The Storey, Lancaster, UK
Artist brief for public art (expressions of interest)

Deadline for receipt of proposals: Thursday 31 January 2008

Contents
1. Background information and context
2. Aims of the scheme
3. Requirements
4. Funding and contractual details
5. Artist fees for proposal
6. Project procedure
7. Photographs of the building


1. Background information and context
A £3m development will bring the Storey Institute - a three-storey, grade II listed Victorian building - back into use as a hub for the creative industries. The project aims to develop an inspirational and professional centre which will both encourage and nurture creative industry in North West England while providing an exciting and lively venue in which the public can meet to experience, discuss and enjoy the arts in their broadest sense. It will become a venue for arts activity, as well as a home for creative businesses, project partner arts organisations (Folly, Litfest and the Storey Gallery) and Lancaster’s Tourist Information Centre. The Storey is located in the city centre, close to the railway station and Lancaster’s historic castle.

Construction work began in October 2007, and the building is scheduled to re-open in winter 2008. On completion of the contractual works, The Storey will be managed by The Storey Board, and will have a long term lease from Lancaster City Council.

Additional information about the building, organisations involved and the city of Lancaster is available upon request.

2. Aims of the scheme

Overarching aim:
• To create a public artwork that attracts people to an energetic, contemporary and creative centre.

Specific aims:
• To develop contemporary and innovative concepts for the building
• To generate interest in the building, both locally and nationally
• To increase the building’s ‘visibility’
• To provide an attractive/thought provoking point of interest
• To raise the profile of the Storey Creative Industries Centre

Artists and designers are invited to respond to the building, selecting an area or areas which they feel can best fulfil the aims of the scheme. It is possible that only one artist (or team of artists) could be engaged to develop a scheme-wide concept. Collaborations would be welcomed.

3. Requirements
• The artists/designers appointed will be required to work in partnership with the appointed architects, Mason Gillibrand, contractors Conlons, Lancaster City Council’s Project Manager, and Public Art and Regeneration Officer, to deliver the aims of the scheme. The artists/designers will also be expected to work closely with the Storey Public Art Steering Group over the design and implementation. The Storey Public Art Steering Group is made up of representatives from the three arts organisations, and members of the Planning, Arts and Tourism teams at Lancaster City Council.
• The artist should be aware that the building is listed.
• The artwork should co-exist with any building signage.
• The artwork should have a minimum life of five years.
• The artwork should be sustainable and require minimal maintenance, for which an outline maintenance plan will be required.
• The artwork should be suitable for siting in the public realm.

4. Funding and contractual details
Client: The Storey Board
Public art project manager: Suzanne Dimmock, Public Art and Regeneration Officer, Lancaster City Council

• The successful applicant will report to the public art project manager, Suzanne Dimmock.
• The artist will be required to provide ‘update’ presentations to the Storey Public Art Steering Group.
• The appointed artist will enter into a contractual agreement with the Storey Creative Industries Centre Board prior to the project commencing.

Lancaster City Council is committed to supporting a high standard of urban design and public art. The Local Plan states:
“The Council will work with developers and artists to encourage the provision of high quality public art in new developments and in public spaces.”

5. Artist fees for proposal
Fees of £500 are available for each shortlisted artist to develop designs and costed project proposals. The project budget should include all fees (including artist fees), materials, fabrication, installation and transport costs.

6. Project procedure
December 2007 - January 2008
• Expressions of interest invited
31 January 2008
• Deadline for submission of expressions of interest / outline ideas / images of previous work
Mid-February 2008
• Shortlist drawn up by Storey Public Art Steering Group
End February 2008
• Interviews of shortlisted artist, and on-site visit
• Selection of artist by Storey Public Art Steering Group
March 2008
• Joint on-site visit (artist, architects Mason Gillibrand and Storey Public Art Steering Group)

To apply:
Artists and designers are invited to register interest in the scheme and respond to the brief by Thursday 31 January 2008

Please send:
• A recent CV highlighting relevant experience
• A selection of images, other material or web links to recent and relevant examples of work
• A brief outline statement giving your initial response and reaction to the site (no more than one side of A4 paper)

Responses should be submitted to:
Suzanne Dimmock
Public Art and Regeneration Officer
Cultural Services, Lancaster City Council
Morecambe Town Hall
Marine Road East
Morecambe LA4 5AF

For further information please contact Suzanne on 01524 582603, 07824 624521 or email sdimmock@lancaster.gov.uk

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Supplementary information: The Storey, Lancaster, UK

History of Lancaster
Lancaster is the traditional ‘county town’ of Lancashire in North West England, and became a city in 1937. It lies on the course of the River Lune and has a population of around 46,000.
Among Lancaster’s notable buildings are the castle, the priory, the Storey Institute and the Ashton Memorial in Williamson Park. The castle was partly built in the 13th century, enlarged by Elizabeth I and stands on the site of a Roman garrison. The Pendle witch trials famously took place there in 1612.
A red rose is the traditional symbol of the House of Lancaster (a branch of the royal family) who fought a civil war against the House of York in the War of the Roses during the 15th century. Lancaster was one of the UK’s busiest ports in the 1800s, and was also the fourth most important in the slave trade. Lancaster University was established in 1963, and St Martin’s College (now part of the University of Cumbria) in 1964.
For more information see A History of Lancaster 1193 – 1993, edited by Andrew White, Published by Ryburn (Keele University Press)

History of the Storey Institute building
The three-storey, grade II listed Victorian building was commissioned by Sir Thomas Storey, a local industrialist, for the educational and cultural benefit of the people of Lancaster. It was designed by local architects Austin and Paley and completed in 1887, with an extension added in 1906. Initially it housed the City Art Gallery, the Public Library, and the Girls’ Grammar School, while from the 1950s until 1982 it was Lancaster College of Art.
When built in 1888 the gallery was intended to be the City Art Gallery and features a rare marble statue of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The opening exhibition included works by Gainsborough, Constable, and Canaletto. In the 1950s and 1960s there were occasional exhibitions, including an Arts Council of England touring show of work by Picasso and Matisse, but by the late 1970s and early 1980s the Gallery was rarely used.

