call for artists

PS²’s Freelands Artist Programme 2018- 2020

Ends 14 September 2018

PS² invites emerging, Northern Ireland based artists and cultural producers, working in any media form, for a 2 year funding programme.
Five artists/creatives will be selected, enabling them to focus and develop significant new work, supported by peer learning and critique, a project curator and mentors. The programme includes the realisation of projects in PS², research trips, a yearly symposium and the possibility to show work in the Freelands Gallery, London. The selected artists/ cultural producers will receive £5000 per year over 2 years (with very reduced administrative conditions), financial help for production, individual curatorial support and the full commitment of PS².

The aim of the Freelands Artists Programme is to support emerging artists and local organisations to retain and grow talent in their region. PS²- as an artist-run organisation- has always worked with artists at the start to mid-career and encouraged risk taking and experiment, radicalness and difference, and resolve to site context. We have a strong belief of the social relevance of art and are keen to support community engaged and context specific projects (dialogical art).
For PS², the Freelands Artist Programme is an ideal opportunity to support artists at the start to mid-career level and to strengthen the arts ecology and the potential for contemporary Arts  in Northern Ireland. By the end of the 5 year programme, twenty artists will have participated, so please bear in mind that this call-out for emerging artists will be repeated every year until 2021. It is hoped that the Freelands Artist Programme will energise emerging artists and contribute to making the region culturally cool and exciting. 

This programme is funded by the Freelands Foundation.
The Freelands Artist Programme was awarded to 4 organisations across the 4 Nations of the UK. Alongside PS², Belfast/ Northern Ireland are the Site Gallery, Sheffield, England; g39 in Cardiff, Wales and Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland. The programme was designed to foster emerging artist talent across the UK and will support 80 artists across the four organisations over the next 5 years.