Professional development projects BY artists FOR artists.
Selected projects will take place between July and November 2016.
We plan to support at least 23 DIYs with project awards of £1500 and 3 larger-scale DIY+ with project awards of £4,000 (Please see specified brief).
Our Call for Proposals to lead a project has now closed.
One of the most valuable professional developments of my artistic practice so far
FK Alexander, DIY lead artist, 2016
Having a group of seriously curious and culturally hungry collaborators to experiment with was a great privilege
Katie Etheridge, DIY lead artist, 2016
DIY is an opportunity for artists working in Live Art to conceive and run unusual research, training and professional development projects for themselves and other artists.
DIY understands that the development of a Live Art practice is as much about the exploration of ideas and experiences as training in skills and techniques, and past DIY projects have proved to be invaluable experiences for project leaders, participants and organisers alike.
DIY is all about creating spaces to explore new ideas and test new methodologies. We want to hear from you if have an idea for an exciting, innovative and idiosyncratic Live Art professional development project that offers something different and is geared to the eclectic and often unusual needs of artists whose practices are grounded in challenging and unconventional approaches, forms and concepts.
We particularly welcome proposals led by or addressing underrepresented artists and practices, and projects reflective of other politicised territories.
DIY projects may take any form and can be based anywhere. Each DIY project is placed with a partner organisation and this year’s partners are detailed below. If a partner organisation has a regional remit your DIY project will happen in that region, if it has a national remit it can happen anywhere. We particularly welcome DIY projects that are geared towards partners’ locations. Please make clear in your application your preferred location(s), although we do encourage flexibility in this matter. (Once we have selected the final projects we may ask some proposals to be relocated to ensure an even spread of projects across the country.)
DIYs can be about anything you want, but some DIY partners have written specific briefs for artists to respond to, which cover an exciting and diverse range of themes – see below for full details.
DIY 14 has a wide range of new partner organisations and some exciting new developments including three new strands of DIY activities supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation, and three DIYs supported by Live Art UK’s new Diverse Actions initiative.
Further information for applicants
LADA has compiled a list of frequently asked questions covering all aspects of the DIY application process and other information related to the scheme. Please read these notes carefully before applying.
Partner organisations
Partners with a national remit will support a DIY which takes place anywhere. Partners with a regional remit will support a DIY which takes place in that region.
Partners supporting DIYs this year: Access All Areas (London), Agency for Agency (London), ARC Stockton (Stockton), Artsadmin (National), BUZZCUT (Glasgow), Colchester Arts Centre (Colchester), Compass Live Art (Leeds/Yorkshire), Create (Ireland), Fierce Festival (Birmingham), Folkestone Fringe (Folkestone), Heart of Glass (St Helens), The Herbert Art Gallery and Museum (Coventry), Iniva (National), Jersey Arts Trust (Jersey), Lancaster Arts (Lancaster), Live Art Development Agency (National), The Marlborough Pub & Theatre (Brighton), National Theatre (London), ]performance s p a c e[ (Folkestone), Scottish Sculpture Workshop (Aberdeenshire), Snape Maltings (Suffolk), Southbank Centre (London), SPILL Festival (Ipswich), Steakhouse Live (London), Wunderbar/NewBridge Project (Newcastle), Z-arts (Manchester).
Specific briefs
DIYs can be about anything, but we also have a series of briefs to offer creative stimuli.
1. DIY+ (x 3) – supported by Jerwood Charitable Foundation
DIY+ is a new initiative that has been created to facilitate more ambitious DIY projects than we have previously been able to support. Larger project budgets of £4,000 are available for 3 projects which require substantial materials or resources, and/or will be led by internationally-based artists for the benefit of early-career practitioners. We seek proposals which represent a significant step up from DIYs to date, either in terms of scale and scope, or which offer participant artists a level of engagement and development that cannot be achieved without a larger award.
To apply for DIY+, please use the regular application form, and select DIY+ from the drop-down list when prompted.
LADA will be the primary supporting organisation for DIY+. For more information about these opportunities, please contact Megan.
2. Live Art and Access All Areas
Access All Areas (London) is an award winning theatre company for adults with learning disabilities, running exciting and innovative projects which allow neurodiverse artists to author work using a wide range of performance practices, spaces and contexts. AAA are inviting DIY applications that will engage participant artists both with and without learning disabilities as genuine collaborators, empowering them to explore a concept or theme together. An accessible studio space can be provided in summer 2017, and AAA and LADA will support the lead artist in the development of an ‘Easy Read’ application for participants.
For further information about this brief, please contact Lucy Andrews.
