Salisbury City Council’s open call for artists to deliver a city-wide participatory arts project

A city-wide participatory arts project

For the 2022/23 year Salisbury City Council approved a new budget to support and acknowledge the role of public art in the city. In this first year of the budget Councillors wish to engage the public in a dialogue about what art is and should be and the ideas and concerns that are important to them, at this moment, in our City.
Last week, Councillor’s approved the publication of an open call for local artists to lead on a city-wide participatory art project that will bring residents into contact with professional artists and open this dialogue through creative ideas and experiences. The Council invites proposals for a participatory project from artists who live in Salisbury and its immediate surrounds, or who can demonstrate a long standing relationship with the city through their work. Most importantly the council, in looking to develop an approach to socially-engaged public art, is looking for artists who build the views, skills and ideas of their participants into their work and have extensive experience of working with a variety of people across the community.

The project will take place between October 2022 and March 2023 and must include residents from across the city and from different backgrounds and experiences. What shape the project takes is up to the selected lead artist under the theme of “A Turning Point”. This open call takes the definition of public art in the broadest sense and invites proposals for artists of any and all mediums.

Salisbury City Council’s Communities Manager, Sarah Gregson said, “The Communities Team are delighted to be overseeing this brand new project for the Council and to be able to work with local artists who place the voices of their participants at the centre of their work. We are always excited about new ways to enable social and creative experiences for residents as we know how important both can be for people’s wellbeing. Most of all we look forward to seeing what the participants in this project think public art can mean to them, so that we can build a plan for the future”

Click here to view the Artist Brief

Click here to view the Context Document

Proposals from artists will need to be with the Communities Manager by the 1st of August. Any artists with questions about the process can contact the Communities Manager.

If there are any community groups across the city who might like to take part in a creative project please express your interest to bhc@salisburycitycoincil.org.uk and the council will provide full details in September.