We are looking to commission six new animations. The work will be exhibited in the town centre as part of the Animating Hexham programme of activity.

Animating Hexham is a programme of cultural activity currently being developed and managed by Hexham Cultural Network on behalf of Hexham HSHAZ (High Street Heritage Action Zone) and led by Queen’s Hall Arts. Hexam is a town based in Northumberland. It is an ambitious scheme seeking to deliver major improvements to boost the town centre and enhance the Conservation Area. It aims to revitalise Hexham’s historic town centre making it a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work, invest and visit.

The project ambition is to discover stories and evoke memories of Hexham’s historic high streets and buildings, using these to inspire animations created by artists and families. These animations will inspire conversations about Hexham’s heritage and Hexham HSHAZ. This pilot project will site the animations across the main shopping streets helping to identify why the town's heritage is important to the community and what value the town centre will have in the future. 

Open Call for animation commissions

We are looking to commission six new animations. The work will be exhibited in the town centre as part of the Animating Hexham programme of activity that we anticipate will take place in September 2021.

Selection criteria

This call is open to all UK based artists, regardless of nationality, age, or career stage. We are looking for new animations from artists from a diverse range of backgrounds, creatively and culturally. We also encourage applications from artists based in or with links to North East England. 

What we are looking for

We will be working with organisations and individuals to collect stories and memories about the High Street. We anticipate that memories will be submitted in a range of different formats including social media posts, letters, emails, notes from phone calls and sound recordings. This collection process will be supported by the Northumberland Archives and Hexham Libraries. Successful artists will be given access to this material which will be used as inspiration for their animations.  We anticipate each animation will last no longer than five minutes. 

Fee

There is a one-off commission fee of £1000 to include research and all stages of production for the work.