Artist Callout – Our Freedom: Then and Now

Queen's Hall Arts


  • Job Title: Artist Callout – Our Freedom: Then and Now
  • Salary: £25k-£30k
  • Hours:
    Full time
  • Artform: Combined arts
  • Role: Creative
  • Contract: Contract
  • Closing date: Sun, 20 Jul 2025

  • Location:

    North East

Job Summary

Led by Future Arts Centres, Queen’s Hall Arts is leading a local commission that prioritises community voices as part of Our Freedom: Then and Now. Inspired by Simon Armitage’s specially commissioned poem Freedom Road, we’re seeking an artist or collective to co-create a new public-facing work.

Job Description

About Queen’s Hall Arts

Queen’s Hall Arts (QHA) is a registered charity and multipurpose arts centre based in the heart of Hexham. We develop and deliver a vibrant arts programme offering a wide range of shows, exhibitions, concerts and special events, support professional and aspiring artists, provide opportunities for our community to take part in the arts and offer a valuable creative resource to our local area. Find out more: https://www.queenshall.co.uk/ – www.queenshall.co.uk

About Our Freedom: Then and Now

2025 marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War, a pivotal moment that reshaped life across the UK and beyond. To commemorate this anniversary, arts centres and libraries across the country will be hosting a powerful new programme of community-led creative projects.

Led by Future Arts Centres, in partnership with Libraries Connected and supported by Arts Council England, Our Freedom: Then and Now invites local people to explore what freedom means to them, then, now, and in the future.

As part of this national initiative, Queen’s Hall Arts is leading a local commission that prioritises community voices. Inspired by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage’s specially commissioned piece Freedom Road, our project will connect past and present, honouring personal and shared histories through a contemporary lens.

Our Freedom: Then and Now will run from July to November 2025.

Job Requirements

We are seeking an artist or collective to co-create a new public-facing work that explores the question: What does freedom mean to us today, in this place, through the lens of the Second World War and its legacy?

The project will focus on RAF Spadeadam, a remote site on the Northumberland and Cumbria border. Built in the 1950s to support the Blue Streak rocket programme, the base reflects a moment in Britain’s Cold War history. Although the project was later abandoned, parts of the original site remain, offering a striking prompt for creative reflection.

Our starting point will be Simon Armitage’s poem Freedom Road, which can be used to begin conversations about freedom in personal, political, and historical terms.

A video of Simon performing the poem can be found on our website https://www.queenshall.co.uk/get-involved/projects/our-freedom-then-and-now – here.

How to Apply

Read the Artist Callout document in full on our website.

How to Apply

To apply, please email the following to [email protected]:
– Examples of previous work and links to photos / films
– A proposal of how you will approach the project – including gathering ideas from community participants and translating them into an animation or moving image piece of work. (word limit 300)
– Contact details
– Artist Bio
– Any access requirements you’d like us to be aware of

Deadline for applications: Sunday 20 July 2025.
If you have any questions about your application, please email [email protected].

Apply now
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