DIY: 2015 – Call for proposals

Our Call for Proposals to lead a project has now closed.

More info about DIY.

More info about DIY 12: 2015.

Professional development projects BY artists FOR artists

DIY is an opportunity for artists working in Live Art to conceive and run unusual training and professional development projects for other artists.

We are pleased to announce that in 2015 DIY awards will increase by 50%, with each DIY project receiving £1,500 support.

Deadline for proposals to run DIY 12: 2015 projects: Noon Thursday April 9th, 2015.

These guidelines are available in large print on request

Apply Here.
This DIY was a really powerful experience for me; the sensitivity and openness of the artists enabled us to have in depth discussions of a level that I have not had the opportunity to experience since my DIY10. Thank you LADA for encouraging these developmental events, which enable artists to really grow from working with each other in a supportive environment.
Geraldine Pilgrim, A World of Their Own, Lead Artist, DIY 11

This was an amazing experience and ultimately I feel spending a short and intensive period of time with these fellow artists has enriched my practice.
Harold Offeh, Call + Response, Lead Artist, DIY 11
DIY is a peer to peer professional development scheme in which artists explore their practice in the context of collaboration. 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. We want to hear from you if have an idea for an exciting, innovative and idiosyncratic Live Art professional development project that offers something new and is geared to the eclectic and often unusual needs of artists whose practices are grounded in challenging and unconventional approaches, forms and concepts. If you think you can initiate and run a DIY professional development project then read the guidelines below and send us a proposal.

DIY 12 is a Live Art Development Agency (LADA) initiative produced in collaboration with the following national partners:

Abandon Normal Devices (North West)
Artsadmin (national)
Chelsea Theatre (London)
Colchester Arts Centre (South East)
Compass Live Art (Yorkshire)
Contact Manchester
Create (Ireland)
Folkestone Fringe
hÅb (Manchester)
Heart of Glass, (North West)
Home Live Art (national)
Live at LICA (North West)
National Theatre Studio (London)
Norwich Arts Centre
Sound and Music (national)
STUN (Manchester)
Unlimited (national)
Warrington Arts Festival (North West)

We are pleased to announce that in 2015 DIY awards will increase by 50%, with each DIY project receiving £1,500 support. We plan to support a minimum of 20 DIY projects across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, which will take place between July and November 2015.

DIY projects may take any form, can be based anywhere, and can be loosely or rigorously focused on a specific theme/content. We particularly welcome proposals from artists from culturally diverse backgrounds and disabled artists, and artists working in other “politicized” territories.

Although DIY projects can take place anywhere and be about anything, this year we will again be looking for some projects to happen in the areas where the various partner organisations are based, and inviting projects that respond to a number of specific themes. Some partners would like projects to happen local to them and/or in specific programming contexts, so please think about projects you might like to develop with any of the specific DIY partner organisations listed above.

This year, some DIY partners have also written specific briefs for artists to respond to, which cover an exciting and diverse range of themes:

1. Live Art and Restock Rethink Reflect (RRR)

This DIY will complement LADA’s ongoing Restock, Rethink, Reflect initiative, which maps and marks the impact of artists who are engaging with issues of identity politics in innovative and radical ways. Following RRR projects on Race (2006-08), Disability (2009-11) and Feminism (2012-15), RRR4 will consider the impact of Class on Live Art in relation to issues of privilege and visibility. We encourage DIY proposals which respond to the discourses, practices or histories of race, disability, feminism or class in outlandish and hopefully provocative ways. This DIY project could take place anywhere in the UK.

This project is supported by the Live Art Development Agency. For further information please contact Aaron Wright.

2. Live Art and Money

We particularly encourage DIY proposals which address interconnected issues of money and creative practice. We are interested in projects which explore creative strategies artists have used to support their practice, which could draw on or resist existing funding/partnership models and which might include individually/collectively devising new fundraising models; and/or explore the ethics of fundraising for artists, including what kinds of money they would and/or would not accept and why, including possibilities for dialogue and manifestos. Might your DIY project result in an online viral hit, resulting in a new income stream … ?

