The New Art Gallery Walsall and Multistory are delighted to partner on the next iteration of Assembly, an annual exhibition programme of newly commissioned work by emerging artists based in the Black Country.

Initiated as part of Multistory’s artist development programme Blast Creative Network (BCN), the opportunity platforms emerging artists from across the region, and makes space for them to push their practice and experiment with making new work. 

Over 6 months, 3 artists selected through open call will be supported curatorially and mentored by The New Art Gallery Walsall and Multistory teams (Deborah Robinson (Head of Exhibitions at TNAGW), Kevin Storrar (Head of Technical Services at TNAGW) and Jess Piette (Project Manager at Multistory), and have access to development opportunities and social networks through the respective TNAGW and BCN programmes.

The programme will culminate in a group exhibition, to be exhibited in the Community Gallery at The New Art Gallery Walsall between August and November 2024, and be supported by a public programme of events. Exhibiting artists that are selected will be offered a fee of £1500 and will have access to a production budget to support the final presentation of their work.

Who is this for? This opportunity is open to visual artists, who are currently living and making work in the Black Country (within the Sandwell, Walsall, Dudley and Wolverhampton boroughs.)

You may be either; fairly new to your practice or have been making work for a while and haven’t had the support or exposure you need to develop your practice. The term emerging encompasses artists of all ages.

How to apply

Applications are now open. The deadline for applications is midnight, Thursday 22 February 2024. 

Please submit your application by emailing us at [email protected].

Receipt of your application will be confirmed via email, and we’ll be letting everyone know the outcome of the selection process.

Your application should include:

  • A statement that includes a description of your practice to date, including any recent projects, exhibitions or development opportunities, and outlines your ideas for the new work you would like to develop (max 300 words)
  • Your CV (Please also include your postcode)
  • Examples of your work, max. 10 images collated in a single PDF document (links must be provided to access any film or sound works)
  • A completed monitoring form (This will be stored separately to your application)

You can also apply by sending us a video or audio clip of up to 3 minutes long.

Download: Monitoring Form

Access

We are committed to ensuring the programme is fully accessible. Selected artists will be provided with an Access Rider to let us know what support they may need in order to participate in the programme.

If you’d like to talk with someone in the team before you apply or tell us if we can do anything to make the application and/or the selection process more accessible for you, please use the same email address above.

Photo credit: Mark Hinton