Artist for a project

Project overview

ROTW brings together thirty-six schools per year, eighteen from the UK and eighteen from developing countries, to work together and collaborate with each other to develop their knowledge and understanding of Development Education, Global Learning and transferable skills. They do this through the theme of rivers and water (linked to clean water and sanitation as per the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals ‘SDG 6’) and using arts as the medium for that collaboration. 

Rivers of the World (ROTW) has been delivered in partnership by Thames Festival Trust and the British Council globally since 2006. 

Each participating school has the opportunity to work with a local artist to produce high quality digital artworks with groups of students. These artworks will then be displayed as part of the Totally Thames Festival in London in September of each year, in other parts of the UK, and locally in the overseas country via either physical and/or online digital exhibition. 

These schools commit to two years involvement in the programme. 

It is expected that during year two of the project participating schools will apply for a Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning cluster grant to embed global learning further and enable reciprocal visits between partner schools to further their collaboration. This will enable schools to co-design creative activities with their pupils that will amplify student voices within school and the community. Schools will be able to apply for funding to support teacher training and communities of practice within their networks. 

Key objectives

•    Pupils develop new skills and knowledge on rivers, art and global citizenship to help them live and work in a global economy.
•    Pupils gain motivation and inspiration for learning through exciting engagement in river-themed content, resources and international collaboration, taking action to tackle global issues in their community and play a part in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
•    Teachers develop new skills and knowledge on rivers, art techniques and international collaboration that they take into their curriculum teaching.
•    Teachers access high quality learning materials, resources and an international network of peers and best practice.
•    Participating schools are well positioned to participate in Connecting Classrooms 2018-21

Procuring Local Artist

The British Council office in Lebanon is looking to recruit and contract a local artist to help deliver the project. The artist will attend a development workshop in the UK for 5 days (led by the ROTW lead artist) to be introduced to the project methodology and creative themes. Following the training, the artist will work with British Council Lebanon office to determine the creative direction of the project and run school-based art workshops. The artist is responsible for finishing the artworks and then presenting them in a print-ready digital format to Thames Festival Trust. The following should be considered: 

•    Artist should be experienced in providing school workshops, confident in delivering projects, experience in working with children, creating ROTW style art, and have a good creative portfolio. He/she should be able to speak English and be accessible via email. It is essential that the artist has good knowledge of the computer programme “Photoshop” or equivalent, as the practical work done with students in schools must be turned into a final digital artwork that can be printed electronically for display in the UK and website. 

•    The artist should be a visual artist with face-to-face ‘workshop delivery experience’ and a designer with extensive Photoshop skills. 
•    Artist should be available to attend a workshop in the UK to be introduced to the art project methodology, techniques and requirements to deliver art workshops in Lebanon and produce the ROTW artwork. The artist will receive a guidance pack for support post training.
•    The artist is responsible for selecting contemporary art, craft or popular art forms as style guides. He/she then will work with the pupils participating on the project to create artworks in these styles – facilitating student learning and supporting them to create art works through this style in the art workshops. The styles are chosen for their relevance to the local context and the designated ROTW theme. Formal links with the style guide artists, or the gallery in which they are exhibited, can provide the young people involved with a valuable opportunity to ‘connect’ with art and design. 
•    Artist can select the artistic medium for the pupils: e.g. collage, painting, drawing, photography. All artwork (irrespective of the medium) must be transferred into a digital format and then manipulated on computer to provide the final artwork. Final artwork must be presented to the Thames Festival Trust as a digital file as per British Council deadlines.

 •    The core activities: 5 days training in UK (around March), 1 day introduction workshop for local schools back in country, 2 days per school art workshop delivery (i.e. 12 days in total across all 6 schools- around April-May), 2 days finalising the art works in Photoshop (six final digital artworks by end of June), and supporting in local exhibition if needed. Total approximately 20 days contract.