Call Out  For Proposals -  People's Day

Warwick Arts Centre is turning 50 in autumn. To mark this milestone, we are delivering a series of events celebrating activism under the title Rebels With A Cause!

We want to share our spaces and showcase Warwick Arts Centre as a safe space to celebrate community and for people to create, express themselves, speak their truths. 

Would you like to run a workshop at Warwick Arts Centre? Have a new music set to showcase? A big idea you want to share? 

We are inviting our local community partners, artists and creatives from Coventry to take over our building with workshops, performances and pop-up activities that celebrate the creative community of our city. This will be a day of people-led programming and a celebration of community and creativity. 

We encourage our collaborators to consider their work as a call to action, as an invitation to think about what matters to them, whether it’s social justice, mental health, the environment or something else.

What? 

• The Peoples’ Day is on Saturday 30 November, 10am – 4pm at Warwick Arts Centre.
• Fees and support details are below.
• We are looking for proposals for workshops, discussions, performances, music sets, open mics, film screenings and more! We’re looking for full and varied day with a programme of activities happening across centre.
• You might be a community group, maker, DJ, performer, a speaker, poet, workshop facilitator or a blend of all these things together. We welcome submissions from professional and non-professional practitioners. You do not have to have worked with us previously to make a proposal.
• Proposals must be accessible and appropriate for an intergenerational audience.
• Your submission could be for a full day activity, or a half day activity, or sessions repeated at key times throughout the day.
• We would prefer all sessions to be offered without the need for bookings. So drop-in, or with a set start time offered on a first come first serve basis.
• All events will be free to attend.

Essential Information

• If shortlisted, you will need to be free for a follow up 20-minute conversation on Teams during the week beginning 21 October. We will use this time to hear a bit more about your idea and you can ask us any questions you may have.
• You will need to be free on Saturday 30 November for the event itself. Please factor in time for set-up and clear down during the day.
• In order for us to pay your fee, you will need to be or be willing to register as Self-Employed with a tax number or be registered as a company.
• You will need to have or be willing to have Public Liability Insurance. 
• We advise that applicants are aged 18+. We welcome young people leading sessions if they are part of a company or organisation.

Fee and support

• There is a fee of up to £550 inclusive of VAT for each proposal to cover planning and delivery time. We don’t expect that all proposals will need the full budget depending on the activity proposed.
• There is additional budget of £50 available for materials.
• Plus a budget for any access requirements which can be discussed when we meet. Please outline the cost of any materials required to deliver the event as well as any access costs in your proposal.
• On the day and leading up to the event, Warwick Arts Centre will provide support with planning, event management, additional engagement support for workshops if needed, marketing, and we can offer some technical support.
• We can provide a PA system, microphones, DI boxes, monitors, and a grand piano. We cannot provide DJ decks or items of backline unfortunately (e.g. drumkit, keyboards, guitar amps, and more.)

How to apply 

Using the questions below as a guide, please send a short proposal that responds to the above brief and the theme of Rebels With A Cause!.

The deadline for submitting your Expression of Interest is Wednesday 16 October. If you have any questions, please email Gemma Wright, our Head of Creative Learning. 

Please include the following information in your proposal: 

• A little about you, your practice or your group and why you would like to be part of the Peoples’ Day.
• What you would like to do as part of the Peoples’ Day, and how it responds to the theme of Rebels With A Cause!
• Please outline the logistics: How long is your event? How many people can attend? Who is involved? What type of space is required? What equipment or materials do you need?
• An idea of the budget. Simple headline figures are all that is needed at this point. We expect a large part of the fee will be used to pay yourself or your group.
• Some examples of your work or previous events / projects (in any format, preferably digital)
• Contact details, including email, telephone and address.

We are happy to accept written or video/voice note applications. Please email them to us writing Peoples’ Day Expression of interest and your name or group in the subject header.

Timeline:

Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Justice

“The power of the arts to delight, challenge, and inspire is the thing that will bridge gaps, heal division, and forge new connections between us.”

It’s a core part of our vision to ensure that we are open and accessible to everyone, this includes our audiences, artists and staff. 

We actively invite applications from those who are currently underrepresented in the arts and are happy to talk the application through with anyone who has access needs or has identified any other barriers not here identified. 

Coventry is a rich and diverse city; we want Warwick Arts Centre’s programming to be representative of the people it serves.