Brief for Evaluator
Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour
engage, the National Association for Gallery Education
April 2015 - October 2016
Freelance fee: £10,000 inclusive of VAT, plus expenses
Based in own office, some visits to London and exhibition venues required
Deadline for applications: 10am, Monday 23 March 2015
Interviews: 12-4pm, Wednesday 1 April 2015
engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, wishes to appoint an Evaluator for
Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour, a touring exhibition of children and young peopleʼs
artwork and work by established artists with associated engagement and audience development
programmes, supported by Arts Council Englandʼs (ACE) Strategic touring fund.
This is an opportunity to play a key role in monitoring and evaluating a new national initiative
that will run from 2015 to 2016, delivered by engage, in partnership with four venues: Turner
Contemporary in Margate, New Walk Museum and Art Gallery (NWMAG) and Soft Touch
Arts in Leicester, and Quay Arts in Newport, Isle of Wight.
Dissemination events sharing key evaluation findings are planned for September 2016 with
the Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN) and Bridge Organisations in the South East,
South West, East Midlands and nationally. Evaluation findings will also be disseminated
through the engage website.
The Evaluator will be responsible for overall evaluation of the Generation ART programme.
Findings from the final evaluation report will inform planning for a touring exhibition of
children and young peopleʼs art and work by established artists from 2017 onwards. The
gathering and collation of audience data will be supported by an audience development
agency in collaboration with the participating venues.
engage is the lead organisation for gallery education, with 900 members in the UK and
internationally across c.270 visual arts organisations. For more information see www.engage.org
Generation Art Project summary
Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour will deliver artwork by children and young people
(CYP) selected through open submission, as well as work by established artists, and will be
hosted by venues in the South East (Turner Contemporary, Margate), East Midlands (New
Walk Museum and Art Gallery and Soft Touch Arts, Leicester), and South West (Quay Arts,
Isle of Wight).
Focussing on areas of low cultural engagement as well as those lacking quality visual arts
touring provision, Generation ART will enable children and young people to exhibit their
artwork and to curate and promote the exhibition themselves.
Generation ART aims to build relationships with new audiences - particularly children and
young people, families and local communities - and create new opportunities for children and
young people to engage with the visual arts, develop their creative potential and gain an
understanding of professional practice within the visual arts sector. This will include
opportunities developed by participating venues for children and young people to work with
commissioned artists and contribute to and extend the Generation ART exhibition as it tours.
The programme
will enable colleagues from host venues to share expertise and receive
training, building capacity in the sector and permitting more venues to host touring work, with
the additional experience and expertise to engage with new audiences. A partnership
approach will ensure that the legacies of the exhibitions are built upon through local and
regional strategies, and learning will be shared through CVAN, the Mighty Creatives and
Artswork Bridge Organisations and engage. Selected material from the submission will be
available digitally and will form an online resource for teachers, artists and arts organisations.
Project aims
• To showcase high quality artwork by children and young people alongside professional
artistsʼ work
• For children and young people to be fully involved in every stage of creating and
promoting the exhibitions and programmes, with a wide range of learning outcomes
• To raise awareness of the potential for children and young people to produce high
quality artwork, particularly amongst teachers
• To enable children and young people to collaborate with, and benefit from, working
directly with artists and arts professionals
• To encourage children and young people, schools and families to visit the exhibitions
and build sustainable relationships with the galleries and visual arts venues
• For venues to engage with new audiences through the exhibitions and programmes
• To build expertise and capacity in the venues, in curating, hosting and evaluating a
touring exhibition, and working with new audiences
• For legacies from the project to be shared by engage and the venues with peers in the
visual arts and education.
Please see the Appendices section below for more detailed information on: the Generation
ART tour; Childrenʼs Art Week; the project schedule; engage and project partners.
Evaluation
The Evaluator will be responsible for overall evaluation of all aspects of Generation ART.
This will include:
• The origination of the children and young peopleʼs exhibitions and interpretative material
• The efficacy of submission, management and marketing processes
• The individual exhibitions and programmes at the host venues
• Artistsʼ involvement in commissions and exhibiting work
• Children and young peopleʼs involvement in exhibitions and programmes
• The effectiveness of venue staff sharing and CPD (continuing professional development)
• The overall impact of the audience development and marketing programme
• The long-term impact of the exhibitions and programmes on venues in terms of building
capacity to host touring exhibitions and undertake work with new audiences and local
communities
• The impact and response from teachers, arts and education professionals.
