Our commissions are often ‘place-based’, inviting creative practitioners to respond to a particular place. This has included cities, towns, beaches and waterways, National Trust sites, forests, and even a housing development that has not yet been built. Many commissioned artists take a ‘residency’ approach, spending time in those places with local people and community groups who they have invited to be project participants.

To see examples of the kind of projects we support, the best place to start is at our commissions page for an overview of the projects we’ve commissioned over the years.

Successful projects have put communities at the heart of the creative process, while also being central to the artists’ practice and own lines of enquiry. Commissions can capture the spirit of place, give people a voice, connect communities and let people tell their own story in their own words.

We are looking for original projects and new work that is bespoke to the commission brief, and unique to the place and its community. Therefore we do not tend to support relocating existing work or the repeat of an existing project.

We do not tend to support projects that propose large public artworks, such as permanent or semi-permanent sculptures or structures, which often require planning permissions and ongoing maintenance that can challenge the budget and timeline available. We also do not support projects that have little or no community participation.

Our commission call outs are open to creative practitioners working across any media, at any levels of career, as individuals or as part of a collective or a company. This includes, but is not limited to, visual artists, digital artists, writers, poets, performers, theatre practitioners, musicians, dancers and multimedia artists. We ask that you are registered as self-employed, as you will be responsible for paying your own taxes.

We are keen to support diverse practitioners and those working in diversity, to develop their socially engaged and participant-led projects and practices, which often means projects that work with, or in response to, diverse people and communities.

We don’t tend to support funded organisations as lead applicants (such as venues, galleries, museums, festival organisers, trusts, art centres, local authorities, other commissioners or NPOs etc) although feel free to garner their in-kind support, if it helps to strengthen your project and aid delivery. Instead, these types of organisations are often our commission partners or hosts.

Our core mission is to energise diversity in arts and heritage. We know that diversity is different for everyone. Diversity for us means: Cultural diversity | Different ethnic backgrounds | Low socio-economic backgrounds | LGBTQ+ | Disability | Neurodiversity | or an intersection of these

We are often looking for projects that engage with: Deprived communities | marginalised voices | communities with little or no access to the Arts | those who are culturally curious or want to connect with where they live in different ways.

In your proposal, we don’t expect you to tell us what diversity is or why it’s important (that’s our job) – instead tell us how your project explores or promotes diversity through its core themes, or needs and interests of its participants, how diversity has shaped your creative practice, and the diverse communities you work with.

At the proposal stage, we’re not expecting a fully formed idea with worked up drawings, rather a strong creative idea and interesting starting points, some thoughts about who the participants might be and how you will engage them, and an overview of your practice.

We’d like to see enough information to help the panel visualise what your project, participant events/workshops and possibly final artwork might look like, but also think about leaving room for the participants to shape the work.

Commission proposals are usually shortlisted by a panel of at least three people representing the commissioners, on the strength of the following:

• Response to the brief and relevance to ‘Place’
  Evidenced in your outline of the artistic concept and creative starting points for the project
• Creative practice
  Evidenced in your CV, website, social media and/or bio
• Diversity and potential benefits to participants
  We look at how your practice and project explores diversity, and how you engage the community.
• Track record and project management
  Evidenced in past projects, budget breakdown and timeline – we look for evidence of your ability to deliver the project on budget and on time.

The budget for the commission is £10,000 (including VAT). This will be treated as a grant, and is usually paid to the creative practitioner(s) in instalments at the start, middle and end of the project (the last payment will be released upon receipt of a final evaluation report). The budget should cover ALL PROJECT COSTS such as fees, expenses, travel, participant recruitment, event costs, and materials. General marketing for the commission can be undertaken in partnership with ECDP and other partners as appropriate.

We do not tend to select projects that are only partly funded by the £10K budget, especially if additional fundraising is needed before or within the project’s main timelines, which could affect the commission being delivered on time and to budget.

The budget for this commission is £10,000 including VAT. This will be treated as a grant. This is inclusive of all expenses.

