Leeds City Council is seeking to commission an artist/designer/collaborative team to create two temporary striking public art signs/murals in two locations along Water Lane, Holbeck, South Bank, Leeds city centre. The first project is to replace the existing ‘transform’ sign located along Water Lane with a new public art mural of the word ‘South Bank’ and the other is to install 17 decorative panels within the window spaces in the ‘Knight & Illison’ building also along Water Lane, exact locations of the two projects can be found in accompanying papers.

Background

Holbeck and South Bank

A public realm strategy for South Bank has been produced to help guide and prioritise the public realm, animation and events developments for the area. One of the key features of public realm is to create more opportunity for public art across South Bank, to help animate the streets and spaces, add interest and create a sense of place.  Temporary and permanent public art installations feature widely in the public realm delivery plan. We are committed to investing in high quality public art both temporary and permanent and we want to encourage and support local artists to contribute to the public space.

Holbeck is an area of great importance both historically, as the cradle of the industrial revolution in Leeds, and architecturally with its two conservation areas and concentration of listed buildings. The area is diverse and has the potential to develop into a sustainable community with a vibrant mix of living, working and recreational opportunities. Further details on Holbeck can be found in the Holbeck, South Bank Supplementary Planning Document. http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Holbeck%20%C2%AD%20South%20Bank%20SPD%20June%202016.pdf

South Bank will aim to double the size of Leeds city centre by transforming into a distinctive European destination for investment, living, learning, creativity and leisure. Spread across Holbeck and Hunslet on the southern side of the River Aire in Leeds, South Bank is an area equivalent to more than 250 football pitches. It is home to over 30 listed buildings, with landmark architecture including Temple Works, Tower Works and Hunslet Mill, alongside new developments like Granary Wharf, Brewery Wharf and Leeds Dock. The arrival of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail into South Bank creates a unique opportunity to reshape this area, creating a world class transport gateway into Leeds that reflects the city’s ambition and secures unprecedented investments.

South Bank is one of Europe’s largest city centre regeneration initiatives. Over £500million investment has been attracted in the last two years. Burberry has decided to locate their manufacturing facility in South Bank, and Vastint has acquired the 22 acre Tetley Brewery site, their only investment in the UK outside London. Two thousand new homes have been built at sites across South Bank, and planning permission granted for over 1,000 more. South Bank sits at the heart of Leeds’ rapidly growing digital sector and is a thriving centre for creative and independent businesses and start-ups. Over 300 creative and digital businesses are located here. The area also offers a diverse and exciting mix of attractions, including the Royal Armouries, The Tetley and the Leeds Discovery Centre; and will play a pivotal role in the Leeds bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2023.

Further details on South Bank can be found on the website www.southbankleeds.co.uk which also covers details of the consultation currently taking place on the South Bank Regeneration Framework.

Key aims and objectives

• To provide an attractive and visually striking appearance to two areas in South Bank which are already busy office/creative areas of the city, adding a sense of arrival into the area, particularly from the new station southern entrance and Victoria Road.

• To support the local creative and independent business community in the area with creative and animated street scape.

• To showcase the local creative and artistic talent in the city. This commission is only available to Leeds-based artists and designers.

• To help promote South Bank and Leeds as a destination for cultural tourism destination in the lead up to a bid for European Capital of Culture.

Similar public art projects that have recently taken place in Leeds city centre include the recent mural at Kirkgate market wall space and the Leeds City Station ‘Leeds’ sign.  Further details of these can be found at http://www.leedsbid.co.uk.

Additionally the new art installation at Lyon’s Works as part of the Victoria Gate phase 2. http://www.leeds-art.ac.uk/news-events/news/2016/07/19/artwork-brings-life-back-to-historic-lyons-works-building/

Key audiences

The key audiences for Holbeck and South Bank and the new public art/design commissions are:

Primary Audience;

• Local businesses– There is a strong creative and digital business community in Holbeck and wider South Bank who take an active interest in the area, they are strong advocates of the independent scene and well informed of latest cultural news. The business community is already well engaged in the regeneration of the area and are keen to see the area improved through temporary and permanent interventions.

