Location: Eureka Secondary School, Navan Rd, Kells, County Meath
Budget: €52,000
Stage 1: Briefing document and application
Application deadline: 12pm Friday 17 May 2024
The full details of this open call can be found on the Meath County Council website.
Introduction
Eureka Secondary School is a Voluntary Catholic Secondary School for girls, under the trusteeship of CEIST. Its origins go back to the founding of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy by Catherine McAuley in 1831. In 1844, three Sisters of Mercy arrived in Kells and undertook the running of the primary school set up in 1840 by local lady Catherine Dempsey.
The Sisters of Mercy Secondary School was established 1956 and a new premises was needed to cater for the increasing number of students. Eureka House was bought from Lord Headfort by Monsignor McCullen and made available to the Mercy Sisters for use as a secondary school. The school was officially opened and blessed by Monsignor McCullen on 26 April 1956. Fifty years later in 2006 the first Lay Principal, Caroline O’Reilly, was appointed and in 2007 the school came under the Trusteeship of CEIST. In 2019 the doors of the new school opened on a green field site as part of a Private Public Partnership.
The commission
The school asks that artists who apply consider the following:
- Eureka Seconday School is seeking expressions of interest from artists whose practice focuses on permanent visual artwork(s), with work to be sited at either the front of the school building or in the inner courtyard or both.
- The creative process should involve some of their 756 students, however they cannot facilitate an artist residency.
- The school’s ethos and crest reflects the theme of ‘Truth and Light’ and the artwork(s) should also be welcoming and vibrant.
- Artwork(s) should embrace Eureka and its rich history, location, ethos, geography and the culture of its present-day school community.
- The Public Art Working Group also require that artworks proposed at Stage 2 be low maintenance, adhere to health and safety standards and will stand the test of time in their relevance and materials.
Commissioning process
The selection process will take the form of a Two Stage Open Competition. It is open to all interested professional artists at any stage of their career or experience who are interested in working on a commission that is open to permanent works to be sited in exterior sites and that will allow meaningful engagement with some of their students. Selection will be based on the information supplied by the artist(s) to establish the
competence of the artist(s) to carry out this commission. No designs or detailed proposals are required at Stage 1; the above information is to inform the applying artists of what will be expected should they be shortlisted to develop proposals.
Stage 1
Artists are invited to express their interest in being considered for this project at the first stage of this commission. Artists may do this by completing the application form and submitting a CV and good quality labelled images/details of recent relevant works/projects. Collaborative partnerships are welcomed.
The closing date for receipt of Stage 1 completed application form together with supporting documentation and material is 12pm, Friday 17 May 2024. From the completed Stage 1 applications a shortlist of artists will be selected by panel jury. This panel, whose decision is final, has the right to clarify any issue which may arise in the course of selection. A proposal development fee of €350 will be paid to the unsuccessful shortlisted artists.
Stage 2
A Stage 2 brief and drawings will be available to shortlisted artists to support the development of proposals. A site visit will take place in the second/third week in June 2024, date TBC. Eureka reserves the right not to proceed with any submissions received.
Budget
The total budget for the project is €52,000. This includes the costs of any materials, artist fees, design development, artists’ insurance, supply, delivery and installation, signage, travel, and any other costs incurred in the production of the project/artwork. The artist will be responsible for meeting all of these costs out of the total budget allocated.
Site location/visits
Eureka Secondary School, Cavan Road, Kells, Co. Meath. Site visits will be arranged for shortlisted artists at Stage 2 of the commissioning process. Site visits will take place the second/third week in June 2024, date to be confirmed.
Project delivery timeline
The closing date for receipt of Stage 1 completed application form together with supporting documentation and material is 12pm, Friday 17 May 2024. It is anticipated that the project would commence in Autumn 2024 and be completed by June 2025. The artist should demonstrate their ability to work to this timeframe. The final timeline will be agreed with the commissioned artist at contract stage.
Queries
For inquiries about the application and commission, contact Rina Whyte. Email rinawhyte@yahoo.com or phone + 353 87 238 9591.