At the proposal stage, we are not looking for too much detail, or for everything to be costed to the nearest pound and penny. We would like to see a few basic budget lines with some estimated figures. We will be looking for your project management skills and your ability to set out a whole project budget, so this is an opportunity to show that you’ve considered all potential project costs. This may include artist fees and expenses, workshop and event costs, participant expenses, marketing and participant recruitment, and costs associated with the creation of the artwork. Unknown costs could be highlighted, and/or covered with a contingency.

Key timelines for the Lavenham Guildhall commission are as follows:

Commission Start Date/Induction: July 2025
Audience Engagement Activity: to take place from August to December 2025
Output on site (if appropriate to proposal): Oct/Nov/Dec 2025
Commission End date/final report: Jan/Feb 2026

At the proposal stage, we are not looking for too much detail so it could be 4-6 lines of the key milestones in your project, such as the public launch of the project, participant recruitment, when any workshops / the final exhibition or event might take place, and time for evaluation. This is an opportunity to show off your project management skills and let us know that you are able to plan and deliver the project on time and to budget.

We always like to see a realistic amount of time built in to research and recruit participants.

About the National Trust
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk

The National Trust is one of the UK’s largest Charities founded in 1895 by three people who saw the importance of the nation’s heritage and open spaces and wanted to protect them for everyone to enjoy. Over 120 years later the National Trust looks after special places throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland ensuring that they are accessible for everyone, for ever. The charity’s Strategy is currently focussing on Everyone Welcome and Climate Action.

The National Trust owns and looks after coastline, forests, woods, fens, beaches, farmland, moorland, islands, archaeological remains, nature reserves, villages, historic houses, gardens, mills and pubs. Places and sites are restored, protected and opened so that everyone can experience them. For the Trust, conservation has always gone hand-in-hand with public access. In total the Trust manages:

– 780 miles of coastline
– Over 248,000 hectares of land
– Over 500 historic houses, castles, ancient monuments, gardens and parks and nature reserves

The National Trust is constantly developing its engagement programmes and marketing approach to engage a greater diversity of visitors and volunteers, as well as aiming to increase the diversity of interpretation and curatorial approaches to their properties and collections. Collaborating with organisations such as ECDP is core to this approach, aiming to explore new concepts and reach new communities who may not have engaged with the National Trust and its portfolio of properties and sites before. This commission for Hatfield Forest will provide a unique opportunity for an artist or artists to explore key themes, engaging local communities and visitors and creating some challenging new work.

Essex Cultural Diversity Project and the National Trust are working together to broaden access to inclusive and diverse arts, culture and heritage across the Trust’s Essex and Suffolk Countryside portfolio of properties, of which Lavenham Guildhall is one. The National Trust has hosted five commissions to date as part of Essex Cultural Diversity Project’s Arts Council England funded NPO commissioning programme, which provides an opportunity for creative practitioners to create new work, explore diversity and develop their socially engaged and participatory practices. Projects aim to capture the spirit of place, and connect with diverse and local communities.

A short history of Lavenham Guildhall
nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/lavenham-guildhall/history-of-lavenham-guildhall

The origins of Lavenham Guildhall and the wealth that formed Lavenham village itself can be found in medieval times. At this time England’s wealth was largely built on the success of its high-quality wool and cloth industry. Much of the production was exported, which brought enormous tax revenues to the Crown, as well as making wealthy men out of merchants.

The Guildhall was originally founded as a meeting place for a Catholic guild. Religious guilds were essentially groups of wealthy individuals, in this instance cloth and wool merchants. The manufacture and export of woollen cloth particularly ‘Lavenham Blew’ cloth, underpinned Lavenham’s wealth in medieval times. Those same rich medieval clothiers and merchants built the Guildhall and the houses that characterise the village today.

Religious guilds date back to the 11th century and were originally associated with the monasteries. But by the 14th century they had taken responsibility for the repair of bridges and roads and the founding of schools, alms houses and colleges.

After a while the thriving cloth industry in and around Lavenham became a victim of its own success. Cheaper copies and foreign competition emerged and Lavenham’s decline became inevitable. Heavy taxes were levied on the merchants and clothiers by the Crown. Just as happens today, those who ran the businesses very quickly moved on to escape the financial burden.

