Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
DEADLINE: 20thAugust 2014
We will respond to your submission by 29th August 2014
Introduction to Illuminating York:
Illuminating York is a cutting edge light based Festival which has been running annually, in York, for the
last nine years. During that time the Festival has commissioned major international works for the
Minster, Museum Gardens and other sites within the city walls. Previously commissioned artists
include Patrice Warrener, Paul Kaiser (Open Ended Group), Usman Haque, Bright White, United VJs,
OMA International, Vic Reeves, GaiaNova and Ross Ashton amongst others. In recent years the
Festival has attracted between 20,000 – 75,000 visitors, residents and tourists per year and brought
over £1 million annual economic benefit into the city. The Festival has enjoyed a broad range of media
coverage over the years and reaches all corners of the globe from Canada to Australia and Europe.
For an example of the 2013 festival feel, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAQdwrtSxGg&feature=youtu.be
Introduction to SPARK:
Spark (Supported by York St John University) is entering its second year as a new strand of
Illuminating York, which works to enable emerging artists to showcase their ideas and creations
through a mentored commission. This is a fantastic opportunity to display small-scale outdoor public
art, to a wide audience, over the course of the festival. As an addition to the both popular and well
established Illuminating York, we expect that work displayed may also receive some media recognition.
Spark is an element of the festival that we hope to develop and evolve, inspiring new and emerging
artists to get involved and be a part of one of York’s greatest festivals.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Examples of some of the Spark works from Illuminating York 2013 can be seen below:
This beautiful glass piece was created by Jasmine Devlin and installed
in the memorial gardens on Duncombe Place near York Minster.
Jasmine used pea lights from the roots of the tree to the glass
connecting with our theme ‘The Tree of Life.’
Local performance company VIAPERFROMANCE created a fantastic
immersive piece in the gardens at The Treasurer’s House, a National
Trust Property behind York Minster. The piece included movement
and live DJ and audiences loved the colourful, smoky atmosphere.
Local artist, Ritchard Allaway presented a fiery tree, using neon tubes and
coloured gels to great effect.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
What are we looking for in 2014?
The overall theme for this year’s festival is ‘Leading Lights’, aiming to shine a light on some of York’s most
amazing innovations, discoveries and achievements. From space to sweets and from medicine to music, from
the bizarre to the beautiful.
Background to the theme
York has a rich history of discovery and innovation such as:

John Snow’s pioneering anaesthesia work in the 1800s.

Donald Shepherd’s development of the UK super brand Portakabin.

Liquid crystals developed at The University of York and used in LCD TVs.

The UK and European Space Education Office at The University of York which gathers images of Earth
using probes and satellites.

York has a strong industrial heritage that includes leading the way in confectionary, railways and trade
and commerce.