This project is supported by the Live Art Development Agency, Artsadmin and Home Live Art, as part of their ACE-supported Catalyst research. For further information please contact Aaron Wright.

3. Live Art and Sound and Music

Sound and Music want to support a DIY project which will focus on questions of sound, or music, or listening in relation to Live Art. We welcome broad and imaginative interpretations of these themes and also encourage applicants to explore innovative approaches to audiences’ experiences of sound-based work. Sound and Music’s vision is to create a world where new music and sound prospers, transforming lives, challenging expectations and celebrating the work of its creators.  This DIY project could take place anywhere in the UK.

This project is supported by Sound and Music. For further information please contact Richard Whitelaw.

4. Live Art and National Theatre Studio

The National Theatre Studio provides an environment in which performance makers of all kinds can explore, experiment and devise new work, free from the pressure of public performance. When appropriate, a part of the Studio’s support of this developmental process involves artists accessing a range of costumes, props and period furniture from past NT productions, and the provision of workshop spaces equipped with lighting rigs, sound equipment, video projectors and sundry other technical resources. The Studio encourages DIY proposals which take advantage of any or all of these resources and, if useful, of the expertise of the building’s technical department. This DIY project will take place in one of the three workshop spaces at the National Theatre Studio in Waterloo, London, the space chosen in discussion with NT Studio staff.

This project is supported by the National Theatre Studio. Applicants should contact Matthew Poxon at National Theatre Studio for more comprehensive details of the resources which can be made available to the project.

5. Live Art and the Cultural Mix

hÅb and STUN invite DIY proposals for projects that look to diversify the cultural mix of artists making Live Art. As a magpie form, how can Live Art reflect the cultural make-up of our society and shape its own development? The project should take place in Manchester and can have access to the STUN Studio at Z-arts in Hulme as a base if needed. As part of our aim of increasing understanding of Live Art amongst a diversity of local artists, we welcome projects open to informal sharing.

hÅb is a production and development organisation specialising in Live Art and Contemporary Performance, presenter of the Word of Warning programme. STUN (Sustained Theatre Up North) is a membership organisation, part of a national movement dedicated to the growth and prosperity of BAME creatives. For more information please contact Tamsin Drury.

6. Live Art and Collaboration

DIY will for the second year running support a project in Ireland, in partnership with Create (Dublin). Whilst artists of any nationality are welcome to apply to run a DIY anywhere, we specifically welcome proposals conceived to happen in Ireland and which would benefit from Create’s expertise in collaborative practices. The DIY award is inclusive of all travel and expenses and can be paid in Sterling or Euros. DIY proposals in this instance are designed to contribute to contemporary collaborative art practice by expanding ideas of collaboration and community.

This project is supported by Create. For more information please contact Lynnette Moran.

7. Live Art and Unlimited

Unlimited and Colchester Arts Centre are teaming up to invite disabled-led proposals for DIY projects that are simply extraordinary. Proposals could be about disability, activism and advocacy, or could equally be about none of those things. Up to you. The only stipulation is that the proposal is disabled-led. The project should take place in Colchester and can have access to Firstsite or Colchester Arts Centre as a base if needed. If required, an additional access budget is available for the artists and/or participants.

This project is supported by Unlimited and Colchester Arts Centre. For further information please contact Anthony Roberts.

8. Live Art and the AND Festival, Grizedale Forest

Abandon Normal Devices (AND) invite DIY proposals that will relate to their upcoming AND Festival in Grizedale Forest in September 2015. AND is a catalyst for new approaches to art-making and digital invention with a distinct emphasis on creative enquiry and provocations, AND creates a space where artists can reflect on and play with the impact of new technologies. This year the AND programme takes a departure from urban spaces to explore the wilderness in Grizedale Forest in the heart of Cumbria. With a programme of commissions and events in the forest and online, that seek to make visible the many invisible connections, communications and systems that surround us. From plant signalling and communication to meshnets power by trees, prepare to come offline on and make new connections.

