The Board of the George Melly Sculpture Appeal wish to appoint an artist to work with a sculptor and jazz musician to devise and facilitate a number of school workshops in Brecon. The art workshops are part of a programme of community engagement for the commissioning of a permanent artwork to celebrate the life of the renowned jazz singer George Melly. A selection of the output from the workshops will be exhibited in Brecon.
The George Melly Sculpture Appeal is a registered charity, no. 1130174.
Background
The George Melly Sculpture Appeal was set up in July 2008 at the 25th Anniversary of Brecon Jazz Festival. The aim is to commission a sculpture which commemorates George Melly’s relationship with Brecon, his role in the founding of the Jazz Festival and as President of the Contemporary Art Society for Wales and to provide a lasting legacy for the town.
George Melly was the first musician to be contracted by Brecon Jazz for the 1984 festival and remained a loyal and inspirational performer and supporter until his death. He and his wife Diana had a home in Scethrog just outside Brecon for nearly 30 years.
The inspiration for this tribute to George and his long association with Brecon and Brecon Jazz is the long-held dream of Liz Elston, who fittingly, was the instigator of the very first festival. She was Chairperson for the first ten years and has now formed the George Melly Sculpture Appeal committee to realise the dream.
The Project
As part of the process to commission a permanent artwork for George Melly, it is envisaged that a number of school workshops will be held to introduce school pupils to the project and publicise the commission. The workshops should engage pupils in the culture and heritage of their area and highlight the Brecon Jazz festival. The workshops could be about how to capture a person’s life in an artwork or could explore the representation of jazz through visual art. We are particularly interested in artists whose practice relates to form and colour, rhythm and line, which would have an affinity with jazz music. To stimulate debate about jazz and art and enliven the workshop events it is proposed that a jazz musician would be involved to play music and to explain how jazz music is constructed (a musician will be appointed to a separate budget).
Some of the output from these workshops will later be exhibited in St Mary’s Church in Brecon. As well as this display it is possible that as part of a planned Art Week in October, the pupils’ artwork from the workshops could be digitally printed onto banners and bunting which would decorate the town during the Art Week. The cost of producing these banners would be separately funded.
Professional Practice
The selected artist will need their own public liability insurance.
We aim to short-list artists in late August and interview in the first week of September. The workshops would be spread over September and October 2010. The workshops schedule will be managed by the project manager, Mererid Velios, who will liaise directly with the schools to arrange dates and times that are suitable for the artist.
Procedure
This brief has been widely advertised and the Artist Selection Panel, consisting of Robert Macdonald, David Moore, Elizabeth Jeffreys and Mererid Velios, will short-list 3-4 artists to interview. Reasonable travel expenses to interview will be re-imbursed. The selected artist will be given a workshop contract and paid in two instalments, one at the beginning of the project and one on completion.
The criteria for selection will be based on:
• Creativity shown in past projects
• Experience of delivering innovative workshops and collaborating with others.
To Apply:
Please send examples of previous work as a pdf or powerpoint document on a CD. We also require a printed up to date CV with additional information about workshop and residency experience, and letter of application outlining your interest in the project. Send applications to: Celfwaith, 7 Pontfaen, Cardiff, CF23 7DU.
