioning/programming in the region of 10-12 pieces within a budget range of £2,000 – £10,000 per piece. We are
likely to commission more works in the middle to lower end of this range. We may commission one large-scale, high impact piece with a budget
of over £15,000
Please note that the delivery of Enchanted Parks 2019 is dependent on the successful outcome of an Arts Council England Grants for the Arts application, which is currently being assessed. We are likely to receive the decision at the end of August.
Deadline for proposals: 9am, Wednesday 14 August 2019
For more info and to apply, please visit – http://www.ngi.org.uk/tenders/