For further information and questions, contact Ruth McCullough.

Frequently asked DIY questions:

What sort of project can I propose for DIY? 
We are seeking proposals from artists for adventurous and possibly outlandish projects that are grounded in an awareness of the issues impacting on artists’ practices and are aimed at enhancing the range of approaches available to practitioners. The development of a Live Art practice is as much about the exploration of ideas and experiences as training in skills and techniques — we are therefore not seeking proposals for training programmes in any conventional sense but more illustrations and illuminations of how to approach and address ideas. Ideally the artists running the DIY will gain as much from the experience as the participants!

The projects may take any form. Previous projects, for example, covered practical and conceptual issues and took in city centre adventures; unexpected train journeys; a 24 hour immersive experience; rural retreats about art and activism; workshops about gut feelings and autobiologies; new approaches to artistic research, networking, collaboration and documentation; makeup masterclasses; treasure hunts; skills swap shops; Body combat intensives, lap dancing lessons, live and wireless video; a 1,000 mile bike ride; considerations of risk in performance; immersive Elvis Presley themed weekends, football leagues; dialogues around self and performance; urban audio recording/listening; hypothetical proposal development; personalising understandings of success; making the most of day jobs; unblocking and reinvigorating the creative spirit; camping trips; walking journeys; joke writing; coastal explorations in Cornwall and pub lockins in Morecambe; professional wrestling intensives; GPS lessons; tweeting; psychological experiments; boat trips; motorbike journeys; three days controlled by the rolling of die; medical consultations; bouldering; sleep denial; chance; plagiarism; archiving; the weather; criticism; feminism; participation; ageing; documentation; wage; and much more.

Please review the reports on the previous year’s DIY projects for more information.

As part of all DIY proposals we expect you to identify the kinds of artists who will participate and how you will select them. We will want to know how your project will contribute to the professional development of the participants.

How much are the DIY awards and how many projects will be supported?
We expect to support around twenty projects with awards of £1,500 each. The award is expected to cover all artists’ fees and expenses for the project.

Who can propose DIY projects?
We will accept applications from individual artists or groups of artists. If applying as a group you must identify one artist as the lead/contact artist (any award will be paid to the lead/contact artist). We welcome applications from artists who have previously applied, run or participated in DIY projects. Applications can be made from artists based outside the UK. However, all your expenses would need to be covered by the award.

When would my DIY project have to take place?
Your DIY project must take place sometime between 1 July and 30 November 2015. The length of your project should be proposed by you. There is no set minimum or maximum duration and projects can last anytime from one day to two months. If your project is more than a couple of days we suggest running it later on in the year to give participants as much notice as possible. You should also be available to attend the DIY Picnic – an afternoon of presentations, discussion and feedback with other DIY project leaders, participants and invited guests. This is currently pencilled in for Saturday December 5 2015 in London.

Where could my DIY project take place?
Projects can take place anywhere you want, however we will be looking for some projects to happen in the areas where the various partner organisations are based. Projects could therefore be developed with particular DIY partner organisations in mind; for example, in addition to the specific briefs listed above, many of the other partners would like projects local to them. Depending on the location you require (a rehearsal studio? a house? a forest?) it would be good to think about which partner organisations might have access to the kind of space you need. Please assess the opportunities and challenges of locating your project in your home town/city, or whether the project might take place elsewhere in the UK. Tell us about this in your proposal. We understand that some projects will have no flexibility in terms of location (eg. certain site-specific explorations) but other projects might be able to happen in any location – please think about this in your application.

Do we report back on our DIY experiences?
DIY project leaders are required to compile a report about their experience. This can take any form you wish and may include text, images, video, participant feedback and more. We will distribute more information regarding the report after 2015’s projects have been selected.

Can you help develop my proposal?
DIY encourages artists to self determine and run their own projects. However, we are happy to discuss your proposal with you as you develop your ideas. Project proposals can also be developed in collaboration with the DIY partner organisations in those regions – in some cases, this may include being housed at a partner venue or in a space they can provide.