• Local Residents – there is a strong sense of community in Holbeck and wider South Bank area with a diverse range of people living in the Holbeck neighbourhood.  The resident community is well engaged in the regeneration plans for South Bank and are keen to see the benefits of future investment spread out to the local neighbourhoods.

  Secondary Audiences;

• Developers – there are a number of developers/landowners in direct vicinity Water Lane. Carillion who are developing the Tower Works site have been granted planning permission for a mixed use development due to start in early 2017. https://www.jesticowhiles.com/projects/residential/tower-works/. Commercial Estates Group (CEG) who own a number of sites in Holbeck also wish to bring forward a mixed use development. Further details can be found here; http://www.cegsouthbank.co.uk/. There are also a number of smaller scale investors and development present in Holbeck, further details can be found on the South Bank website using the interactive map.

• Visitors /users -The public art will add to the city’s public art offer acting as an attraction in its own right. The signs will act as a temporary focal point for visitors and will be a statement of the city’s creativity and artistic talents.

• Young people (12-18) – Leeds has pledged to become a Child Friendly City, classing everyone under the age of 18 as a child. With the decision to bid to become European Capital of Culture 2023, much of the focus is on this age group as, should a bid be submitted and successful, this is the audience most likely to deliver and benefit from those activities.

• Students and young professionals (18-30) – This group takes an active interest in the city, strong advocates for the independent scene and well informed of latest cultural news but not specifically Visual Arts, or recognising content as Visual Arts. Already interested, engaged and motivated in the city there is an opportunity to convert this group to the visual art scene. They are active on social media, routinely create and share new and unique content which will help to build an online narrative for visual arts in Leeds.

• Cultural audiences – The city has a strong cultural sector particularly formed around performing arts and recently announced its intent to become a ‘ City of Dance’ and is home to major institutes, set against the recent announcement that the city will bid to become European Capital of Culture 2023. There is strong audience loyalty across the cultural sector which could be used to share the visual arts offer as a complimentary offer and grow an audience already known to have an interest in culture, whilst cutting across disciplines in the city.

Brief

The key deliverables from this brief are:

• Project 1

  • To design, create and install a public art sign saying ‘South Bank’ within the panel/spaces on the wall where the current Transform sign is located along Water Lane. There are 11 panels in total. The mural must represent South Bank and reflect the creativity of the Holbeck, South Bank and the nature of its surroundings as well as being modern and innovative.

• Project 2

  • To design, create and install a public art mural sign within the 27 window frames spaces within the ‘Knight and Illison’ building along Water Lane. The mural must reflect the creativity of the Holbeck and South Bank and the nature of its surroundings as well as being modern and innovative.

    The installation of the art work will require a cherry picker and a road closure to be able to access both structures, which we will work with you to achieve.

    We will only accept proposals from artists considering both of the sites and we would like you to consider some synergy between project one and project two.

Your submission:

By 17:00 on Monday 28th November, please submit the following:

1. Low resolution designs for both sites

2. A description of the background/influences/inspiration for the designs

3. A short history of any relevant, recent work experience including delivered projects

4. An explanation of how you will deliver the project

5. A project plan including indicative timescales

6. A breakdown of indicative costings (which will be further developed with the project team after commissioning)

Your submissions will be judges by a panel during w/c 28th November.

The commission

If you are successful, the budget of £20k (described below), must include:

• Artist fees

• Materials

• Fixings and any associated installation costs

• Contingency

• Any Insurances required

• Any additional staffing or subcontractors required

Budget

There is a total budget of £20,000+VAT for both projects, £8,000 for project 1 and £12,000 for project 2 which must include all of the above elements.

Timescales

Deadline for submissions: 17:00 on Monday 28th November 2016

Judges’ Decision: Artists will be notified by 17:00 on Thursday 1st December if they are successful

Installation: Target for installation is by the end of January 2017