Commission – Owtside the Lines & Redefined: Radical Acts of Growth

We expect the artist or organisation to work with a minimum of two communities in County Durham, one of which will be Quaking Houses Village Hall.

The artist or organisation will deliver a minimum of 24 days’ worth of engagement/contact sessions with local communities (based on 1 day a week/2 half-days) between September 2026 and March 2027. These workshops will be a mix of horticulture workshops and arts practice workshops. We expect sessions to be delivered in line with the AUE rate of pay.

The remaining budget should include travel, materials, planning/prep time, VAT, access costs and any other expenses as well as costs associated with the culmination event. For example, a celebration event exhibiting artwork and garden across one or multiple locations.

We would also expect commissioned artist or organisation to factor in any community costs e.g room hire, food and energy bill contribution where applicable.

No More Nowt will provide marketing and publicity support, as well as producing support for the overall project where needed.

What We Want:

Through this commission we hope to achieve:

A residency with a strong connection to our communities, responding to everyday realities, places, people, histories and hopes.

An opportunity for local people to engage with their locality, meet new people and be involved with cultural opportunities they may not have engaged with previously.

An innovative approach to working with communities through the means of horticulture with a focus on permaculture.

Delivery of an artwork that can be redistributed at the needs of the community that welcomes new people

Delivery of a celebration event:

We are open to artists at all stages of their careers including recent graduates and are always interested in applications from people who have connections to County Durham.

We are always interested in diversifying our artists, audience & participants in terms of gender, race, sexuality and lived experience.