We are looking for an artist or artists based in the Bovey Tracey / Newton Abbot area to work with us on an upcoming project with Stover Country Park.
Over the last few years we’ve been working with the team at Stover and during the Spring / Summer of 2024, we’ll be working with pupils from a local school as part of the ‘Restoring Stover Park Project’, made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players. This includes a varied programme of work: restoring natural habitats, improving historic buildings and pathways and invigorating the experience for visitors, especially locals who experience barriers to visiting the park and enjoying the activities that happen there.
The project involves working with Year 4 and 5 pupils for a limited number of days from April through to mid-July. Over this time the pupils will be involved in a variety of activities including:
- connecting with Stover’s wildlife with a focus on dragonflies
- connecting with Stover’s history and stories
- prop / puppet making
- storyboarding for the performance and film
- movement rehearsals and a final performance in the park
The project connects with the theme of change – with a focus on the life cycle of the dragonfly (Stover Country Park is a designated Dragonfly Hotspot), historic and current landscaping changes on the site, and other ideas suggested by the pupils.
We have two roles – a workshop facilitator and a film maker – which may be combined, subject to your experience.
Facilitator / Props and Puppet Maker
We’re keen to connect with a local artist who is ‘hands on’ and who has experience of working in primary schools to create props and/or puppets. A fee of £200 per day plus local travel costs is available for the prop and puppet making work which will involve 5 days between April and mid-July. The selected artist will need to be available for some of these dates, particularly dates in the school (see below). Prep & making days at home are at £175 per day, subject to agreement with you. And there is also a separate materials budget.
Requirements
You will be a ‘hands on’ kind of person and experienced at working in primary schools or with children aged 7-9.
You will work with Red Herring to immerse the pupils in a creative and multi-sensory experience of the park.
You will work with the team to plan and execute workshops, including the creation of simple model puppets that could be constructed or decorated by children aged 7-9, to be used during the performance.
You will work in line with our environmental policy, especially around prioritising the use of sustainable materials.
You may work with the Red Herring team to facilitate pupils during the final performance.
Film Maker
We’re keen to work with a local film maker with experience of filming performance outdoors and working in schools, to create a film of the project, with a focus on the final performance. A flat fee of £1,500 plus local travel is available, to include filming and editing. The selected film maker will need to be available for the dates in July. If the selected artist is not also covering the facilitator/props maker role, there could be additional days at £200 per day, to attend and contribute towards school sessions from April to June, subject to an agreement with you.
Requirements
You will be a ‘hands on’ kind of person and experienced at working in primary schools or with children aged 7-9.
You will be prepared to share ideas around storyboarding with the pupils and enable the pupils to influence decisions around film content and editing.
You will have relevant experience to create a short film (length tbc), mainly working outdoors, which reflects the performance and which would become an ongoing asset for Stover Country Park.
Key dates:
- Thursday 25 April: creative tour of Stover Park
- Wednesday 22 & Thursday 23 May: workshops at the school
- Wednesday 12 & Thursday 13 June: workshops at the school
- Tuesday 16 or Wednesday 17 July (tbc): rehearsals at Stover
- Tuesday 23 or Wednesday 24 July (tbc) performance at Stover
If you, or artists you know might be interested please contact us with a CV and a link to your website and / or social media. NB We’re happy to consider combining the two roles if you can offer a combination of skills required.
Deadline for applications 1 March 2024
You will be informed by 12 March as to whether we would like to meet for an informal interview
Interviews 14 March 2024
Please send details to Paschale and Fiona at Red Herring Productions: paschale@redherringproductions.co.uk and fiona@redherringproductions.co.uk.