3. Live Art and ARC Stockton
ARC Stockton presents work that is contemporary and relevant. We work with artists who help us understand and enjoy the world as it is today, and who excite us about the future. We invite proposals for DIY projects which explore the nature of interaction, encounter and/or exchange, particularly in terms of our town and its constituents. We are interested in invitation and intervention, and in methodologies for bringing Live Art practices to the public in new or unexpected ways. We can offer accommodation to artists (subject to availability) and can facilitate a sharing event if required.
For more information about this brief, please contact Annabel Turpin.
4. Live Art for Children and Families (Z-arts)
Z-arts is Manchester’s dedicated venue for children, families and friends, programming the bi-annual Haphazard festival alongside hÅb. We have been given a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Breakthrough Award to help investigate how to make performance for families better reflect the realities of contemporary family life. As part of this project we invite DIY proposals that explore this question, thinking about agency, risk, invitation and reflection. There may be opportunity for our supported DIY to be represented in the Z-arts programme or the North West Big Imaginations festival in October 2017.
For more information about this brief, please contact Liz O’Neill.
5. Live Art, Community, Collaboration and Activism (Heart of Glass)
Heart of Glass is an arts commissioning project supporting artists and communities to make ambitious new work for St Helens, Merseyside. We invite proposals for DIY projects which ask the fierce and urgent questions facing collaborative Live Art practitioners today, or which explore the role of art and artists in a time of political and social urgency. This DIY should take place in St Helens.
For more information about this brief, please contact Patrick Fox.
6. Live Art and Diverse Actions (x 3)
Diverse Actions is a Live Art UK initiative which champions culturally diverse ambition, excellence and talent in Live Art. Diverse Actions builds on Live Art’s vital role as a practice of artistic innovation and a space to express complex ideas of cultural identity. Running for three years, and supported by a grant from Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence programme, Diverse Actions will support 3 DIYs in 2017.
We invite proposals for projects led by culturally diverse practitioners. While no limitations are placed on subject matter, activity, or approach, proposals which explore complex ideas of cultural identity, or which have been specifically designed for culturally diverse participants, are encouraged.
Partner organisations for the Diverse Actions DIYs will be Agency for Agency (London), Fierce Festival (Birmingham), and Iniva (National). For more information about these opportunities, please contact Megan.
7. Live Art and ‘Double Edge’ & ‘Edge: Push/Pull’ (Folkestone Fringe)
Folkestone Fringe curates art, architecture, sound and performance work to coincide with the Folkestone Triennial. The 2017 Triennial theme is ‘Double Edge’, for Folkestone Fringe it is ‘Edge: Push/Pull’. We are inviting DIY proposals which engage with the possibilities of these notions, from borders, thresholds, margins, and peripheries, to migration, inequality, sustainability, change, or the physical geography of Folkestone itself. Should artists wish, there may also be opportunity for our supported DIY to be represented in this year’s Folkestone Fringe programme.
For more information about this brief, please contact Diane Dever.
8. Live Art and Jersey
Jersey Arts Trust encourages and facilitates the creation of new work by local and international artists on the island of Jersey. We invite DIY proposals which take advantage of the unique environments and contexts our island has to offer, be they topographic, cultural, economic, or liminal. Accommodation is available.
For more information about this brief, please contact Tom Dingle.
9. Live Art and The Marlborough Pub & Theatre
The Marlborough is a performance space, artists’ residence and also a buzzing pub for Brighton’s LGBTQ+ community. Our pub is part of an endangered species of queer spaces in the UK. We think it’s a pretty fascinating place where art, entertainment, alcohol and community coexist. We want to hear from (live) artists who are interested in considering these relationships.
For more information about this brief, please contact David Sheppeard.
10. Live Art and the National Theatre New Work Department
At the National we make world class theatre that is entertaining, challenging and inspiring, and we make it for everyone. We invite DIY proposals which take advantage of our resources in order to reimagine histories and design new futures. Based at the National Theatre Studio in Waterloo, London, the New Work Department has access to a range of costumes, props and period furniture from past NT productions, as well as 3 workshop spaces equipped with lighting rigs, sound equipment, video projectors and other technical resources.
For more information about this brief, including resources/spaces available, please contact Rachel Twigg.
11. Live Art and Scottish Sculpture Workshop
Scottish Sculpture Workshop (SSW) is a making and thinking facility based in rural Aberdeenshire. The site encompasses a foundry, wood, metal and ceramic workshops, as well as a large open plan studio space, library and self-catering accommodation. This year sees the culmination of our 5-year EU programme Frontiers in Retreat which has explored sensitive ecological issues across Europe through alternative modes of learning and knowing; community building through making; and consideration and care for humans and non-humans. We invite DIY proposals to continue and develop upon this issue and these approaches.
For more information about this brief, or if you have access or childcare needs, please contact Yvonne Billimore.
Supported by:
