Arts Catalyst commissions and produces new artists' projects that engage with science and technology in society. We explore, generate and share ideas around art, science and society through exhibitions, events, conferences, workshops, publishing, education and research.
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We are a funded client of Arts Council England (National Portfolio Organisation) and receive grants, fees and donations from many different sources including the Wellcome Trust, European Commission, and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.
Artists and projects are usually commissioned as a result of in-depth curatorial research. There are occasional open calls for submissions. Commissioning opportunities for unsolicited applications are extremely limited, as the vast majority of our projects are self-initiated. Opportunities to get involved with workshops and conferences are more common and enable relationships to develop and for us to get to know artists' work.
No. Arts Catalyst is a commissioning, not a funding, organisation. We raise funds and resources to enable the projects we commission.
We can provide occasional production and marketing paid internships, as well as work experience and volunteer opportunities. These opportunities are advertised via our newsletter, social media channels and on our opportunities page.
Arts Catalyst has worked with primary, secondary and special schools for many years. We currently do not have a regular schools programme, but if you are a school or teacher interested in working with us, please contact us at admin@artscatalyst.org. We are particularly interested in developing collaborations with groups and organisations working outside formal learning.
We want to work with people of all ages and backgrounds. We organise projects with families, informal learning groups, colleges of higher education, young people, older people, artists, scientists and others. We aim to enable curious minds to have new experiences and encounters, and creative learning opportunities, that transcend the traditional boundaries of art and science.
This varies significantly from project to project. Some artists have created in-depth, long-term partnerships with particular scientists and these collaborations are critical to their work, for example artist Brandon Ballengee who undertakes primary biological research as part of his artistic practice. Others do their own amateur scientific research or use scientific processes, having occasional contact or collaborations with professional scientists. Some artists undertake residencies in science organisations or have become part of a interdisciplinary research group, such as the Gravity Zero project with choreographer Kitsou Dubois and the Biodynamics Group at Imperial College. And then there are artists who do not work directly with scientists at all, but are interested in the cultural milieu of science or in the relationship of science to society. What Arts Catalyst asks is that an artist's project experimentally or critically engages with science and our technoscientific culture, and this process can take many forms.