The Albany has a rich history of co-creation, and we believe that the arts are uniquely placed to connect communities, celebrate their immense collective power, and create positive social change.

We are putting our money where our mouths are, delivering another round of our experimental artist-led project, Artist of Change. You will be working hand in hand with local people, to create together, build connections, draw out local talent, and ultimately help realise the power and potential of our local communities.

We want to work with artists as practitioners, as producers, as curators, and as community connectors; to collectively seize this critical moment in the arts to make significant and long-lasting changes to how we build our programme with artists and communities.

We are shifting the power around artistic programming, to democratise and diversify artistic leadership. This includes placing more long-term decision-making powers in the hands of our communities, and working in a collaborative way that enhances the artistic experiences for everyone involved.

Lots of great examples of this already exist at the Albany, but we want to do more.

We are seeking artists who are also driven by this mission and who are bold, talented, experienced and well-placed to create work with the Albany’s communities.

For this commission we are offering a fee of up to £10,000 with an expectation of 50 – 60 days’ work over six months, plus a budget of up to £4,000 to be spent on the direct delivery of ideas.

What will be involved?

  • Working within the Albany – including with staff, our brand-new Community Council, artist network and resident arts and community organisations – over a six-month period
  • Getting to know us and being embedded in the Albany and the local Deptford and New Cross area
  • Working closely with our creative, marketing, engagement, and technical teams to challenge and support us to develop more responsive and democratic ways of working
  • Working with communities to co-create/ curate work that is relevant and accessible, supporting more local people to see the Albany as a home for exploring their creativity. This could include inviting other artists to present existing work, as well as collaborating and creating new work
  • Working (with support from Albany creative producers) to devise an outline of how you will work including the communities, artists and/ or organisations you will work with; key moments that will produce public outcomes; and how you will manage your budget.

We’re deliberately keeping the brief open. Though we do expect social change to be at the heart of this commission, and a series of outcomes that the public can engage with as part of our programme, it is important that these are not pre-conceived but are born out of engagement and collaboration. This could include performances, exhibitions, a series of workshops, a film, a party, a carnival… anything! 

You can find out more about our artistic policy and programming priorities here. 

Who are we looking for?

  • We are looking for a resident artist/collective to work with us for at least six months
  • We are looking for artists who are from, live in, or who have a demonstrable connection to South East London
  • We imagine this being an opportunity for individual artists from a performance or multidisciplinary background, and we are open to approaches from duos or collectives
  • We are looking for artists who have at least three years’ experience of working collaboratively with other artists and communities and whose practice needs other people to happen
  • We welcome applications from artists from a diverse range of backgrounds and perspectives including age, sexuality, disability and socio-economic background. We will work with you to support any access needs.

How do I apply?

Please fill out the form below – you can fill out the questions by text or upload a video message or voicenote (of up to four minutes) if you prefer.

What happens next?

Applications close on Friday 20 December 2024.

Expressions of interest will be shortlisted by a panel from the Albany and our Youth and Meet Me programmes.

Shortlisted artists will be asked to prepare a presentation and attend an interview with the creative team and a shortlisting panel. We expect interviews to take place on the week beginning Monday 20 January 2025. All shortlisted artists who are able to attend an interview, will be paid £100 in addition to reimbursement of reasonable travel expenses.

If you have any questions you can contact Danielle Marshall, Programme Producer, at danielle.marshall@thealbany.org.uk.

Artist of Change Application Form

Name(Required)
(Suggested 250 words)
(Suggested 150 words)
Focus on work that is relevant to the project. You can include links if you'd like to. (Suggested 250 words)
(Suggested 500 words)
(Suggested 500 words)
(Suggested 300 words)
If you would prefer to record your answers as a video message or voice note, please upload this here.
Max. file size: 512 MB.

Equal Opportunities Questions

You will notice we do have some demographic questions. These will not play any role in our decision. These questions are there for us to ensure we are reaching as many people as possible and to assess how we may improve this in the future. However, if you do not wish to answer these simply select prefer not to say. 

Lead photo: Suzi Corker.