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Cultivate Commissions are designed to support creative practitioners to work with and alongside communities in County Durham to increase participation in arts and creative activity that has a positive impact on communities.
The goal of Cultivate Commissions is to bolster creativity in County Durham and instill pride within our communities.
There are 20 creative commission opportunities - see below.
The Commissions:
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10 Seed Commissions - of the value of £2000 each
4 Germinate Commissions - of the value of £5000 each
6 Harvest Commissions - of the value of £5000 each
Additionally, there is a programme of activity to support awarded practitioners to implement, document and celebrate their project and consider how they might apply learning resulting from the creative process to enhance their own creative practice.
Find out more
To support the implementation of this initiative the commission team are hosting a series of online and in person information sharing events, where the team will share information on the project, its aims, the commission, the application process, and timeframes.
All places can be booked via the eventbrite links below.
The in-person events will also include workshop activities designed to facilitate conversations about:
Creativity
Developing community engagement
Notions of pride of place
These will take place on:
Who can apply?
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Both emerging and experienced creative practitioners living and/or working in County Durham are eligible to apply.
Applicants can only apply for one Cultivate Commission in 2024/25.
Deadline for proposals: Monday 29 July, 12 noon
Timeline:
A selection panel will meet in August 2024
Successful applicants will be informed by 30th August
Agreements will be issued first week September
Activity will take place between September 2024 and January 2025
Successful applicants will be required monitor and evaluate the process, attend a reflection session in November and share the process and outcomes at the Love Culture event on 14 February 2025.
Update on Friday 26th July 2024:
We are adding the documents to the website for the final weekend of applications to support as many people as possible to access the opportunity:
Cultivate Commissions - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I apply if I am a creative practitioner who does not live in County Durham?
A: YES! The Cultivate Commissions are open to creative practitioners living AND/OR working in County Durham. Because of the nature of Into the Light and it’s ambition to grow and galvanise the cultural sector of our place we are particularly interested in applications from creative practitioners from County Durham but not being a resident of County Durham does not exclude you from applying. Please remember the work must happen in County Durham and engage with County Durham People. For more information about what areas are classed as County Durham visit here.
Q: Can our collective and/or organisation apply?
A: Yes - we use the term ‘creative practitioner’ to encompass all varieties of deliverers. Please note if you are applying as a collective that is not constituted or has a nominated standalone organisation (e.g. an organisation like a CIC with a bank account) then an individual practitioner would need to be named as the lead recipient and this creative practitioner could not then apply separately for their own project. Remember you can only apply for one commission during this round of Cultivate Commissions for 2024/25.
Q: Can I apply for more than one commission from the different commission types?
A: No - applicants can only apply for one commission of one commission type. If you are applying as a collective then the lead creative practitioner cannot apply separately as themselves (but creative practitioners named in the bid who are not going to be the contracted individual could - see question above).
Q: Do I need to have attended one of the sessions in order to apply for the commission?
A: No. The sessions are provided to offer support and opportunity for enquiry and development ahead of the applying for the commission. You can apply without attending a session but you must ensure you read the guidance document included in the application pack. You can receive this by emailing hello@nomorenowt.org. Please ensure you request this in good time ahead of the application deadline.
Q: Will you (No More Nowt and Northern Heartlands) support me to connect with communities?
A: We cannot support any application in advance of submission however if you have an idea but have yet to create connections with communities you may want to factor some time and capacity into the application to support this area of development. We would encourage you to think carefully about who you would like to work with and why. Be clear and specific in the application about how you intend to connect with them.
Q: Will you (No More Nowt and Northern Heartlands) support me to get a DBS and/or PLI?
A: If you do not currently have a DBS and/or PLI you can include costs associated with securing these within the application budget. DBS requirement will depend on the connected community/organisation but are likely to be required if working with vulnerable adults and/or children. No More Nowt’s host organisation East Durham Trust can support with DBS if required. Please factor in time required to organise this documentation when considering the timeline (DBS can take at least 4 weeks to turnaround and costs £45). Creative Practitioners would be expected to source their own PLI and will not be covered by the PLI of our organisations.
Q: Can I deliver a project within a different timeline/timescale than between September 2024 - January 2025?
A: No. Due to the nature of the funding we are not able to offer alternative timelines for the project - all delivery will be required to happen between September and 10th January 2025. Please think carefully about all the criteria before you apply. This includes all outputs (exhibition, screenings, performances etc) however you may choose to show the work again past the deadline as part of your own creative practice.
Q: Which commission should I apply for?
A: We cannot advise on individual commissions but here is some specifics to think about the commission types:
Seed commissions are being treated as a test and try commission, with the expectation on engagement being much lower than the bigger commissions. You might want to take a risk and do something different with this commission. This is also the most broadly available with 10 commissions total.
Germinate commissions are likely to be the most oversubscribed as there are only 4 commissions and the context of this delivery can be much broader than Harvest which is place specific.
Harvest commissions are place specific, aiming to engage across our 6 key places (Peterlee, Stanley, Shildon, Weardale, Durham City and Digital) so if you have a commission in one of these places then you might consider applying to Harvest as there are 6 commissions available.
Q: What do you mean by Digital as one of the places for the Harvest Commission?
A: As a large and broadly dispersed County we are interested in exploring how ‘digital’ can be utilised to increase participation and be considered as a place in and of itself. This might include:
Creating work that is purely digital e.g. A new game space on a digital platform
Creating work that uses digital as a way to connect with participants who might not be able to access culture and creativity in other ways through interventions we all got familiar with during the pandemic e.g. zoom sessions that engage with those unable to leave the house.
Creating work were digital plays an integral role for example work that includes digital integration such as QR codes.
Background:
Cultivate Commissions are a strand of the Into the Light Place Partnership initiative in County Durham.
Into the Light aims to develop enduring growth by fostering creative collaborations over from 2024 - 2027. The initiative seeks to nurture talent, broaden access to creative education, enhance skills, and facilitate engagement and connectivity across the creative sectors.
Cultivate Commissions are being delivered by No More Nowt and Northern Heartlands as part of the Into the Light Place Partnership Initiative made possible by UK Shared Prosperity Funding.
This page is hosted by No More Nowt on behalf of the collaboration between Northern Heartlands and No More Nowt.
Partners & funders