York has also produced some pretty famous faces such as Dame Judi Dench, Frankie Howerd, Guy
Fawkes, John Barrie, William Etty and W.H.Auden.
N.B – These are purely examples and do not need to be included within your submission if you have your
own ideas.
We are interested in strong, visual or performance artworks that explore these themes. Art
works can be abstract, playful and fun in their approach but must be suitable for family
audiences. We are particularly interested in work that offers audiences something unusual or
surprising. Please feel free to interpret this theme as broadly as you like, pieces can be
abstract and humorous as well as more literal.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
We are looking to commission five artworks. These works may incorporate any discipline e.g. poetry,
dance, theatre, visual art, live art, film, music and sound and so on, however you must consider how
the work will be either created in light or lit to ensure audiences can see it in the dark!
We are offering a budget of £500 for each piece, which will need to include any special props,
costume, items you need. We will provide electricity, distribution cables and a technical manager to
help you to realise your ideas. In some cases we may be able to provide items of electrical equipment,
such as a small projector or small PA, so please be clear what items you think you will need in your
equipment list on this form.
We are also offering an additional budget of £250 for two of the five commissioned pieces. This will
be used to help realise these works at ‘Light Night 2014’, which will take place in Leeds on Friday 3rd
October. This additional budget would be expected to cover transportation and any adaptation costs.
The Festival will take place from 29th October – 1st November inclusive. Artworks may also be
expected to be fully operational for the press launch on Tuesday 28th October.
At this stage, as it is a call for expression of interest, we will shortlist works based on this form and if
selected you may be invited for a short, informal discussion during early September 2014.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
We have included our broad Festival aims and objective for your information.
 To promote York as a creative city, through an annual, high impact, quality-driven light-based Festival,
running in the autumn half-term period.
 To showcase the best local, regional, national and international talent through a curated programme of
commissioned work incorporating a mix of installations, projection, film, soundtrack, animation and new
technologies.
 To generate a ‘wow-factor’ - exciting, inspiring and engaging a diverse audience across all age ranges,
appealing to both the residents of York, and visitors to the city – as measured through survey work,
tickets sales etc
 To boost the economic prospects and profile of York’s creative industries, encouraging and working with
local artists and where possible, students.
 To generate tourism benefits through longer stays and overnight stays – as measured through survey
work.
 To showcase and assist in the promotion of York as a destination rich in contemporary culture,
enhancing both residents’ and visitors’ experience of York city centre in the evening and attracting
regional and national interest and coverage
 To build pride in York as a city, as a place of wonder, of cultural and historic integrity and significance,
but also enhancing York’s cultural value as a place to live, work and visit
 To be supported by local businesses as a genuine city-wide event, encouraging business and community
participation and partnership through a lively supporting programme during the Festival
 To be self-sustaining as far as possible, exploring multiple options for funding and income generation
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Criteria for submissions:
 The theme of this year’s Spark is ‘Leading Lights.’ We are looking for work to incorporate the
theme, approaches for which can be broad, incorporating, breakthroughs, pioneering,
discoveries, and innovations.
 Temporary, light-based public artwork that will excite, inspire and entertain diverse audiences
of all ages.
 To be experienced in the early evening, from dusk 6.00pm until 10.00pm
 Work needs to be durational, or repeated on a continuous basis, so that the work can be
viewed at any time throughout the evening.
 Your work may need to be operational for press call on 28th and then run on 29th, 30th, 31st
and 1st inclusive in Oct/Nov 2014 for the public.
 It is essential that you think through how your piece could be realised. We will provide a
Technical Manager to assist in the installation of artworks and to support you with technical
questions you may have but we are looking for ideas that are realistic in terms of how they
will be presented.
 Our budget has to work very hard for the Festival to remain sustainable and we can indicate
that Spark commissions for the 2014 Festival will receive £500, with additional budget for the
two commissions to be displayed at ‘Light Night 2014’.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Name
Business Name (if applicable)
Phone Number
E-mail Address
Address
City/Town
County
Post Code
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Information about your piece:
(Please provide a brief description of your work/idea, this can be in the format of text, images,
drawings, supporting material or a URL to your website/ Flickr/ Vimeo etc, no more than one A4
page)
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Is this a new or existing piece, or an idea in development?
(If existing, where else has it been shown? If in development please give detail of previous projects or
commissions which demonstrate your ability to deliver similar work)
How long does the work last and how often can it be repeated?
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
How does your piece tie in with the theme ‘Leading Lights?’ In no more 150 words.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Please provide a list of the equipment you will be using. Where possible indicate if this
would be covered by your £500 budget or whether you would need to source this item
through the festival.
If your work was selected to be presented at ‘Light Night 2014’ in Leeds, add any notes,
thoughts or requirements you may have, including possible locations or technical
considerations.
Illuminating York Festival 2014
Expressions of Interest
Please submit completed forms to the Illumining York 2014 team. All ideas will be treated as
confidential, and will only be shared with the Illuminating York committee:
E: lauren.frost@york.gov.uk – SPARK CO-ORDINATOR
If you would like to discuss your ideas before submitting this form please don’t hesitate to get in contact with our team.