Buxton Museum is looking for a textile artist or someone who works with natural fibres or dyes to take part in 'Collection of the Artists' with 5 other artists, including Buxton Museum's artists in residence Amanda and Richard Johsnon.

Collection of the Artists – Artist Brief

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery is looking to commission a professional artist to make a high quality piece of contemporary work to be included in its new Wonders of the Peak gallery. We are looking for someone who works with textiles or natural fibres in some way. Maybe you’re an artist who uses weaving, basket making or sewing skills in your work or maybe you work with needles, leather or natural dyes.

You’d join a team of other artists assembled to deliver our ACE funded Collection of the Artists project. We’re looking for a professional artist and someone who can respond to the museum’s amazing collections and enrich the visitor experience to our proposed new exhibition, The Wonders of the Peak – a journey through place and time.

The museum’s diverse collection of geology, mineral, faunal remains and human artefacts come together to tell the story of the Peak District from 350 million years ago, when it was below the shallow sea. More recently, a mere 200,000 years ago, this was a place where enormous lions were the top predator and people ventured as intrepid explorers, seeking food and shelter. Deer would have been the first creatures around the thermal wells at Buxton, where the minerals crystallised to form salt licks. Ice and cold meant the people’s forays were infrequent while the animals ruled supreme. But 30,000 years ago, more people came, following herds of deer on seasonal visits until eventually humans had gathered the resources and skills to start to grow their own food. Five thousand years ago, about, they set down their places in the landscape, leaving evidence of what they ate, how they cooked, the tools they used and the ornamentation of their clothes. And surely we can recreate their culture: a love of pattern and colour, rhythm and sound. 

If you can respond to this story we’d like to hear from you. You can find out more about the project at collectionsinthelandscape.wordpress.com and our social media feeds.

To apply please submit a CV including details of two referees, up to 5 images of your recent work (total images not to exceed 5MB) and a brief description (not exceeding one side of A4) of how you might respond to Buxton Museum’s collection. At this stage we want to know about you and how your work could tell an aspect of the story of the museum collection.

Your submission should be sent via curatorspace by noon on Monday 31 October 2016. Successful candidates will be notified by Friday 4 November 2016.

The successful artist will be paid a commission of £5000 (inclusive of all fees and expenses) to make their work. In addition and where possible the artworks will become part of Buxton Museum’s permanent collection and shown in the new Wonders of the Peak exhibition. If you have any questions we would be happy to answer them.