In addition, the gathering and collation of audience data will be supported by an audience
development agency in collaboration with the participating venues.
Job description
The Generation ART Evaluator will be expected to:
• Devise a methodology to evaluate Generation ART (complimentary to audience data
gathering approach devised by an audience development agency and participating
venues April/May 2015)
• Introduce the evaluation approach and methodology to the Generation ART project
team and venue representatives
• Visit each venue (prior to / during the exhibition) and support venue staff (curators,
educators and front of house as appropriate) to collect evaluation data
•
•
•
•
•
Advise
and collect quantitative and qualitative data* from venue staff (curators,
educators and front of house as appropriate)
To observe key moments of the Generation ART programme e.g. proposed launch of
Generation Art at Turner Contemporary with participating young people, new audience
responses at different venues, children / young peopleʼs engagement in curating
exhibition at Leicester New Walk and Soft Touch Arts, children and young people
session/s with commissioned artists, etc.
Analyse data and produce a report and one case study per venue, reviewed by engage
and the participating venues
Key evaluation findings will be disseminated through Contemporary Visual Arts Network
and Bridge Organisations in South East, South West, East Midlands and nationally
(September 2016 tbc)
The evaluation report executive summary will be disseminated through the engage website.
*Quantitative data might include the number, attendance, age range of young people
attending commissioned artist sessions, number of attendees at training / skill sharing
sessions, etc. Visitor numbers and demographic data will be captured by the audience
development organisation working on the programme. Qualitative data might be gained
through interviews, diaries, evaluation forms, observation, social media, etc.
The Evaluator will be supported by Jo Plimmer, Generation ART Coordinator and Jane Sillis,
engage Director.
Person Specification
Essential:
• Experience of evaluating arts and education activities
• Competence in handling both quantitative and qualitative research
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills
• Knowledge and experience of visual arts and gallery education practice
• Proven ability to produce evaluation reports for a range of stakeholders
• Flexibility to travel to project meetings (London) and to the participating venues
• Commitment to ensuring that issues of diversity are identified and addressed in the
course of the evaluation process
• Knowledge of contemporary arts practice.
Desirable:
• Experience of arts education projects involving vulnerable or hard to reach children and
young people.
Report timescale
June 2016
Draft report
July 2016
Final report
September 2016
Public dissemination events, executive summary and case studies
shared on the engage website.
The evaluation report will comprise:
• An executive summary of the reportʼs key findings and recommendations
• A description of the evaluation methodology
• Clarification of the aim of evaluation
• A brief description of the project
• An analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data the Evaluator has collected against
the aims for the project
• Key findings and recommendations
• A bibliography of relevant research documents
• Conclusion
• Appendices
It is envisaged
that there will be a case study relating to each venue and their approach to
Generation ART, e.g. focusing on the artist commission, audience development or audience
programmes associated with Generation ART. This will summarise the project aims, describe
what happened and the outcomes and outputs of the project. Case studies might include
quotations from participants, youth workers, venue staff, artists; documentation of artworks
made and of sessions taking place, links to the Generation ART exhibition (photos, videos and
sound clips). Each case study should be c.500-800 words long.
Important dates
March-7 April 2015
30 April 2015 (tbc)
April 2015
May 2015
May-June 2015
2 June-6 September 2015
13-21 June 2015
16 January-6 March 2016
16 January-6 March 2016
19 March-7 May 2016
June 2016
July 2016
September 2016
Generation ART digital submissions
Session for venues on Audience Development and Evaluation
Generation ART selection for exhibition
Artist commission Turner Contemporary
Resource material collated and material for dissemination prepared.
Turner Contemporary Exhibition
Childrenʼs Art Week
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester
Soft Touch Arts, Leicester
Quay Arts, Isle of Wight
Draft report
Final report
Dissemination events at which the Evaluator may present
Fee and expenses
A fee of £10,000 (inclusive of VAT) is available for this work, plus up to £3,000 expenses, to be
claimed against receipts. The Evaluator will work from their own home/office. It is anticipated
that the majority of meetings will be via Skype or conference call, though some visits to London
and the venues will be required.