Please contact one of the DIY partner organizations if you would like to discuss a project idea in advance of submitting a proposal – please only contact an organization if they could be a potential collaborator on your project. We are sorry that we cannot meet in person to discuss proposals.

For general DIY advice, please email:
Aaron Wright at the Live Art Development Agency (national)

If your query relates to a specific project or partner please use the respective email from the list below.
Manick Govinda at Artsadmin (national)
Francis Alexander at Chelsea Theatre (London)
Anthony Roberts at Colchester Arts Centre/Unlimited (East)
Annie Lloyd at Compass Live Art (Yorkshire)
Matt Fenton at Contact Manchester
Lynnette Moran at Create, Ireland
Diane Dever at Folkestone Fringe
Tamsin Drury at hÅb (Manchester)
Patrick Fox at Heart of Glass (North West)
Jane Greenfield at Home Live Art
Leo Burtin at Live at LICA (North West)
Matthew Poxon at National Theatre Studio
Pasco Kevlin at Norwich Arts Centre (East)
Richard Whitelaw at Sound and Music (national)

Whilst happy to help and advise, organisations often remain hands off from the DIY process after selections have been made, to give artists as much freedom as possible.

How do I apply?

Please apply using our online application form. Apply Here.

To make sure that we are offering the best possible projects around the country, we sometimes ask artists to run a DIY project in a region other than the one they have conceived their project for. Please indicate if you are happy for your project to take place in a region other than the one you have nominated.

Ideally, DIY projects will be free to participants but the nature of some projects may necessitate small financial contributions from participants towards their expenses. If participants are being asked to contribute for taking part in the project, you should indicate how much this will be and show this earned income in your project budget. You should also explain why these extra funds are needed.

We expect the artist(s) organising the project to be paid a fee for the time they contribute to the project. Other budget items may include transport, tickets for events, space hire, speakers’ fees, etc. The fee and expenses should be covered by the £1,500 DIY award.

It is not essential to supply supporting material with your proposal. However, if you feel that supporting material will help us understand more about you and your proposal then we welcome it. Supporting material might include full CVs, and copies of reports, press clippings, and documentation of previous performances/events. Details of web sites are also welcomed as supporting material. Supporting material should be sent electronically.

You must also complete the monitoring questions. Your application will not be eligible without the completed monitoring questions.

Submit your application using the online application form. We will only accept digital applications. We will not accept applications by post or fax. We will only consider applications received by the deadline.

Who will make the decision about which projects are funded and how will they decide?
Selections will be made by representatives of the DIY partner organizations listed above.

The criteria for selection includes:
• The relevance of the proposal to the aims of the DIY initiative.
• If appropriate, the relevance of the proposal to one of the specific project opportunities noted above.
• The relevance of the proposal to Live Art practice and artists.
• The extent to which the proposal shows clear artistic direction and vision.
• The degree to which the proposal will contribute to the professional development of artists and regions. This will include the viability of locating projects in certain regions.
• The viability of the proposal.
• The ability of the applicant to achieve the stated aims of their proposal.

It is our intention to support a range of forms of projects which together form a coherent national programme. The final decision on which projects to fund will therefore by informed by this and a project may be prioritised over another because of the alternative vision for professional development that it offers.

All decisions will be notified by email.

Complaints and appeals in relation to DIY applications are undertaken under the Complaints and Appeals Procedure of the Live Art Development Agency.

What happens if my proposal is selected?
After the selection process, successful applicants will be invited to discuss their projects and plans with the Live Art Development Agency and/or relevant regional DIY partners to develop the shape and location of the projects, who they will be aimed at, how best to market them and recruit identified participants, and strategies for monitoring and evaluation. From these initial discussions a payment schedule and conditions of the award will be agreed. Successful applicants will be notified in May, and will have one week to write the public Call for Participants for their projects.

DIY projects will then be publicised through the partners’ extensive e-lists and websites and all partners will disseminate information including details of individual projects, dates, costs and application or registration procedures through their regional contacts.

DIY 12 is part of the Collab Arts Partnership Programme co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.