Artist sought for Tideway commission in Deptford

Updated: Don't give up the day job just yet, it seems someone's for the high jump as the first application form significantly overstated the artist's fee. The commission has now been announced on the Tideway Tunnel site with the correct file linked, stating the much more modest artist's fee of £27k. 

A widely-publicised call for artists to design hoardings to go around the Thames Tideway work site on Crossfields Street in Deptford was issued last year. The chosen artist for the commission, submissions for which closed last month, will be working with pupils from St Joseph's RC primary school, which is right next to the site.

But it seems that Tideway is also looking to commission a much more significant piece of work for the site, which will be permanent and could include seating and other public realm improvements, as well as sculptural elements.

The commission is one of a number which are intended to be installed across the whole tideway route, as set out in Tideway's public arts strategy.

According to the invitation:
"The project will enhance an existing public open space adjacent to St Paul’s Church in the centre of Deptford. Key objectives of the public art programme and central to this commission will be to:

•  Enhance the high quality public spaces and experience of the river for Londoners and visitors 
•  Stimulate a new sense of pride in and new perception of the tidal River Thames and the wealth of opportunities that it provides 

Proposals and designs are expected to engage audiences in different ways; creating pleasure, celebrating people or places, being provocative, engaging audiences in new ways of experiencing or thinking about a place. 

We welcome applications from artists working in all disciplines, though given the nature of commissions we require prior experience of working at scale and in three dimensions. We especially encourage applications from artists who are based in London Borough of Lewisham or with a good knowledge of the Deptford area."

The only place I was able to find the invitation for the commission, the total fee for which is £47k, was on the website of Lewisham Education Arts Network. There does not seem to be any wider publicity of this commission, a fact I found very odd considering the size of the commission and its significance to Deptford.

Deadline for applications is 2 April 2017 so potential bidders need to get their skates on.