Application process
Please submit the following documents by the deadline of 10am on Monday 23 March
2015 to [email protected] with the subject line ʻGenART Evaluator applicationʼ :
• A CV with details of two referees
• A Covering Letter stating your interest in this project and how your experience
equips you to undertake the work (maximum 1 A4 side)
• A Proposal outlining how you will approach the evaluation, your methodology,
breakdown of the fee and a timetable (maximum 2 A4 sides)
• A completed Equality and Diversity monitoring form (this can be downloaded
from the engage website at http://www.engage.org/GenART-Evaluator)
Interviews will be held on Wednesday 1 April 2015, 12-4pm.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview by 5pm on Wednesday 25 March 2015.
If you would like an informal discussion about this opportunity or have any queries
please contact Jane Sillis, engage Director, at [email protected] or 020 7729 5858.
engage is committed to equality of access to its employment.
We welcome applications from all sections of the community.
Should you need application details in another format please contact
engage on 020 7729 5858 / [email protected]
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Appendix
1: Generation ART
Introduction
Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour (GenART) will give communities in the South East,
South West and East Midlands access to an exhibition of artwork by established artists
shown alongside artwork selected from children and young people all over the UK.
The exhibitions will be shown in three areas where there is low engagement with the arts or
a shortage of high quality touring exhibitions and will be accompanied in each area by
tailored audience development programmes which connect with children and young people,
new audiences for the visual arts, and local communities.
GenART represents an exceptional opportunity for children and young people who will be
involved in all stages of the project; they will exhibit their artwork, curate and promote the
exhibitions, and act as ambassadors for GenART and the host venues.
The collaboration between the partners in this project will build capacity in the sector,
creating more venues able to host touring work and, crucially, with the experience and
expertise to engage with new audiences.
Background to the project
In 2013, engage invited visual art venues in England to express interest in hosting GenART
in 2015-16. In selecting venues, engage considered the venuesʼ:
• Location, in areas of high deprivation, or low cultural engagement and/or which are isolated
• Commitment to working with artists and commissioning new work
• Strong strategies for working with children and young people
• Commitment to professional development and sharing practice
• Capacity to host the exhibition, and work across the whole organisation to engage and
sustain new audiences
As a result four organisations were selected:
• Turner Contemporary in Margate serves an area of high deprivation.
• New Walk Museum and Gallery and Soft Touch Arts in Leicester serve a multi-cultural area
of low engagement with a young population and high levels of youth unemployment. Soft
Touch Arts also specialise in work with vulnerable young people including those who are
learning disabled, have offended or are at risk of offending. New Walk Museum and Art
Gallery and Soft Touch Arts will work with the Spark Festival
• Quay Arts serves the Isle of Wight, an isolated area with a lack of high quality touring exhibitions
Project delivery
Children and young people (CYP) aged 4-19 will be invited, through promotion in schools,
venues, and through engageʼs extensive networks, to submit work created in and outside of
formal education settings.
A selection panel will be appointed, comprising artists, curators, experts from the education
sector and children and young people. The panel will work with the consortium to establish
criteria for selection, including the curation of a strong, coherent exhibition. A core selection of
work by CYP will be made for the touring exhibition. Each venue will be responsible for work
included by established artists. The work by established artists will emphasise the continuum
from work made by children and young people through to professional practice. This will
distinguish GenART from other open art competitions – high profile artists will work with
children and young people, stimulating exciting work and acting as role models.
A larger body of selected work from the submission will form a unique, freely available digital
resource which will support the exhibition tour, act as an inspiring resource for teachers, artists
and visual arts educators, and provide a legacy well beyond the life of the project.
An external Evaluator will assess the impact of Generation ART and the Coordinator will
work to support the Evaluator to gain data from the venues.
