The Exhibitions Hub Alumni Commission Award

The Exhibitions Hub is pleased to launch its second Alumni Commission Award, in partnership with the Women’s Art Library (WAL) and Southwark Park Galleries. The commission invites Department of Art Alumni to develop a new work in response to or inspired by the WAL that will be presented at Southwark Park Galleries in the Autumn of 2023. 

Following a period of research and development with the WAL, the selected artist will develop a new work, event, exhibition, screening or other projects that engage public audiences. Artists can work in any medium or practice and the outcome is intentionally open to allow for creative experimentation and engagement approaches.

How to apply: Email your expressions of interest to Katie Simpson with 'Expressions of Interest - Alumni Commission Award 2023' in the subject line no later than 11.59pm on Sunday, 19 March.

Eligibility: The award is only open to Goldsmiths Department of Art Alumni. You should have graduated from the Department of Art between 2018-2022.

Deadline: Sunday, 19 March 2023, 11.59pm.

Application process

Expression of Interest

To apply, please submit a statement of interest (max 1 A4 page) that includes the following:

• A brief explanation of how this commission and engagement with the WAL would tie in with or develop your existing practice and research.
• An initial idea of how you would like to engage with or respond to the WAL and its collections. 

Strong expressions of interest will show an understanding of the collections held within the Women’s Art Library as well as the mission and ethos of Southwark Park Galleries.

Included in this open call-out is a short description of the Women’s Art Library including website links to further learn about its holdings and history along with a selection of past projects. Please see the useful link box. Please feel free to contact Althea Greenan to learn more or make an appointment to visit the collection.

We are happy to receive expressions of interest that are recorded on audio or video. If you have a website, please include a link in your expressions of interest. If you do not have a website, you are welcome to include images (no more than 2 pages). CVs, the budget outlines or proposals of a final outcome are not required at this point to keep the process simple and accessible. 

If you have any access needs that you would like to discuss regarding this open call, please contact Katie Simpson.

Shortlisting

A shortlist of candidates will be invited for an informal conversation with the project mentors to discuss their initial ideas, gauge the feasibility of the project, and clarify any questions on both sides. These conversations are likely to take place during the first week of April.

Timeline

• Short conversations: First week of April (TBC)
• Nomination: Mid-April (after Easter)
• Research and development period: 5 months from May-September 2023
• Public outcome at Southwark Park Galleries: October 2023

Please note: This is a part-time opportunity that the nominated artist can undertake alongside other professional and personal commitments. The artist is expected to manage their own time and to work independently on the project, supported by mentorship and regular communication with the Exhibitions Hub.

Fees and Budget

• Artist fee: £1,500
• Production budget: £500
• Public presentation budget: £500 

Mentorship

Artist and lecturer - Michelle Williams Gamaker, Curator of the WAL - Althea Greenan, Gallery Manager at Southwark Park Galleries - John Harris, Curator of the Exhibitions Hub- Katie Simpson and Director of the Exhibitions Hub - Nick Grimmer, will award the commission and provide individual mentorships to guide and support the successful artist during the development of the project.

The Exhibitions Hub will support the organisation and curation of the public-facing presentation of the project outcome at Southwark Park Galleries.

Organiser and Partners

The project is curated and coordinated by the Exhibitions Hub (Goldsmiths, Department of Art) in partnership with the Women’s Art Library and Southwark Park Galleries.

The Exhibitions Hub in the Department of Art at Goldsmiths College has been developed to support public-facing exhibitions held by students and alumni. The Exhibitions Hub is also developing partnerships and curatorial initiatives to connect research and practice at Goldsmiths with external venues and audiences. 

The Women's Art Library (WAL)

The Women’s Art Library collection is the research resource that began as a slide registry which became the Women Artists Slide Library (WASL) organized by a collective of women artists in the late 1970s.

By 1982, the WASL settled in Battersea Arts Centre, London and coordinated a programme of events and exhibitions while continuing to build the collection including photographic documentation, printed material, ephemera and later press cuttings.

Further to collecting documentation, the WASL set up a newsletter which eventually developed into Make, the magazine of women’s art. Another critical development was the establishment of the Black Women Artists Index, later called the Women of Colour Index.

The WAL thus acted as an alternative feminist space for self-identified artists to recognize, share and archive women’s art practices to study, publish and exhibit works. The WASL was renamed the Women’s Art Library (WAL) in the early 1990s and when the organization’s funding came to an end in 2002, marked by the final issue of Make magazine that year, the collection was gifted to Goldsmiths Library.

Dr Althea Greenan has worked with the WAL collection since 1990 and currently oversees a curatorial programme based on the WAL holdings to continue the resource’s enrichment through contemporary art practice.

Southwark Park Galleries

Southwark Park Galleries is an interdisciplinary arts organisation set across two distinctive venues – including a Grade II Listed deconsecrated church – and a garden in the heart of Southwark Park, London. Through our locally relevant and internationally significant programme of exhibitions, performances and public engagement, our mission is to connect people using the intersection of art, nature and culture to facilitate meaning and wellbeing across communities.

Established in 1984, we have a thriving reputation as a test site for experimental practice by commissioning artists at a critical stage to make their most ambitious work. Our public engagement and community work welcomes everyone. Our location means we can provide a rare civic offer of vital green and open cultural space for our park neighbours and beyond.

As we approach our 40th anniversary celebrations in 2024, we look forward to strengthening our local, national and international partnerships; amplifying our purpose of making creativity central in building a more engaged and inclusive society.

Southwark Park Galleries is the operating name of the Bermondsey Artists’ Group, a registered charity (no. 1073851) and member of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio of Organisations (NPO).

Image credit

'Feminist Disco’ artwork, Rachael House from the ephemera collection relating to CREATE/feminisms Symposium Pop Quiz, (22 July 2014 Middlesex University) in the Women’s Art Library, Special Collections and Archives, Goldsmiths. Photo: David Ramkalowon