Artist in Residence Commission: Smethwick Folk
Artist in Residence Commission: Smethwick High Street
Three 15, Sandwell Place Partnership
Commission: Artist in Residence: Smethwick High Street
Fee: £3,900 (£325/day x 12 days)
Materials budget: Up to £2,000
Duration: Maximum of 6 months (September 2026–March 2027)
Deadline to apply: Monday 24th August 2026, 5pm
Contact:
Subject: ARTIST PROPOSAL – SMETHWICK FOLK
FAO: Laura Leech, Producer
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About Smethwick Folk: 21st Century Myth-making
Folklore: the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth. A body of popular myths or beliefs relating to a particular place, activity, or group of people.
Smethwick Folk is Black Country Touring’s (BCT) strand of Three 15, Sandwell’s Place Partnership programme. It takes inspiration from the folklore traditions of costume, street performance, storytelling and parades found across the UK and worldwide. It asks what modern-day myths look like in Smethwick: how they are shaped by the people and places around us, and how a town defined by its extraordinary mix of cultural traditions, industry and community life can celebrate and explore its own stories through art.
Working with artists, community groups, businesses and schools on and around three high streets in Smethwick, the programme builds toward two headline events:
Smethwick Lantern Parade, October/November 2027: a community procession through one of the parks and high streets in Smethwick, growing out of lantern-making and street performance work across the year.
Smethwick Day Parade, August 2028: a major celebration of Smethwick culture connecting all three high streets, from Lightwoods Park to Victoria Park. Floats, walking troupes, street acts, puppets, live music and the work created across the full two-year programme.
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About the Commission
We are commissioning one artist to undertake a six-month residency on Smethwick High Street, between September 2026 and March 2027.
Using the concepts in Smethwick Folk as your starting point, you will work in collaboration with local businesses, organisations, residents and the spaces in between: exploring the theme, building relationships, and working toward a sharing, performance or exhibition that reflects the character and stories of Smethwick High Street and its community.
This is not a prescriptive commission. We are interested in artists who are genuinely curious about the place they are working in, responsive to what they find, and able to work in a sustained and open-ended way with people who may not have worked with artists before. The artform, medium and approach are open: what matters is that the work is rooted in the Smethwick Folk theme and that people and place are central to the process.
What the residency involves
The commission is structured around 12 working days across the six months. How those days are used is for you to propose, but we expect them to include a mix of:
Initial research and relationship-building in the area.
Collaborative work with local businesses, organisations and residents.
Development and making of the work.
A sharing, performance, exhibition or other public-facing outcome.
You will be supported throughout by BCT’s Artistic Director, Producer and Community team, who have strong relationships across Smethwick and can help connect you with local people and spaces. We also encourage artists to bring their own networks and knowledge of the area to the project, and being able to organise your own time and key outputs is essential to the commission.
Materials budget
A materials budget of £2,000 is available to support the development and realisation of your work. We will agree how this is used with you at the start of the commission.
The residency and the Smethwick Folk parades
The residency is a standalone commission: your exhibition or sharing should take place within the six-month period and does not need to connect to the Smethwick Folk parades in terms of what is created.
That said, there may be opportunities to re-present or incorporate aspects of your work into other elements of the programme, and we would be happy to explore this with you if that feels relevant.
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About Smethwick High Street
Smethwick High Street has a number of established cultural venues and partners in the area. The residency here will have the opportunity to work with existing partners to increase and deepen activity, and explore what else is possible along and around the high street.
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Who we are looking for
We welcome applications from artists working in any discipline or medium: visual art, performance, music, movement, social practice, craft, storytelling, film or a combination of these and more.
We are particularly interested in artists who:
Have experience of working in community or public settings.
Are curious about and responsive to place.
Can work collaboratively with people who are not necessarily arts practitioners.
Have a connection to, or genuine interest in, Smethwick and the wider Black Country.
Are at any career stage: we welcome both established and emerging artists.
BCT is committed to working with artists from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. We particularly encourage applications from artists who reflect the diversity of Smethwick’s communities.
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How to apply
We are asking artists to submit a pitch in response to this brief. Your pitch should be no longer than:
2 sides of A4 (submitted as a PDF), or
a 5-minute video or audio response (provided as a link: for example YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive or SoundCloud).
If you are submitting a written pitch, this can be a document or a presentation, but must be in PDF format. Pitches longer than 2 sides of A4 will not be considered.
Your pitch should cover:
How you would respond to the Smethwick Folk brief and Smethwick High Street.
Your approach to working in community and public settings.
Details of previous relevant work.
A provisional budget (this can be a draft based on estimates).
You are also welcome to include a link to your portfolio, website or other documentation of your work and practice. Please include this as a clearly labelled link within your pitch document.
To submit your pitch:
Send to: hello@bctouring.co.uk
Subject line: Artist Proposal - Smethwick Folk
FAO: Laura Leech, Producer
Deadline: Monday 24th August, 5pm
We will acknowledge all submissions and aim to respond to all applicants within three weeks of the deadline.
Access and questions
BCT is committed to making this opportunity as accessible as possible. If you have any access requirements or questions about applying, or if you would like to discuss the commission informally before submitting, please get in touch:
Send to: hello@bctouring.co.uk
Subject line: Smethwick Folk Query
FAO: Laura Leech, ProducerWe are happy to arrange a conversation, provide this brief in an alternative format, or support you in any other way that makes it easier to apply.
