Public Art Online: The leading public art resource

Artist-in-residence programme, St John's shopping Centre, Preston

Deadline: June 1, 2009

Opportunity for North West based artists

In Certain Places artist-in-residence programme
Location: Preston
Date: 6^th July – 3^rd August 2009
Fee: £1,000 (plus travel expenses and materials budget)
Deadline: 1^st June 2009

In Certain Places are offering 3 artists from the North West the opportunity to make new, temporary public artworks during a short residency in St. John’s shopping centre in Preston city centre.

St. John’s is a partially enclosed shopping centre that was built in the 1960’s. It is located in the Tithebarn area of Preston City Centre, which is earmarked for redevelopment by the developers Grosvenor Ltd and Lendlease Ltd. Due to its impending demolition, many retailers have moved out of the centre, resulting in a large number of empty units. Those which remain are predominantly independent, discount stores, which are reported to be surviving well despite the current economic climate. The remaining tenants are keen for the empty units to be occupied and used creatively, and the residency scheme has been developed in response to their concerns about the centre.

Brief
We want to appoint 3 artists to each undertake a 4 week residency in the St John’s Centre. Each artist will be offered one of the shop units as a base and studio space for the four week period, in which to create new, site-specific artworks. Following an opening event, the work will be displayed in the centre throughout August.

We are interested in artists who work in any media, but whose practice is concerned with notions of place and/or the social. Throughout the residency, artists will be encouraged to engage with the shoppers and tenants of the centre. Due to insurance issues, members of the public will not have access to the units, but will be able to view activities through the windows.

The centre is open from 7am – 6pm. During these hours, the artists will be able to spend as much time they need in the centre. Project support will be provided by the In Certain Places team, including the development of an online presence throughout.

To apply
Please send a letter of interest with the following information:

• Your home address and contact details
• An outline of no more than 500 words describing how you would approach the commission (not a proposal)
• A current cv
• up to 3 images of previous work (no larger than 600kb)
• any other types of relevant media (such as sound files, weblinks etc)

to: [email protected]

Deadline: 1^st June 2009

The selection will be made by the In Certain Places curatorial team and a selected curator.

In Certain Places is a public art initiative delivered in partnership between the University of Central Lancashire and the Harris Museum and Art Gallery. For more information, please visit: www.incertainplaces.org 

For any enquiries please e-mail [email protected]