OPEN CALL: IN OUR SPACES Aberdeen Artist Commissions

Image: Studio of artist, Frances Burnett-Stuart, Outer Spaces, Union Terrace, Aberdeen. Credit: Grant Anderson

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Duration: October 2024 – March 2025

Budget: £3,000 per commission

Eligibility: Artists resident in the city of Aberdeen

Outer Spaces matches artists needing temporary studio or project space with vacant commercial property at zero cost. We create artist development programmes and other projects to engage communities and audiences where our spaces are located.

IN OUR SPACES is a new Outer Spaces commissioning programme in conjunction with the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival and supported by Creative Funding from Aberdeen City Council. This year’s festival (10 – 27 October 2024) invites artists to respond to the theme ‘In/Visible’ to break down the prejudices that still define mental illness and is the starting point for the commissions.

We are looking to commission three collaborative, socially engaged visual artists or collectives to develop and deliver a project with communities within six months, engaging with the theme of the festival – ‘In/Visible’.

We want to commission artists exploring mental health through their practice and those with lived experience of mental health challenges who have experienced barriers in the recent past due to their circumstances. The projects could result in a temporary exhibition, a series of activities or workshops, or by making aspects of the artistic process accessible to the public digitally. 

The commissioned artists’ projects will take place in our spaces in central Aberdeen. We have established key locations based on the spaces we currently occupy. We are, however, open to the artist defining where their project might take place depending on the participants and communities they want to engage. 

To apply, please send an expression of interest to submissions@outerspaces.org and include:

- Information about you and your practice

- An outline of your proposal

- Contact information: Name, preferred pronouns, home address, email, phone number (all information remains confidential)

- Your submission should be no more than one side of A4 in PDF format

What you will get:

- Use of a vacant, public facing commercial property (subject to availability, as each lease is subject to its own timeframe).

- £3,000 to cover artist fees, materials, transport, artist travel and any other associated costs. 

- Logistical support from the Outer Spaces team plus promotion and documentation of your commissioned project.

Timeline:

- The deadline for expressions of interest is 6pm, Sunday 29 September

- Successful applicants will be informed by Monday 7 October

- Get-in to spaces will be from Monday 14 October

- We expect the commissioned projects to be delivered by the end of March 2025

- Participants will be invited to join a discussion to reflect upon the project and share feedback.

Important Guidance Notes

- Artists must have PPL insurance. Insurance for artists is available via membership of Scottish Artists Union, a-n or Axisweb.

- Spaces cannot be used for commercial purposes.

- We are aware of the proportion of artist’s time spent writing proposals. We don’t expect a fully worked-up plan. Just tell us about your idea and how your activity would engage with communities. Keep it simple and realistic. 

- Artists, collectives and artist-led initiatives resident in the city of Aberdeen are eligible.

- Multiple artists can apply collectively as we recognise that community is important to sustain artistic practice. 

- We particularly welcome proposals from artists who can demonstrate circumstances that may have been a barrier to creating or presenting new work.

- The commissions will be selected by the Outer Spaces programme team and we will inform all applicants of our decision.

- Submissions arriving after the deadline will not be considered.

- Outer Spaces understands disability using the social model and acknowledges that people with impairments are disabled by environments, systems and attitudes that do not consider difference in how they are set up. We will commit to considering access at every stage of the project, and to creating no new disabling barriers from the outset.

Access notes:

• The spaces will have ground floor access and accessible WC facilities. 
• If there are any adjustments that would help support you in your application, please do get in touch. We’re happy to talk about alternative ways for you to tell us about your idea. If you have questions about access, please get in touch at info@outerspaces.org.

More information about SMHAF 2024