No More Nowt is working on a programme of digital work that intersects and supports the deepening of understanding of the role of digital in cultural engagement with communities like ours. We’re particularly interested in exploring themes of place, identity and connection across our large, dispersed and rural county. This follows our move from working in a defined geographically specific area of the County (East Durham as East Durham Creates) for the first 8 years of our programme into countywide programme as No More Nowt.

County Durham is England’s fourth largest county. It covers a vast area of 862 square miles, and a population over 530,000. Many areas of County Durham are post-industrial communities and highly rural. County Durham is in the top 20% most deprived Local Authorities in England. Of 225 ‘left behind neighbourhoods’ across England (those deprived areas chronically lacking places to meet, connectivity and an engaged community), 16 are in County Durham, twice as many as any other area of England.

Digital exclusion, inequalities in digital access and data poverty continue to be a challenge in the context of our place which was further highlighted by the pandemic and the ongoing reductions in services like Libraries, where those without their own devices have typically been enabled to seek digital access.

We have drawn inspiration from the work of Dr Fiona Hill, whose book, “There Is Nothing for You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century” explores the role of place in accessing opportunity and how technology has the capacity to change this:

“[...]... place—where you live—is the body that holds it. Place frames everything else. It has the greatest impact on an individual’s educational and economic opportunity and ability to build wealth. It can hold someone back from finding opportunity or provide a direct pathway to it. For all these reasons, unlocking the potential of place is one of the greatest imperatives of the twenty-first century.”

“Changes in technology come along roughly every five to seven years, so no one can ever have any expectation of permanence in the workplace. People's skills will always need upgrading. But the right kind of education for the twenty-first century is the one that prepares us to weather these changes—and which does so equally, without regard to where we are from or what your parents do.”

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We are particularly interested in the idea of residencies exploring the power of shared digital spaces and places to empower real-life engagement, particularly for those who may be seen as “easy to ignore” for reasons surrounding their identities. We want to deepen our understanding of the role digital can play for these groups of people in finding a place in culture where they can navigate as themselves - and making things better because they are part of it. This might include (but is not limited to) queering spaces, those who cannot occupy physical spaces because of illness, disability, life circumstance or caring responsibilities and those who live in areas where our physical programme is not currently active.

We are looking to engage creative practitioners, artists, collectives or organisations to work with people from our place on 2 x Digital Residencies that will explore these themes. Whilst the residency will require in person facilitation and time in County Durham, the work presented can also occupy a digital space. We would be particularly happy to see proposals that include in person work that bridges the gap between physical and digital spaces. There is no set art form.

We would like the commissioned artists / organisations to also consider how their digital work can reach those across our county who may be digitally excluded or have reduced access to digital spaces and how they could contribute and engage in some way.

The No More Nowt team will be supported by our digital lead OGRE Studio and together we will work with the successful artists / organisation and support them throughout the residency.

This work forms part of a collaboration between No More Nowt and Durham County Council as part of Digital Place Lab and is made possible thanks to the Into the Light programme and UK Shared Prosperity Funding. We are co-funding the two digital residencies.

Through these residencies, we hope to achieve:

• Two residences with a strong connection to our communities, responding to everyday realities, places, people, histories and hopes.

• Innovative approaches to using digital space and digital work to develop local people’s connections to our programme including cultural opportunities they might be unable to experience in physical spaces due to the dispersed nature of our place.

• An opportunity for local people to help co-create and be involved with cultural opportunities that they have not had previously with a focus on digital work.

We are open to artists at all stages of their careers including recent graduates and are always interested in applications from people who have connections to County Durham. Applicants should not be put off from applying if they are not from County Durham.

We are always interested in diversifying our artists, audience and participants in terms of gender, race, sexuality, lived experience and disability.

Due to the nature of our Digital Residencies to date, we are actively seeking applications from female identifying, queer LGBTQ+ and/or non-binary artists / organisations.

Who Can Apply?

Both emerging and experienced creative practitioners working or living in County Durham are eligible to apply. You can apply as an individual creative practitioner, as part of a collective or as an organisation.

Eligibility

• Creative practitioners must have their own Public Liability Insurance.

• An enhanced DBS check will be required if working with vulnerable adults or children and young people.

Please note that you cannot make an application as an individual / collective / org to undertake both Digital Residencies.

To apply please send the following in either:

1) a single PDF document or

2) a video or audio file sent via WeTransfer that should be a maximum of five minutes to hello@nomorenowt.org including the reference: NMN Digital Residencies 2025

If you do not adhere to the guidance outlined below your application for the commission may not be considered.

Please describe your idea and approach to this commission (max 1000 words) include the following:

• Your core artistic idea and how this idea demonstrates ambition and innovation using digital work in a heritage or cultural context – for participants, for audiences.

• How this idea has relevance to the people, history, context, potential futures and geography of the area.

