Transforming Cities Fund – Curator in Residence
September 27, 2023In partnership with Bradford City Council, we’re pleased to announce a curator-in-residence research opportunity within Bradford’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) programme.
We’re interested in understanding the potential for creatives to be embedded within local authority settings and offer their creative thinking, problem solving skills and unique perspectives to identify opportunities for creative intervention within the development and delivery of public services.
This partnership placement is for a curator to immerse themselves in the day to day delivery of the fund and identify associated potential opportunities for Bradford 2025 to commission creative interventions in the public realm as part of the UK City of Culture programme. These ideas should intersect with the existing public art offer and could include but are not limited to: way finding, place making endeavours, community engagement and/or public art.
Transforming Cities Fund
The Transforming Cities Fund programme is part of the government’s wider Levelling Up agenda. Bradford has been allocated £81m and communities across the district are set to benefit from schemes intended to increase dwell time in the city centre and improve the efficiency, accessibility, safety and environmental impact of local travel.
The Transforming Cities fund will:
- Transform the city centre to reduce traffic and improve air quality, which will enable more people to travel by public transport, by bike or on foot.
- Improve walking access between Bradford Interchange Rail Station and Bradford Forster Square Rail Station.
- Transform transport links between Bradford Interchange and regeneration schemes in the wider city centre.
- Provide a new Park and Ride in south Bradford, and a bus express way linking the new facility to the city centre with journey times of just 10 minutes.
- Include a segregated cycle route linking west Bradford to the city centre, improving links to the university and connecting communities with job opportunities.
The brief
The Curator in Residence will identify potential opportunities for creative thinking or commissioning opportunities which intersect with both existing art in the public realm and the work being undertaken by the TCF programme. These might include creative problem solving, way finding solutions, addressing changes of use, a public art proposal and place making endeavours.
They will develop an in depth understanding of the objectives, timelines and logistical challenges (both long term and day to day) of the TCF programme, through conversations and engagement with colleagues on the TCF team.
Engaging with the arts and cultural programming priorities of Bradford 2025, the Curator in Residence will prioritise opportunities for artistic intervention that add cultural and community value to the TCF programme. These could be realised ahead of and during Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture.
The Curator will engage in community consultation to identify local need where appropriate. They will identify potential relevant community and commercial partnerships to support proposed activities.
The role involves a holistic approach to feasibility and relevance considering: community need, challenges, environmental sustainability, scope, scale, lifespan and impact. This includes considering financial viability and preparing to communicate findings relating to this inclusive of pragmatism and risk.
The Curator will present comprehensive findings towards the end of the contract to both Bradford 2025 staff and relevant city council colleagues as an engaging report and a spoken presentation.
Person specification
This opportunity would suit someone who is proactive, resourceful and creative. We’re looking for a confident communicator who feels comfortable communicating with a range of stakeholders and engaging in public speaking.
We’re also looking for individuals who understand the potential and challenges of citing arts and cultural interventions in the public realm, who can demonstrate an interest in both the nature of the opportunity and a relationship to the Bradford district and its communities.
The ideal candidate will have a track record of engaging in practice based research and producing reports to evidence findings in related fields e.g arts, social sciences, architecture, curating, design and environmental studies.
You must be self employed and/or responsible for managing your own tax contributions. The successful candidate will be responsible for paying their own tax contributions and should have their own public liability insurance.
How to apply
The opportunity is 1-2 days per week, worked flexibly over 4 months. The fee is £10,000 inclusive of tax, travel and per diems and is paid in three instalments.
To apply for this opportunity send the following to programme@bradford2025.co.uk with TCF Curator in Residence as the subject:
- A recent copy of your CV (no more than 2 sides of A4)
- A cover letter detailing your interest in the opportunity and how you meet the person specification.
- Complete the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form
The deadline for applications is Monday 16 October at 5pm. Interviews for successful candidates are expected to take place in our Bradford city centre based offices week commencing 30 October.
