Westquay and Southampton Forward are looking for students and emerging artists and illustrators to paint live during a street art jam event on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th September 2023

Overview:

WestQuay is a prominent shopping centre in central Southampton with over 16 million visitors per year. It owns and operates the attached Multi-Storey carpark which, as part of a joint project with Southampton Forward (the Southampton Culture Trust) is going to be rejuvenated with over 20 permanent street art murals from inspiring national and local graffiti artists.

Over the weekend a huge breadth of talent from the graffiti and street art scene will be creating new works on large scale walls and boards on levels 7 – 10. The space will be designed for the whole community in mind and curated to include a variety of artistic approaches. We want to show that Southampton is a destination for world class street art and to inspire local artistic talent.

This is a great opportunity to come and see new artworks being created and explore completed works. There will be activities for all ages to join in and learn some skills including kids’ art workshops, skateboarding and music.

As well as the permanent wall murals, we also have the opportunity to commission 6 local artists from any discipline from the SO postcode, to produce work on art frames located in the Car Park.

Brief:

Artist Fee: £200 per art piece

Dimensions: width (3metres) x height (1 metre)

Materials: Any permanent medium (paint, pens, etc…)

We are looking for artists to produce permanent art pieces on the Art Frames of West Quay Car Park. Artists will draw/paint live into the frames over the space of two days. The artworks will be based on the theme of “multi-stories” – exploring and reflecting on Southampton’s diverse population. Applications are encouraged from under-represented groups including Disabled, Black, Asian, Ethnically Diverse and LGTBQ+ Artists.

The opportunity is aimed at students and emerging artists, this is reflected in the fee, but other artists are not exluded. This is an opportunity for non Street Artists to have a go at painting live. There are no designs required beforehand. The artist can paint for one day, however there is the option for artists to plan their time over two days or less.

The fee is in line with both a-n and The Arts Union England.

To register your interest as an individual artist or as a group of artists for more than one art frame, please email a short bio of you and your work and a selection of images of your style or a link to your work with the Subject Heading: WestQuay SO Art Frames to: info@paintshopstudio.com

Timings

  • Expression of interest submission: by 18th August 2023
  • Shortlisted artists to be informed & confirmed: 29th August 2023
  • Painting of mural: 9th and/or 10th September 2023

Conditions

Please note that whilst you retain ownership of your designs, photos and/or videos of the progress and/or finished artworks may be used within Marketing materials and social media to promote WestQuay, the project and project partners.

Further Information

  • All materials used on site must be approved by Hammerson PLC
  • As we are a public facility, all artworks should not be of a religious or political nature or contain material which is abusive, offensive, or sexually explicit.
  • Artists must have their own public liability insurance.
  • The murals are expected to be on display for a year, Artists must consider durability and lifespan of image