• Please outline an estimated audience & participant number. This should include digital and physical as separate figures. We recognise this is hard to estimate at this stage so figures can be approximate.

• Please give a brief artist(s) biography (max 200 words) for yourself and for any other artists that will be involved with you in this commission.

• Remember you can Include weblinks in written applications to relevant Social Media or websites.

• Please attach a proposed timeline (include the contact days with the participants, planning, evaluation and visits).

• Please attach a budget including contingency should delivery be required to change.

• Please confirm that you have Public Liability Insurance cover of up to £5 million. Ideally a DBS will need to be in place however NMN can support artists with this as required.

You can include images or video links with your response if relevant however please ensure these are selective.

Please also complete Equal Opportunities Form, using this link:

https://forms.office.com/e/4wvJBSpD4C

Selection

Through the application process, NMN will assess the following:

• How the application meets the brief.

• Quality and ambition of the artistic approach.

• Quality of approach to utilising digital spaces/work and your track record in this, particularly with audiences and participants who do not typically engage in this way.

• Feasibility, deliverability and value for money

Notification

Applicants will be notified whether the application has been successful or unsuccessful by 3rd February 2025.

Feedback for unsuccessful applicants will be available on request.

Monitoring and evaluation

Creative practitioners will be required to collate a sample of data from participants and audiences. This is likely to will include participant names, postcodes and ages. A template will be provided to successful applicants prior to their work commencing. GDPR?

All monitoring, evaluation and reporting information will be required by 30th September 2025. In terms of evaluation, we are particularly interested in what you observe about the development of your creative practice, how digital can support and grow the reach of your work, how it can be a tool for engagement with audiences and participants from our place and how this might inform your creative practice in the future.

Letter of Agreement and Payment

• Successful applicants will be issued with a letter of agreement during early February 2025.

• Payment will be issued across two instalments.

• Part 1 on signing the agreement and Part 2 on return of monitoring and evaluation as agreed and set out in the agreement.

For further information us by emailing: hello@nomorenowt.org

2 x Commissions at £10,000 each.

We would expect the artists / organisations to work with communities in County Durham or those with clear connections to the place.

We expect the appointed artist / organisation to deliver a minimum of 10 days’ worth of contact time in County Durham (based on the AUE rate of pay of £345.11 per day) from February – September 2025.

The remaining budget should include artist / organisation’s time for R&D and work creation, access costs, travel, materials, planning/prep time, VAT, access costs and any other expenses.

No More Nowt

No More Nowt works to engage local people in creative activities and grow cultural provision in ways that are sustainable and can last, focusing on parts of County Durham where involvement in creativity and culture is significantly below the national average and areas classed as ‘Left Behind’ Neighbourhoods.

No More Nowt was founded in 2014 (formerly known as East Durham Creates) as one of Arts Council England’s 38 National Creative People & Places projects. In 2022 the programme became a countywide initiative, having worked solely in East Durham for the first 8 years. Co Durham Co Created.

No More Nowt is an action research-based programme, encouraging communities to take risks, try something different and co-create a responsive cultural offer through this learning. Delivery ranges in scope and scale. By design NMN believe culture can and should happen in any space that matters to local people.

Our work is made possible thanks to a network of Creative Champions, Cultural Hub leaders and creative practitioners and collaborators who share our mission that no one should be left behind by culture.

To find our more visit https://nomorenowt.org/ and check out our social media channels @nomorenowt.

OGRE Studio

OGRE Studio is a brand and design practice leveraging creative bravery, big thinking and brand strategy for social and commercial change.

From their home in Northern England, they work with clients and causes - from Singapore to Sunderland - whom they care deeply about.

Together with clients they make bold, stand-out work that matters, challenges and champions. Their approach is simple; People matter, society matters, and the planet matters.

OGRE Studio love their craft and working with the opportunities of a discipline that exists in a state of permanent flux alongside technological, social and cultural change.

OGRE Studio delivers high quality work across a large range of clients and industries; from arts and culture - to AI and tech - to enterprise - to purpose-led.

To find out more visit https://ogre.studio/ and check out their social media @ogre.studio

Into the Light

Into the Light is a place-based creative collaboration that will drive long-lasting growth in County Durham. It will cultivate talent, widen access to creative education, enhance the skills of the cultural workforce, and break down barriers to working in the creative industries. The programme is a catalyst to level us up, mining our assets in new and imaginative ways to illuminate the ideas, history, communities and culture that shape our county.

The mission of Place Lab is to use the power of culture and creativity to catalyse change at a local level. Working in towns across County Durham each Place Lab will foster a community-centred approach to culture and regeneration. Hyper-local, place-based activities will boost cultural participation and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and connectivity within and between our communities. To achieve this, five Place Labs will be established across the County, complemented by a digital knowledge hub designed to enhance inclusion, connection, and knowledge sharing.

Find out more about Into the Light by visiting: http://intothelightdurham.com/