Clare County Council, with the support of Creative Ireland, are seeking proposals for Street Art

Over the years Clare has seen beautiful, engaging, quirky and provocative street art by the likes of Conor Harrington, Eva Menes, Negative Space Art Collective and many others. Supported and enabled by organisations such as glór, Ennis Street Art Festival and Ennis Chamber of Commerce, the strength of many of the street art initiatives has stemmed from partnerships between artists and organisations, businesses, community groups and the local authorities.

In 2022 Clare Arts Office initiated PRISM to create new artworks throughout Clare. Details of these works can be seen at https://clarearts.ie/artworks/

2024 sees Clare Arts Office looking to further the PRISM scheme countywide and welcomes high quality proposals that feature partnerships with professional artists that will animate the county over the summer months.

Who is Eligible?

The scheme is open to individuals, groups and communities countywide. Business premises may apply but must make a contribution to the costs.

Individual artists / artist groups may apply on their own subject to

a) providing a letter of permission from the owner of the building / location where they wish to work

b) having insurance cover for the creation of street art work (to include working at height if appropriate)

What items are considered eligible for the scheme?

Clare County Council will use the funding to assist artists to create street artworks

Funding is available for

• artist fees (planning and delivery time)
• artist materials
• equipment hire
• installation costs
• health and safety costs
• artists insurance costs
• traffic management costs (for installation of artwork, if required)

Grant funding may only be used to support the delivery of artworks.

The Council welcomes applications that demonstrate additional funding / sponsorship in kind has been sourced. Details of this support should be clearly outlined and where possible a letter of confirmation should be provided,

Amount of Grant Available

The budget for the programme countywide is €15000 and it is intended to commission a number of street art pieces from this budget. There is no limit on the amount you can apply for but your proposal should

• be adequately costed as per the eligible expenditure items for the scheme (outlined above). Please note that artists should be adequately compensated for planning and delivery time and the estimated number of days worked should be included.
• include an allocation for contingencies and
• show value for money

The Council expects to receive more applications than it can fund. As a result we will prioritise and assess the applications according to

• artistic merit / quality of the proposal
• detail in the applications submitted - applications that are ready to go will be prioritised
• geographic spread countywide.
• partnership applications ie. applications led by community groups.

In some cases proposals may be placed on a shortlist to be realised at a later date if funding allows.

The Council reserves the right to offer less than the amount requested and / or to stipulate what may / may not be funded through the scheme.

Applicants can work with artists of their choice. A list of local artists interested in working in the area of street art is available at https://clarearts.ie/artform/street-art/ but applicants are not obliged to work with artists from this list.

Timescales

All applications will be notified by June 30th, 2024 if they have been shortlisted or if they are unsuccessful.

Shortlisted applications will be required to provide insurance details indemnifying Clare County Council, proposed dates of work, risk assessments, necessity to erect scaffolding, close roads or paths etc. These will then be submitted to the relevant Municipal District Councils for observations and approvals before final permission is granted.

It is advised that applicants have given due consideration to health and safety requirements as priority for funding at this stage will be given to works that can proceed quickly.

Privacy & Data Protection

Personal information collected by Clare County Council is done so for us to process your application. Legally we can process this information as it is necessary for us to comply with our statutory / legal obligations. The protection of your personal data is a key priority for the Council and your data will be processed in line with our privacy policy which is on the right hand side of the screen.

Conditions of Grant Aid

Shortlisted applications will be forwarded to the planning section of Clare County Council.

Each successful applicant, then, will be required to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (with Clare County Council) outlining

• The project proposal
• Location - please consider if your proposed location is in ACA (architectural conservation area)
• Undertaking to follow all local authority guidance in relation to the creation / installation of the work
• Undertake a risk assessment
• Undertaking to produce a Health and Safety Statement
• Agreement to participate in / be recorded on the understanding that Clare County Council has the right to use this footage and to share it with Creative Ireland or any other bodies deemed appropriate by Clare County Council.
• Undertaking to provide payment details, including tax details, to Clare County Council. Payments in excess of €10,000 will require a current tax clearance certificate. Payments will be made to the applicant only and will be paid on the basis of 50% on commissioning and 50% on completion
• Provide all necessary insurances to Clare County Council
• Provide a feedback report (to be supplied by Clare County Council) prior to payment being made
• Agree to the addition of a QR code on the mural to link to www.clarearts.ie. This link will feature information on the artist and the artwork so the artist should register with www.clarearts.ie in advance of the application being submitted.
• All proposals should be compliant with Public regulations i.e. Planning Law, Fire Safety Requirements, Health & Safety Requirements etc.
• All proposals must have evidence of adequate and comprehensive Public Liability insurance and should carry an indemnity to Clare County Council of €6.5m. Artists should carry their own public liability insurance. The extension of a community group's insurance to cover the artist is also acceptable.
• If applicants / groups do not have this level of insurance they must submit a statement confirming that should they be awarded the contract, they are willing and able to raise insurance cover to these levels (in cases where the existing cover levels are lower) and that you will maintain these levels for the duration of the contract.
• Clare County Council accepts no responsibility and concedes no liability in respect of any accident, injury, or damage to property or person however arising regarding any incident, occurrence or claim which may take place.
• The funding support from Clare County Council and Creative Ireland must be acknowledged in any publicity material produced regarding the Project, including the use of the Clare County Council and Creative Ireland logos.

Applications

Applications will be assessed on the following basis by a selection panel

1. Artists CV and samples of previous work (20 marks)
2. Potential impact of the artwork in terms of scale and location and community involvement (15 marks)
3. Artistic Merit (20)
4. Rationale for the work (15)
5. Technical / Logistical considerations (15)
6. Budget (15)*

*As budgets for artworks will vary by size etc. comparisons will be made on the basis of materials, artists’ fees, no. of days of work etc.

Due to limited budgets, Clare County Council reserves the right to create a panel of shortlisted applications which may be funded if additional funding arises during the year.

Freedom of Information

Applicants should be aware that, under the Freedom of Information Act 2014, information provided by them in this Application may be liable to be disclosed. Applicants are asked to consider if any of the information provided by them in their Application should not be disclosed because of its confidentiality or commercial sensitivity. If Applicants consider that certain information is not to be disclosed because of its confidentiality or commercial sensitivity, Applicants must, when providing such information, clearly identify such information and specify the reasons for its confidentiality or commercial sensitivity. If Applicants do not identify information as confidential or commercial sensitive, it is liable to be released in response to a Freedom of Information request without further notice or consultation with the Applicant. Clare County Council will, where possible, consult with the Applicant about confidential or commercial sensitive information so identified before deciding on a request received under Freedom of Information.