We welcome artists working in a range of forms - including print, sound, textiles, photography, collage, and digital media - who are passionate about storytelling, community engagement, and amplifying underrepresented voices. Background information Construction of the new Cheshire Archives centres in Chester and Crewe is well underway, and they are on track for opening in Autumn 2026. As part of the activity plan, artist Cath Campbell, is leading a creative engagement programme, to connect a larger and more diverse audience with archives. The Creative Engagement Programme: The Creative Engagement Programme aims to uncover and celebrate historically underrepresented women's stories from the archives. This will include temporary public artworks, educational resources and a large-scale engagement project, the 20,000 Women Zine Project, which aims to collect and preserve stories of 20,000 women and girls living in Cheshire today. The Cheshire Archive: A story shared - 20,000 Women Zine Project For the 20,000 Women Project, artists will work with community groups, schools, libraries, and local organisations across Cheshire to co-create zines. The resulting zines will become part of the Cheshire Archives, preserved and displayed in both new centres and forming a permanent living collection of women's voices from 2026. Artists Fee £3000 Artists will be paid a day rate of £300 (or equivalent half day fees) The contract will include: 1 day induction and training 1 day preparation 7 days to include a mix of delivery of face to face workshops, training sessions, development of online or self-led resources Up to £300 materials budget Timeframe w/c 24 November Artist Shortlisting 1-3 December Artist Interviews online 9 January Inception Meeting January tbc Training session Feb - Dec 2026 Workshop Delivery For more information or access support, please contact: mailto:[email protected] - [email protected] Artist Requirements We particularly welcome applications from women, non-binary artists, and those from Black, Asian, LGBTQ+, disabled and working-class backgrounds, whose voices are often underrepresented in the arts and archives. Artist Roles and Responsibilities The resulting from workshops zines will be collected and returned to the Archives, with permission, for storage and display in both centres. Within the role there will be opportunities for artists to develop and deliver training workshops, to design activities and templates for making zines independently and also to deliver online activities. Artists will need to be organised, excellent communicators, self-sufficient and experienced at working in a variety of settings, with a wide range of people. We want to ensure that workshops are accessible and inclusive, reducing barriers for potential participants. We are interested in hearing from artists with experience of working with specific user groups or marginalised communities. We will aim to partner artists with appropriate groups to best support everyone's skills and requirements. Application Process Please send: A short expression of interest (max. one side A4) outlining why you would like to be involved. This can be a short video if preferred. Examples of relevant creative or community-based work (links or images). Max 10 A short artist bio or CV. Applications will be shared with the Project Team, including Archives staff, Arts Teams at Cheshire East Council and Cheshire West and Chester Council and the lead artist Cath Campbell.Job Summary
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Send your application to: [email protected]