The Yorkshire West Methodist District is looking for an artist to respond to Everything is Connected the exhibition of artworks belonging to the Methodist Modern Art Collection (MMAC) during Bradford 2025 City of Culture.
As part of the Bradford City of Culture 2025 celebrations, in the early Autumn, five venues in the Bradford District will be exhibiting artworks held in the Methodist Modern Art Collection (MMAC). Whilst they all will have their own theme, they will all be linked via an Art Trail and the overall theme for the exhibition, Everything is Connected. The exhibition is being coordinated under the care of The Methodist Church’s Yorkshire West Methodist District which covers Bradford and surrounding area.
The Commission
We’re looking for an artist who can connect our visitors with the artworks, most of which are paintings, in new ways and potentially link the sites where we are displaying them. This can cover the telling of new stories, exploring hidden or overlooked histories, diverse and marginalised heritage, engaging new and existing audiences in responding to the Collection through creative visual methods as well as linking to some of the themes the venues are exploring. Responses to the Collection can be in any media including the spoken word, dance, film, textile as well as fine art.
We envisage that the artist or collaborators will be based at one venue for most of the residency but also willing to spend dedicated time at the other four venues and are required to lead at least two workshops. We understand that the artist will wish to visit all venues to spend time with the works and then may want to spend a proportion of the time allocated in their own studio / space, making work. The opportunity is open to artists working across the UK however, knowledge and/or experience of working within Bradford and/or the wider Yorkshire region would be an advantage.
We are looking for someone with community experience to engage local communities with our artworks. There can be further discussion of this at interview. We expect the artist to be available for the duration of the exhibition, which is 6 weeks however, orientation with the venues before w/c 1st September and attendance at a briefing in August with volunteers and stewards on the logistics of the exhibition would be desirable. The artist will be supported during the residency by the Faith & Arts Development Lead for this project, and the Chair of the Methodist Modern Art Collection.
The overall exhibition held across the five venues will open across w/c 1st September 2025 and run until Sunday 12th October 2025. There is potential for the artist’s and workshop participants’ work to be displayed for a further few weeks up to late November 2025.
Please see the attached document for the full brief and details of how to apply.
Apply now