Call for Artists.

The City of Sunderland, in the heart of the North East of England, is undergoing an extraordinary transformation. The remaking of an entire industrial city is underway that will see in excess of £1.5 billion invested in physical projects over the next 12 years.

This radical regeneration, being undertaken by the Government’s regeneration agency Sunderland arc together with Sunderland City Council, has already drawn in leading international architects, engineers and urban designers.

As a result, over £8 million will be levered in from the private sector to be spent on art. Uniquely this commissioning fund is in a single pot, the Cultural Masterplan, which means it can be spent across the entire city in order to realise and contribute to the cultural regeneration of Sunderland.

Sunderland believes that the early involvement of the creative industries in this process is of fundamental importance and provides artists with a challenging and above all exciting opportunity to be engaged in this transition.

Over the initial three years there will be a strong impetus on itinerant and temporal pieces that will focus on heralding the impending change of a particular site and to animate or activate spaces that have previously been left dormant. In addition to this, a series of physical and integral works will also be commissioned.

Sunderland believes in, and will support, bold and challenging work from all types of creative practise, be they professional artists or nuclear physicists.

This international call for artists is a request for those who would relish the opportunity to involve their creative practise, whatever that might be, in the transformation of a city, to register their interest in being considered for a commission.

The blueprint for this programme, devised by Civic Works Ltd, is The Cultural Masterplan.

Click here to view The Cultural Masterplan for Sunderland.