Exhibition
Tour Schedule
02/06/2015 – 06/09/2015
16/01/2016 – 06/03/2016
16/01/2016 – 06/03/2016
19/03/2016 – 07/05/2016
Turner Contemporary, Margate
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester
Soft Touch Arts, Leicester
Quay Arts, Newport
Project aims and outcomes
• To showcase high quality artwork by CYP alongside artistsʼ work
• For CYP to be fully involved in every stage, with a wide range of learning outcomes
• To raise awareness, particularly amongst teachers, of the potential for children and
young people to produce extremely high quality artwork
• To encourage CYP, schools and families to visit the exhibitions and enjoy a life-long, lifeenhancing engagement with the visual arts
• For venues to engage with new audiences through the exhibitions and programmes
• To build expertise and capacity in the venues, in curating, hosting and evaluating a
touring exhibition and attracting new audiences
• For legacies from the project, including the digital resource, to be shared by engage and
the venues with peers in the visual arts and education sectors
For further information on Generation ART, please visit http://www.engage.org/GenART
Appendix 2: Childrenʼs Art Week (CAW)
Generation Art compliments engageʼs Childrenʼs Art Week, an annual celebration of
children and young people engaging with art and artists which takes place in June. The
opening of Generation Art at Turner Contemporary coincides with CAW 2015. A PR
consultant will oversee communications for both Generation Art and CAW 2015 with the
support of engageʼs Communications Officer. CAW will be announced in January 2015
For CAW 2014:
• 15,000 children and adults took part in 104 events run by 85 venues around the UK
• 67% of participants were new to the venues visited
• 36% of participants were first-time participants in any kind of arts event outside of school
• 27% of events took place in areas of least or low engagement in England
• 100% of venues participating felt that Childrenʼs Art Week was important to their organisation
• 97% of galleries and venues taking part are keen to take part in the event again
In 2015 engage hopes to build on this success by reaching 20,000 participants, through a 9day event.
Appendix 3: Project partners
Turner Contemporary (TC), Margate opened in 2011. The Gallery shows temporary
exhibitions and has an extensive education programme which pre-dates the opening and
includes work with schools, CYP and families. Margate is an area of high deprivation and
TC emphasises the need to engage with local audiences, many of whom visited when the
gallery first opened but have not made repeat visits. The Gallery aims to engage with every
school in Kent by the end of 2015/16 and is part of initiatives such as Art31 and INSPIRE,
developed by Kent County Council to empower young people to participate in and develop
high quality art experiences
New Walk Museum and Art Gallery (NWMAG), Leicester has displays of natural and
ancient history, fine and decorative art, and programmes visual art exhibitions. It is strong in
integrated programming and is developing as a family friendly museum. Leicester is
culturally diverse, has a young population and high levels of youth unemployment. The
museum has an active schools programme; they worked with every primary school in the
city in 2011 and hosted an open exhibition for Leicester schools in 2014 with 160 entries.
NWMAG will co-host the tour with Soft Touch Arts (STA) who specialise in work with
vulnerable
young people including those who are learning disabled, have offended or are at
risk of offending. In 2015, STA openʼs the first arts centre for young people in the city,
opposite NWMAG. The Spark Festival, the largest childrenʼs art festival in England and
Wales, will support the programme.
Quay Arts (QA) is a vital resource on the Isle of Wight, promoting exhibitions of
contemporary art, with drama and music performance; it has extensive education and public
programmes. The islandʼs economic performance is low compared with regional and
national figures. There are areas of income deprivation across the island and its population
is isolated, so being able to experience high quality art at QA is essential. QA specialises in
working with CYP and takes a lead on youth work on the island and in the South East,
working with Artswork, its local authority, and cultural and youth organisations.
Other partners and networks
In planning this initiative engage has consulted with the Contemporary Visual Art Network
(CVAN) and Bridge Organisations in the South East and East Midlands, Artswork and The
Mighty Creatives. These agencies are clear about how GenART contributes to their aims
and objectives. Each will work with engage to promote and disseminate the project and offer
professional development to those working in the visual arts and education.
Appendix 4: About engage
engage is the lead professional association promoting understanding and enjoyment of the
visual arts through advocacy, professional development, research and projects and
disseminating practice.
engage has a membership of around 900, including c.270 galleries, museums and arts
centres across the UK and in 24 countries internationally. engage is an Arts Council
England National Portfolio Organisation, an Annual Client of Creative Scotland and receives
project funding from the Arts Council of Wales.
engage provides a platform for education professionals working within galleries, museums,
heritage venues, schools and other community venues, to meet and connect through Area
Group meetings, engage events and the engage website. For more details about what we
do and how to join visit www.engage.org.
engage’s staffing comprises:
London office: Director; Finance & Governance Manager (p/t); Operations Manager; Communications
Officer; Administration Officer
Other engage staff and freelancers (not based in the London office): engage Cymru Coordinator;
engage Scotland Coordinator (p/t); engage Journal Editor (freelance); Extend Coordinator
(freelance); Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Award (ARMA) & Max Reinhardt Literacy Award (MRLA)
Coordinators; Generation ART Coordinator (p/t), and freelance project Evaluators and Facilitators.
engage are supported by: