Statement of Purpose:

Arts Health Antigonish (AHA!) seeks a sound artist (“the artist”) to create a sound installation using “field sounds” such as voices, hand clapping, toe tapping, song, laughter, chatter, excerpts of poems or stories, from Arts Canopy sessions with participants who are living with dementia. The artist will unify these sounds into a complete, artistically realized vision. The intent is to inspire and engage the community in re-envisioning how we see people with dementia, especially in terms of appreciating how the arts give meaning to the lives of those who still have much to offer.

Background Information:

AHA! is a non-profit collaboration between local artists, health care workers, and educators, which began at the Sustainable Antigonish table in 2013 with an exploration as to how culture contributes to community sustainability and resilience. Since 2013, AHA! has lived its mission of ‘fostering creative expression for community health’, creating about 20 arts-based programs over a five-year period. AHA! is particularly interested in helping those in our community with less access to the arts, those in transition, isolated, ill or vulnerable in other ways: youth, seniors, immigrants, those in hospital and in long term care facilities.

Arts Canopy was created by AHA! in 2016 with the goal of focusing on the abilities and capacities of those living with dementia, rather than on their deficits. Between 2016 and 2018, AHA! will have offered 29 x 10 week arts-based programs, in music, poetry, visual arts, movement, dance, pottery and storytelling, all facilitated by professional artists.  An annual celebration of the artwork of Arts Canopy is part of valuing the creative contributions of participants.  A visual community installation of the art produced in 2017 was held through GoArts, a celebration of local arts and a highlight of the Highland Games in Antigonish. Through Arts Canopy programs, participants have found new ways to express themselves, other ways of remembering, they have enjoyed greater socialization, improved mood, lessened anxiety, and those effects lasted well beyond the end of the programs.

This sound installation project will celebrate the 2018 Arts Canopy programs. AHA’s hope is that through this installation, we can share more widely participants’ joy, their engagement in song and in ‘other ways of remembering’, their empathy for one another, their creativity. By listening to and understanding what people with dementia have to offer, all of us become recipients of their creativity.

Scope of Work:

The artist will consult with the Arts Canopy and AHA! teams to understand the Arts Canopy program goals and outcomes that have become evident, as well as the intent of the installation. The artist will create a vision for the project and will use previously professionally recorded (by a sound technician) audio clips of Arts Canopy sessions to create the sound installation, working with the sound technician. The artist will have full responsibility for all creative and technical aspects of the project and will report to designated members of the AHA! leadership team.

Deliverables:

A sound installation (about 30 minutes), ideally to be completed by Feb 28, 2019, but this will depend on artist availability and funding being secured.

Terms and Conditions:  

The terms of payment will be negotiable with the successful applicant. Our proposal is that the artist will be paid a flat rate: 35% on the first iteration of the project, 65% on the final iteration and delivery of the completed installation. A final two-page report on the project will be expected by AHA! prior to the final payment.

It is anticipated that the project will be completed within 4-5 months, depending on the start date, but a final timeline will be negotiated with the successful artist. The installation will be fully owned by AHA!, and the organization will have complete control over its distribution. The artist will be given full credit for the work done.

Proposal Instructions:

Please send clear, organized documents in easily accessible programs (such as MS Word for written documents and MS Excel for the budget). Please also ensure that your name is on each document you send. Include the following as part of your proposal:

1. Letter of Intent including the proposed method (techniques, etc.) to be used to communicate the key messages. Please note that AHA! is open to discussing a visual component to accompany the sound installation;
2. C.V. of no more than 3 pages showing education, experience, and previous accomplishments, including 2-3 professional references with names and contact information;
3. Samples of previous similar work (include media files or links to online sources);
4. Budget
5. Timeline for making and completing the installation

Evaluation and Award Process:

Proposals will be considered on both artistic and financial merits, to include the artist’s experience, the proposed creative direction for this project, and the financial proposal. Final terms will be negotiated with the winning artist. Since the project is subject to the availability of funding, AHA! reserves the right to reject all proposals. All applicants will be notified, whether or not they are successful.

Proposal Deadline:

Proposal should be sent in electronic form to AHA! at artshealthantigonish@gmail.com by noon on Monday, September 17, 2018.

Contacts:

Any questions should be sent to AHA! at the above address.