Jerwood Open Forest
New initiative: The forests are open for ideas
Closing date for entries: 5pm, 28th May 2013
Submission fee: £25
Jerwood Visual Arts (JVA) and Forestry Commission England are delighted to announce Jerwood Open Forest, an exceptional opportunity for visual artists to propose ideas for a major new £30,000 commission to be realised anywhere within England's Public Forest Estate.
There is no brief. The forests are open for artists’ ideas. This is a call for bold, broad‐thinking proposals that explore the potential of forests as sites for art, both in and about the environment. Proposals can be for work in any discipline or medium, temporary or permanent, site‐specific or for touring to more than one location. Launching the initiative, the partnership between Jerwood Visual Arts and Forestry Commission England brings together the expertise of two esteemed national organisations. Jerwood Open Forest will facilitate new interactions between artists and forests and will open up new art experiences to a wide public audience. It aims to lead a national conversation about how contemporary visual artists engage with the environment today.
The selection panel will include leading practitioners and project partners:
Michaela Crimmin Co‐founder, Culture+Conflict
Tania Kovats Artist
Shonagh Manson Director, Jerwood Charitable Foundation
Hayley Skipper Curator of Arts Development, Forestry Commission England
From initial ideas submitted, five artists will be selected to receive a £2,000 Research and Development fee to develop their proposals over a six‐month period. Each artist will be fully supported by Jerwood Visual Arts and Forestry Commission England to expand on the concept, assess the viability of the idea and explore potential sites through this phase. This research process will culminate in a curated exhibition at JVA at Jerwood Space which will present the artists' work and explore broader contemporary debates around critical practice and art in the public realm and the environment. During the exhibition one artist
will be selected to receive a £30,000 commissioning budget to realise their proposal.
“Forestry Commission England holds the key to a unique opportunity. It is the guardian of unrivalled contexts for artists to work in through the physical forests it stewards. Its teams have also developed a valuable knowledge bank of skills, science and perspectives through their work. We will be looking for ideas that engage with this depth of context and the opportunities it could present. This initiative is also willing to take a risk. We are looking for strong ideas, not necessarily proven experience of working on this scale or in this context. Through this new partnership, we can provide the right support for an artist to make a leap in their practice.” Shonagh Manson, Director, Jerwood Charitable Foundation
“This is the first time ever that we have invited artists to respond to the forests across England that the Forestry Commission manages. We are hugely excited to see how artists might respond to this open invitation. There are no constraints on the type of proposal that we are looking for; we are looking for projects that really connect with this unique opportunity.” Hayley Skipper, Curator of Arts Development, Forestry Commission England
Jerwood Open Forest is open for applications. Entry is by online application and artists must be resident in the UK and within fifteen years of graduating from their undergraduate degree or starting their career as an artist.
Closing date for entries: 5pm, 28th May 2013
For further information and to enter please visit: jerwoodopenforest.org
For further information about the Jerwood Visual Arts programme at Jerwood Space:
Web: jerwoodvisualarts.org m
Twitter: @JerwoodJVA #JOF14
For all enquiries please contact project managers, Parker Harris:
Tel: 01372 462190
Email: jof @ parkerharris.co.uk
Selector Biographies:
Michaela Crimmin is co‐director of Culture+Conflict, an independent curator, a course tutor in the
Curating Contemporary Art programme at the Royal College of Art, and she is leading a new
research programme on behalf of the RCA. She was Head of Arts at the RSA from 1997 to 2010, a
role that included initiating and directing the RSA Arts & Ecology Centre, the inspiration and
experience that led to co‐founding Culture+Conflict. She lectures nationally and internationally.
Previous work includes coordinating the first phase of the Fourth Plinth series in Trafalgar Square;
directing the two million pound Art for Architecture award scheme; and commissioning artists for
Public Art Development Trust’s pioneering work in the public domain.
www.cultureandconflict.org.uk
Tania Kovats is a British artist, born in Brighton 1966, whose primarily sculptural practice is an
exploration of landscape. Her work includes temporal works in the landscape, as well as drawings
and sculptures. One of her recent works, TREE marked the bicentenary of Charles Darwin and is
made from a wafer thin longitudinal slice through a 200 hundred year old oak. In 2006 Kovats made
MEADOW, transporting a wild flowering meadow along the inland waterways sysytems of the UK.
She was the Henry Moore Drawing Fellow in 2004 following which she published The Drawing Book.
A survey of drawing: the primary means of expression. Her first monograph was published in 2010
by Lund Humphries. Last year Kovats completed her work Rivers, which is her collection of water
from one UK hundred rivers, housed in a boat house on a lake in Scotland. Current exhibitions
include Galapagos at CAM in Lisbon. Kovats is working towards her show at the Fruitmarket in
Edinburgh where she is bringing together water from all the world’s seas, as part of her exhibition
OCEANS. This will be accompanied by her new publication on drawing. Kovats was a selector of the
Jerwood Drawing Prize 2009 and in 2012 has participated in a Grizedale Sculpture exhibition Art
Roots at Grizedale Forest, Cumbria. www.tania‐kovats-oceans.com
Notes to Editors:
Jerwood Open Forest is part of Jerwood Visual Arts (JVA), a contemporary gallery programme of
awards, exhibitions and events at Jerwood Space, London and on tour nationally. Jerwood Visual
Arts supports and showcases the work of talented emerging artists. It aims to make connections and
provoke conversations within and across visual arts disciplines. JVA is a major initiative of the
Jerwood Charitable Foundation. www.jerwoodvisualarts.org
The Jerwood Charitable Foundation is dedicated to imaginative and responsible revenue funding of
the arts, supporting artists to develop and grow at important stages in their careers. The aim of their
funding is to allow artists and arts organisations to thrive; to continue to develop their skills,
imagination and creativity with integrity. It works with artists across art forms, from dance and
theatre to literature, music and the visual arts. For more information visit
www.jerwoodcharitablefoundation.org
Project Partner:
Forestry Commission England is recognised and respected as an international leader in sustainable
forestry. Working with others we look after the country’s trees, woods and forests for the good of
everyone ‐ today and for the future. Our reputation has been built on our expertise and our ability
to achieve results that benefit people's lives. These benefits include the unique Public Forest Estate
where millions of visitors enjoy a wide range of recreational activities every year. We believe that
Forest Art Works. Since 1968 England’s Public Forest Estate has played host to artworks and
initiatives across artforms. We believe that woodlands and forests are vital places for contemporary
artists to engage with, to make and present new work. Forest Art Works is a new partnership
between Arts Council England and Forestry Commission England to support achieving great art for
everyone in England's public forests. www.forestry.gov.uk/visit
