Call for all Artists and Creatives

The current COVID situation is affecting us all and we are all having to find alternative ways to do things. The programme we were planning for SO Festival 2020 has with much heart break had to be cancelled. We worked hard to try and navigate a way for the festival to continue in its traditional format but ultimately it was an unavoidable decision.

We are however committed to continuing our journey of connecting with artists, creatives and communities now more than ever, we need to stick together as a community and a cultural sector. That’s why we are currently offering advice and guidance to individuals and organisations in the creative and cultural sector during this difficult time.

The SO Festival team has been working hard in recent months to connect and engage local artists. We held our first, The SOcial event for local artists and creatives back in August 2019 which is still growing. We have moved The SOcial to a digital platform so that we can continue develop conversations, connections and collaborations with local artists and
creatives, with the next meeting on Thursday 4th June, 3.30pm-5pm. Please follow SO Festival – Magna Vitae on Facebook for more information and upcoming events.

We have recently launched, in partnership with Barmpot Theatre, the Lincolnshire Creatives’ Hub on Facebook. This is a private group for professional artists and creatives across Greater Lincolnshire to connect with each other, share their professional experiences and to offer advice and support to other artists within the sector.

We are pleased to announce today, to the arts and creative sector of Lincolnshire, that SO Festival 2020 will be changed to SOfa Fest, a digital international festival in partnership with Passage Festival. Passage Festival takes place 25 July to 1 August 2020. Content will be live streamed from within the UK, and will reach as far as Denmark and Sweden. Our close relationship with the Passage Festival means that this is possible. Passage Festival will be streaming live to the UK alongside this to form part of SOfa Fest.

To help make this happen we announcing our SOfa Fest call out for artists.

SOfa Fest – Artist call

SO Festival invites applications from any professional artist, creative or organisation within Greater Lincolnshire to create great art during this currently difficult time.

We are looking for ideas that can form part of SOfa Fest and will enhance and celebrate the fantastic community spirt that is evident everywhere we turn and bring some much-needed fun. We also recognise the value of creative experiences for people whose mental health is being impacted by the crisis and will welcome projects that contribute to alleviating this.

Ideas must be bespoke to the situation we currently face, be relevant to our local communities and engage those that least engage in arts and culture. We encourage connections, conversations and collaborations between artists, creatives and organisations.

There has been a huge surge in fantastic online material, and we encourage those that don’t currently use technology within their work or digital offer, to embrace the situation we are currently in and explore these possibilities. We are also looking for something a little different to explore ways of engaging and reaching those that are not able to access arts and culture online, for example; an elderly person living in a care home.

We will fund small scale commissions between £250 and £500, these need to be projects that can be mobilised easily and quickly. Our large-scale commissions will be supported with funding between £500-£3,500.

Artists from across Greater Lincolnshire are eligible to apply but their target audience must be within East Lindsey. We welcome and encourage applications from artists and creatives of all backgrounds.

Your Proposal

Proposals will be accepted in the following formats:
• Word or PDF document (no more than 1,500 words)
• A short video (no more than 5 minutes) – image and sound quality must be clear

Whether submitting as a document or video, your proposal MUST include:
• Your name, contact details and proposed name of your idea;
• A clear outline your of your artistic idea;
• Details on and relevance to your target audience and evidence of need
• Information on your artistic work to date and previous experience of delivering high-quality projects.
This can include links to websites;
• A breakdown of expenditure and the amount requested – we have a limited budget of so please only apply for the amount you need;
• A clear timeline for delivery.

Marketing costs:

SO Festival will develop an overall marketing campaign to raise awareness and promote the SOfa Fest programme and individual projects. Marketing costs for your own activity will need to be included within your proposal.

Technological and Digital Support:

We understand that you may have a great idea but not have all the technological or digital knowledge and skills to make it happen. Please be honest and clear about the areas of support you may need. We can then look and see if and how we could provide information and support to ensure you can deliver your project to the highest possible standard. We also understand that you may need to look further afield fulfil this knowledge and skills gap.

How will we assess proposals:

Proposals for SOfa Fest will be reviewed by the SO Festival team and assess against the follow criteria:

• Quality: The proposed activity is clear, ambitious and high quality.
• Capacity and commitment: The application clearly demonstrates your ability to deliver high quality work with the necessary levels of support and resourcing.
• Target audience: a clear understanding of your target audience and the potential of projects to engage and inspire them.
• Diversity and Equality: The diversity of the individuals taking part and also in relation to the target audience.
• Access: Projects need to be as accessible as possible to the audiences who wish to experience them.
• Value for money: The proposal considers value for money by producing a clear and realistic budget. Value for money does not always mean going for the cheapest option. We will always consider the quality of the proposed idea and its impact in relation to how much it costs.
• Strategic fit: The event contributes and adds value to SO Festivals overall vision. This includes the
geographic spread of commissioned individuals and organisations; the range of art forms; and the scale and experience of individuals and organisations involved.

What we cannot fund:

• Extended fundraising
• Retrospective funding
• Substitution for statutory funding
• Activity promoting a religion
• Activity viewed as offensive or defamatory
• Activities that duplicate existing activity or services

Submitting your proposal:

For proposals to be considered, they must be received by SO Festival by the deadline of 10am on 9 June 2020.

Please send your proposal and any supporting documents by email to sofestival@mvtlc.org

If you have large files, such as films, please either send these via WeTransfer or provide access online
e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, or similar.

Access:

If you require access support to enable you to complete this proposal process,
please email sofestival@mvtlc.org to outline your requirements.