In 1991, a group of Lancaster-based artists re-established the Gallery with an ongoing exhibition programme, and related educational activities.

Creative Industries
The creative industries are often defined as those that focus on creating and exploiting intellectual property products (such as the arts, films, games or fashion design) or providing business-to-business creative services such as advertising.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport recognises eleven ‘creative sectors’ in the Creative Industries. These are: advertising; architecture; arts and antique markets; crafts; design; designer fashion; film, video and photography; software, computer games and electronic publishing; music and the visual and performing arts; publishing; and television and radio.

Project Partners:
• Folly
• Litfest
• Storey Gallery
• Tourist Information Centre (Lancaster City Council)
• Lancaster City Council
- Economic Development
- Conservation Officer
- Arts Development (including Public Art and Regeneration Officer)
- Engineers
- Forward Planning team
• Lancashire County Council
- Arts and Regeneration Officer

This project is also linked with:
• Lancaster City Centre Local Plan
• Lancaster and Morecambe Vision
• Lancaster City Council Cultural Strategy


Project Partners’ background information

Folly
www.folly.co.uk
Leading digital culture
Folly is a leading digital arts organisation developing and delivering an inclusive programme of online work, live events, presentations, learning, research and consultancy work offering rich and engaging arts content to artists and audiences in North West England and online.

We are specialists in the creative use of technology and arts participation online, and seek to explore how society makes sense of the world through art and technology. We showcase excellence in web based work, software art, networked art, still and moving digital image, sound, animation and a range of new and emerging media such as GPS, moblogging and more.

Folly has an unswerving commitment to artistic excellence and innovation and is continually evolving and growing as it delivers its mission to deliver high quality innovative creative projects for all.

Folly believes that the use of new technologies in art offers fantastic opportunities for work to be created, experienced and appreciated and as such folly wishes to support work that enriches lives and encourages people to engage with digital arts through projects that place great emphasis on process, production and participation.

Folly deliver an ambitious and engaging programme of work at the leading edge of technology through new and experimental means of distribution.


Litfest
www.litfest.org
Litfest has staged its annual literature festival since 1978, though from 1996 following the Board setting new organisational goals and the subsequent appointment of the current Artistic Director, our activity has shifted and the greater part of litfest's work is within a literature development context.
Litfest develops writers, engages readers and audiences, and celebrates literary excellence. We do this through our annual festival and a range of other publishing, development and participatory projects that have positioned the organisation at the heart of Lancashire's cultural and creative activity.
Current programme highlights include; publishing and professional development through our Flax Books initiative, a series of residencies in Lancashire's correctional institutions and a book celebrating the regeneration of Morecambe's Midland Hotel.
Through the quality of its work, litfest earns core support and investment from three key partners: Arts Council England (NW), Lancaster City Council and Lancashire County Council.

Storey Gallery
www.storeygallery.org.uk/blog/
The Storey Gallery in Lancaster is an artist-centred publicly-funded gallery which presents a programme of contemporary visual art by nationally and internationally significant artists. The splendid Victorian gallery is one of the best exhibition spaces in north-west England. The adjoining walled garden includes a permanent environmental artwork by Mark Dion.

As the whole building is currently closed for refurbishment, the Gallery is running an offsite programme, InsideOut, which includes talks, artists’ research commissions, work with four local secondary schools, and projects in the public realm. When the building re-opens the Gallery will return to its location on the first floor of the Storey Institute building.

The Gallery nurtures and commissions innovative and challenging practice in visual art. All activity is centred around engagement with audiences, and aims to stimulate critical thought, debate and reflection.

Tourist Information Centre (TIC)
www.citycoastcountryside.co.uk
Lancaster TIC is the first port of call for many visitors to the area, and is due to be located on the ground floor of the Storey Creative Industries Centre. There is an 80% overlap between people finding information about the destination through the tourism website and then coming into the TIC to talk to professional staff and collect literature. Annually Lancaster TIC handles about 80,000 customers through the door and around 110,000 total enquiries. It is currently open 6 days per week year round, plus some bank holidays, and is planned to open 7 days per week in the longer term.

The TIC contains the accommodation booking hot line, deals with all tourism enquiries, sells transport and theatre tickets, sells a wide range of souvenirs and merchandise, promotes the district plus region and other tourism destinations, and encourages visitors to maximise their enjoyment of Lancaster’s heritage. The TIC is part of a national network. The levels of service have to be maintained and expanded in the new TIC to help promote the wider region and to integrate better with the local cultural and heritage communities. The new TIC, renamed as Visitor Information Centre, will be one of 4 strategic information centres in Lancashire and will need to maintain its national tourism branding.