Call For Artists – Digital Artbox Commission

Chester Visual Arts (CVA) is looking to commission two Cheshire-based artists to produce two original creative activities to be accessible through our CVA website, for our Learning programme. These activities should be inspired by the overall themes running through our previous V&A touring exhibition Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers. 

Who are they aimed at?

The two activities will be aimed at two different groups (one activity per group):

  • Seniors, Adults and Young Adults
  • Families and Young Children (aged between 5 – 11)

Guidelines

The two activities will be available through our CVA website. They can be either purely digital or a mix of digital and print. We would welcome proposals of independent creative activities that can be easily followed or reproduced, and age appropriate. 

This could include:

  • Digital activities: video tutorials, activity packs to download, printable worksheets or smart phone activities.
  • Activities that would require basic materials to complete, such as: crayons, markers, paper, recyclables or household items. Please consider using affordable materials easily available to most households.

About Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers

CVA brought the major V&A exhibition Chance and Control: Art in the Age of Computers to Chester in 2019, with the support of principal funder, The Tyrer Charitable Trust, and Arts Council England. 

Since the 1960s, artists and programmers have used computers to create prints, drawings, paintings, photographs and digital artworks. Chance and Control drew on the V&A’s rich international collection of computer-generated art and includes work by pioneering digital artists such as Frieder Nake and Georg Nees – who produced some of the earliest computer art – through to the younger generation of artists practicing today.

It offered viewers the rare opportunity to trace the chronological development of digital art, exploring how aspects of chance and control shaped the creative process and produced vivid and original artworks.

Featured works included techniques such as repetition, patterns, reproduction, printing, line drawing and much more. The title, ‘Chance and Control’, referenced the process of creating art using computers at a time when artists couldn’t see the outcome of their programmed work.

Please feel free to use the theme loosely. 

You can find out more information about the exhibition here: www.chestervisualarts.org.uk/exhibitions-and-events/chance-and-control/

Who is eligible?

Artists must be based in the Chester, Cheshire West, Cheshire East or Warrington area. 

Deadline:

10am, Friday 7 August 2020. 

Fee:

Two commissions, £250 for each one. This fee covers your time producing the activity and any associated costs in doing so. The chosen artists will be appropriately credited on the activity produced and their name will appear on all material related to the activity. This will include: print, our CVA website, social media and PR.

How many activities can I submit?

You can propose up to two activities, one for each commission. Only one activity per artist will be awarded as we will feature two separate Cheshire-based artists’ activities. 

How to apply:

  • To apply, please include the following information:Your activity proposal: (250 words maximum)
  • Why is this appropriate to the stated age group? (100 words max)
  • Any future costs: Please state here any anticipated costs for CVA in reproducing the activity (e.g. worksheets to be printed)
  • Your biography (250 words maximum)
  • 3-4 images of your previous work
  • Any relevant website links

Email this to: learning@chestervisualarts.org.uk with the subject heading: ‘Learning commission application’

If you have any queries, please contact learning@chestervisualarts.org.uk

Successful applicants will be notified by Monday 17 August. The commission work will need to be completed by 14 September 2020.

Decisions will be made by the CVA Learning team. The activity produced, in whole and in part, shall remain the property of Chester Visual Arts.