The award is open to professional women artists of any age working primarily in three dimensions, who are living and working in the UK.  Examples of work and proposals for new work (where relevant) may be in any medium. Experience of making outdoor work is not essential but preferred and 5+ years professional experience is required. A demonstrable interest in materials and making is essential.

Artists applying for theCoLAB Commission are not expected to submit worked up proposals for new works, although initial ideas are welcome.

Please submit the following to Parker Harris via the online application only:

1. up to 10 images of a maximum of five recent works (and/or initial ideas if available) in JPEG format (max 10MB, 72dpi) and titled with artist’s name, title of work, year of work, medium, dimensions (h x w x d);

2. an up to date supporting curriculum vitae (maximum of 2 sides of A4);

3. answer the 3 following questions:

• describe your current practice, your future creative ambitions, and the impact the award is likely to have on your artistic development, as well as the importance of making to your practice. (200 words max)
• give a brief outline of how you would approach the commission and any initial thoughts on which of the locations may be of interest.  Worked up proposals are not expected but please explain the importance of the public to your work. (150 words)
• explain how you are most likely to apply the commission funds and how you would approach budgeting, timeline and fabrication. (150 words)

4. the contact details of two references

5. completed online entry form

6. A non-refundable entry fee of £20

The closing deadline for online submission is 7 January 2019 at 5pm. All entries must be submitted via the online entry form.

From the online submissions, the jury will create a shortlist of 6 artists, which will be announced and published by 17 January 2019. They may make an optional site visit to the UCL Bloomsbury campus which will not be accompanied by any member of the panel. Artists will not be prejudiced if they do not make a site visit. Shortlisted artists will be provided with detailed site information and asked to prepare an initial proposal.

The shortlisted artists will each receive a fee of £500 to:

• prepare a proposal to submit to the panel by email by 6 February at 5pm outlining the initial idea, their approach to the commission, how they would budget for and which fabricators, if any, might be used to realise the work; and
• cover the artist’s travel to and from the interview (and the optional unaccompanied site visit where relevant)

The six shortlisted artists will be invited to interview at Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA on 13 February 2019. Please keep this date free as there will be no interviews conducted over Skype or telephone. The artists will be expected to make a brief presentation of up to 5 minutes to the jury about their work and their proposal. The panel will not review the presentations prior to the interview. The shortlisted artists must provide their proposal in Powerpoint format by 5pm on 6 February 2019 to projects@thecolab.art via WeTransfer to avoid technical issues at interview.

The commissioned artist will be announced on the evening of 13 February 2019 at a small event at Somerset House. The panel will be delighted to give feedback to all the unsuccessful shortlisted artists.

The commissioned artist will be required to sign a contract outlining the expectations and duration of the commission and exhibition.

Work in any medium suitable for semi-permanent outdoor exhibition is accepted. Depending on the nature of the work, spatial, storage and budgetary considerations, it may be possible to make/install the work over a period of time on site. Please note, the artist is responsible for insuring the work during the production stage if she decides to work on site, while UCL will cover aspects covered by its policy.

If the proposed work has been exhibited in a solo or group show in a public or commercial gallery it is not eligible for the Women Make Sculpture commission. However, if the work has been conceived but not made into a three-dimensional work, then it is eligible for the commission.  We also welcome new works made in response to the sites and the UCL context.

All artists submitting work online agree to comply with the eligibility criteria and accept that where these are not met, their application will not be accepted.

Artists are strictly not expected to attend a site visit before submitting their application or in the case of shortlisted artists, their proposal, and their application will not be prejudiced in any way. However, artists who want to can visit the site 24 hours a day unaccompanied. Unfortunately, theCoLAB is not able to cover any travel expenses to the site visit, except to the extent it is included in the shortlist artists’ proposal fee.

All submitting artists confirm that they hold all intellectual property rights in the work and that they have obtained prior written approval for the use of any third party copyrighted material contained in the submitted work.

The commissioned artist and those attending the interview and/or a site visit accept and agree that she, work in progress and completed work will be photographed and reproduced on websites, catalogues, press, publicity, promotion and advertising on theCoLAB, UCL and other third-party websites.

Copyright of all works remains the property of the artist but the artist grants an irrevocable licence to use relevant images of the commission and their work as outlined above.

The artist is responsible for risk of damage or loss, however caused, until the work is received on site for installation/exhibition and the artist will be required to produce her policy documents. The artist must have Public Liability insurance for the duration of the making, installation and exhibition of the work(s). UCL will be responsible for insuring the work once it is on site for its remake value for the duration of the exhibition of the work and to the extent not covered by the artist’s insurance, during its making on site.

The artist retains title to and ownership of the work(s) and is responsible for its de-installation and transportation off site and storage at the end of the exhibition.

The work and preparatory work(s) will be offered for sale during the course of the exhibition with 15% of the proceeds to be applied for the continuation of the work of theCoLAB.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (and all other relevant Data Protection legislation), the organiser of the Women Make Sculpture Commission (theCoLAB) and its Project Managers and UCL will hold the personal data of artists supplied on the Entry Form securely. The data will only be used in the process of administering the Women Make Sculpture Commission and will not be transferred to any third party not directly involved in this project. Data pertaining to those whose work is not selected will be held for up to 12 months, after which this information will be destroyed by all parties.

By entering Women Make Sculpture, artists are agreeing to all of the conditions of entry. theCoLAB’s decision on all matters pertaining to the above is final. theCoLAB reserves the right, at any time, and from time to time to amend, modify, vary, or discontinue the terms of this competition.

The award is operated by the theCoLAB, Exchange at Somerset House, South Wing Strand, London, WC2R 1LA, England.