National Sculpture Factory & Cork Opera House present a new commission for the summer of 2019 in association with the Cork Midsummer Festival. 
An open-call commission.

Closing Date for submissions:  
12 noon, Friday 29 March 2019

THE BRIEF

This commission is a site specific or a material specific commission intertwined with the Cork Opera House’s former TOYOTA roof signs. Originally hung in the 1980’s as part of a partnership deal between motor company Toyota and Cork Opera House, the Toyota signs appeared on 3 sides of the Opera House fly tower – north, east and west, in a prominent position in city landscape. Initially the eye-catching TOYOTA signs did not meet with universal approval but were later to become iconic fixtures in the Cork cityscape and local folklore. The sponsorship arrangement played an important part in Cork Opera House’s continued growth and is part of the continued success of the cultural institution. Work began in the last few years to remove and replace the signs – a project which was completed in 2018 and the red Perspex and aluminium (1.5m) letters are now currently in storage awaiting their new life.

To honour the place these signs have held in Cork city folklore the National Sculpture Factory and the Cork Opera House are offering an artist an opportunity to re-commission the remaining letters; their material or parts thereof into a new temporary artwork that could be installed during this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival 2019. The commissioners invite the artist to take into consideration these elements: the signs material make-up; the context and social history of these signs; the Cork Opera House building as a location for installation of the final artwork; alongside the artist’s vision. Its is important that the signs or elements of the signs, no matter how small, should be incorporated into the artist’s final proposal.

APPLICATION PROCESS
All applicants must submit :

1.     A project proposal – max 2 pages. Outlining the artist’s response to the brief and how this informs the final proposed work.
2.     An up to date C.V.
3.     Examples of previous work or previous commissions.

All applications must be sent digitally and the commissioners shall not be liable for any costs of application. All applications will be acknowledged. And the result of the commission will be announced publicly in due course. The selected artist will be notified within 10 days of the submission date.

All applications must be sent to info@nationalsculpturefactory.com no later than 12:00 noon Friday 29th March for more info see www.nationalsculpturefactory.com.

THE COMMISSION INCLUDES
1.     The remaining letters from the TOYOTA signs. (roughly 14 letters + 1 Logo)
2.     A €2,500 production budget.
3.     1 Month free studio space at the National Sculpture Factory
(this can only be taken up as part of this commission and must be taken up in the months prior to Cork Midsummer Festival 2019)

THE SELECTION PROCESS
The selection for this commission will be a single stage open submission competition application. The final decision will be made by an independent panel made up of two individuals from the host organisations and 2 individuals from the arts community.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT
–     The nature and quality of the artwork and project proposition.
–     The response to the commission brief.
–     The relevant experience of the artist to achieve their proposal.
–     The feasibility of the proposal to be achieved within the particular budgetary and time constraints.

Applicants are invited to propose themselves; their practice and their art proposal/project in whatever form they deem relevant bearing in mind the considerations listed above and the context being offered.

For more info see www.nationalsculpturefactory.com.