Spectra is looking for two Builder-Maker-Artists to help us realise our vision for Abundance, a natural, all ages, inclusive playspace on the site of the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital. Through this project, we will be working with the Birmingham 2022 Festival, a six-month celebration of creativity across the region and part of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
In Abundance, Spectra, partners, and a diverse mix of local communities will co-create an interactive, multi-sensory playspace through which people can reconnect with all that nature offers. Audiences will step inside a world rich in colour, flavour, scent, texture, and the invitation for children and adults alike to move, create, grow and play. Far from a traditional playground, this open provocation with myriad access points will encourage creative engagement. Participants will find their own way through a rich sensorial experience: sound making with natural elements; walls of herbs to smell and taste; a barefoot walk to encourage a slower pace and alertness; hidden nooks and expansive arenas to spark wild imagination.
We are looking for two Builder-Maker-Artists who will work with us and the communities we engage with to collaborate, design and build the Abundance installation. Our Builder-Maker-Artists will join a warm and passionate team including four Spectra artists (a neurodiverse group of collaborators), a Lead Designer, an Artist-Grower, and a Director (as well as a Production Team). This Company will work together to dream, design and build Abundance with input from the beautifully diverse community surrounding our site at Midland Metropolitan University Hospital through thoughtfully planned and delivered co-creation opportunities.
Sustainability is at the heart of Abundance and will be attended to throughout the work, from conceptual thinking to dismantling the installation at the end of its life on site. Spectra was founded on an ethos of inclusivity; Abundance will reflect this deeply.
We are keen to hear from artists working in any medium who can excite us about how their skills and experience can help to make Abundance truly spectacular. Our Builder-Maker-Artists will need to be knowledgeable, resourceful, creative, responsive and hard working. Together we’ll find ways to bring the best out of our sustainable approach, the temporary nature of the installation, the dynamism of the site, local heritage (both natural and human), our budget, and the all wonderful collaborators we will be working with. Skilled building support will be provided for the installation.
Work on Abundance will be richly rewarding and includes development opportunities alongside the intensive output. Except where noted, work will take place in the daytime in Birmingham and Sandwell. The structure of this work is as follows:
| Date | Activity |
| Tue 15 Mar | Initial Meeting |
| Mon 21 March – Wed 23 | Residency with Wild Rumpus at The Whirligig (Staffordshire/Cheshire border) to explore nature, play, and sustainable installation building |
| Mon 28 March | Planning community co-creation workshops, session with Spectra’s Sensory Designer, Kaye Winwood |
| Tue 29 March | Planning community co-creation workshops |
| April 2022 | Co-creation workshops led by teams of 2 artists focussing on design (teams to be agreed based on interest and availability) |
| Tue 3 May | Incorporating feedback from co-creation workshops and agreeing design, session with Spectra’s Sensory Designer, Kaye Winwood |
| Wed 4 May | Incorporating feedback from co-creation workshops and agreeing design |
| By Fri 13 May | Designs finalised |
| 6 – 24 June | Building installation |
| 6-24 June | Co-creation sessions delivered by teams of 2 artists to create aspects of installation (teams to be agreed based on interest and availability) |
| Sat 25 June | Opening Ceremony |
| Sat 3 Sep | Closing Ceremony |
| Mon 12 Sep | Evaluation |
It may be useful to refer to our growing mood board for this work, which can be found at https://www.pinterest.co.uk/deardrclaw/abundance/.
Our company is neurodiverse and we are dedicated to using our work to cultivate a world that celebrates difference in all its wonderful forms. Our creative process and the work we create are actively inclusive. We take the same approach to curating the pool of freelancers we work with, seeking to shift imbalanced representation within our sector by warmly welcoming and prioritising applications from Black and Brown practitioners and those who identify as working class, D/deaf, Disabled and or LGBTQI+.
Application process: please tell us why working on Abundance interests you and how your experience relates specifically to this project by sending your expression of interest to kate@wearespectra.co.uk. We’d also like to see some visuals of work you’ve made that represents what you propose to bring to Abundance. Please state whether you are available for the dates shown above or not (some flexibility may be possible). Your application should be no more than two sides of A4 or a 4 minute video/audio recording. If you have access requirements, please get in touch to talk about how we can support you in making your application.
When you submit your expression of interest, please also complete the equal opportunities monitoring form here: https://forms.gle/EmAyqcvgMobm9AUX7. This form and your personal information will be kept separate from your application when it is reviewed by the panel.
Deadline 12pm, Thursday 13 January 2022
Interviews will be held on Wed 19 and Thu 20 Jan between 4pm-6pm with a panel of four (Spectra’s Creative Director, our Creative and Strategic Development Officer, our Lead Designer, and a Board Member).
Timeline Contract from March – September 2022.
Fee: £3,310 inclusive of travel and expenses (travel to and accommodation at the residency will be paid for). This is based on rates set out by itc: £125/day for 18 days plus 2 full-time weeks of installation at a rate of £530/week.
Location: Birmingham and Sandwell, with a residency on the Staffordshire/Cheshire border.
Insta: @spectraartscompany
Facebook: @SpectraArtsCompany
Twitter: @Spectra_Arts
YouTube Channel: Spectra Arts
Background Information on Spectra
Spectra creates fierce and joyful creative interaction through authentic collaboration. We seek to cultivate a world that celebrates brains that work in different ways. Our neurodiverse company produces interactive adventures that engage all of our audience’s senses. We’ve developed a reputation for aesthetically-driven work that is both gentle and fierce, inviting our audiences to imagine intensely positive possibilities: ‘It made me laugh and cry. It was delicious in every way. Renewed my faith in the world!’ (Audience).