Before the demise of the trade there were many powerful families steering the future of Lavenham, among them the De Vere family, Earls of Oxford. During their heyday they were the Lords of the Manor of Lavenham. Today De Vere house on Water Street in Lavenham is best remembered for its role as one of the filming locations used in the Harry Potter film ‘Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Much later, in 1785, the Guildhall was used as a prison, or ‘bridewell’ as it was then known. The courageous story of a little girl called Anne Baker comes from this time. Anne had run away from the workhouse, but she didn’t get far before being caught and tried. Judged as an ‘incorrigible rogue’ and found guilty of burglary and previously escaping the workhouse, she was sentenced to three years in the Guildhall, with subsequent deportation to Australia.

Anne boarded the ship for Australia in December 1789. With over a thousand convicts divided across four ships, it was a gruelling and cramped life below decks. Disease spread rapidly and around a quarter of the convicts died before reaching Australia. Did Anne survive the journey? Her life story is vividly retold at the Guildhall.

Between 1655 and 1836 there was a workhouse within the walls of the Guildhall. A prison existed for some of that time but was totally separate. The word ‘workhouse’ conjures up the image of the dreadful Victorian institute of Dickensian times as portrayed in Oliver Twist, but things were different in Lavenham. It was a largely benevolent, if somewhat frugal place and was established in the village to help the poor and those who’d fallen on hard times survive and get back into work. The workhouse operated under the supervision of one Judith Snell, a widow who came to be known simply as ‘the Widow Snell’.

She cared for between 30 and 40 local people at a time. The poor and needy would arrive seeking a roof over their heads, something to eat and perhaps even clothes if they needed them. Once accepted, they’d go on to receive training in local skills such as spinning and weaving. The girls might also be trained as housemaids and the boys in whatever local apprenticeships could be found. The purpose was to get them back into work as quickly as possible

It’s Widow Snell’s curious attitude towards rudimentary healthcare, and her ‘homebrew’ potions and cure-alls that reserves her a place in the Guildhall’s list of characters. Among her homemade remedies were:

• The treatment of ‘Scald Head’ – a form of ringworm – by applying pork lard to the scalp under a dressing three times a day for a fortnight and then pulling out the remaining hair with pincers.
• Treating catarrh with a mix of crab’s eyes, whale fat and castor oil, with the patient to take one spoonful each morning.

If you have the stomach to see and smell the weird and wonderful potions for asthma, diabetes and colic for yourself – woodlice, sweet mercury and dragon’s blood are all involved – then a visit to the Guildhall is in order.

A Master Tailor and Outfitter by trade, local resident Ranson (1882–1950), was a leading figure in the movement to obtain national recognition for the architectural and historical importance of Lavenham. An early conservationist and ‘green’ pioneer, it’s Ranson’s legacy that you see all around you today in the many preserved buildings in the village.

Alongside collecting photos, Ranson played a key role in the negotiations with Sir William Eley Quilter, Baronet and son of Sir William Cuthbert Quilter, who restored the Guildhall and bequeathed it to the people of Lavenham.

The Guildhall was finally gifted to the National Trust in 1951, a year after Ranson’s death, although negotiations had started as far back as 1946.

Visitor information and entrance fees can be found at nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/lavenham-guildhall

Lavenham Guildhall opening dates & times

Opening times – Museum, Tea-room and second-hand bookshop
31 March – 28 Sept 10-4pm, 7 days a week*
6 Oct – 2 Nov 10-4pm Wed-Sun 5 days a week* (may change to 7 days a week)
6 Nov – 21 Dec 10-3.30pm Thus-Sun 4 days a week*
*Open Bank Holidays and every day during Suffolk school holidays.

Please note, there are evening hires of the Guildhall by community groups and private individuals. You can also arrange to access the Guildhall when closed to visitors with enough notice.

ECDP and our commission partners are committed to minimising the potential for negative impacts on the environment. ECDP as an NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) has a leadership role in the arts/cultural sectors and can therefore have a positive impact on environmental sustainability as we have for issues relating to diversity. This is relevant to the commissioning programme for artists, and at the main proposal stage we are always keen that those interested in our commissions consider how they will reduce the impact of their work on the environment. For example, the use of materials – consider whether they are recyclable, made from recycled materials, or can be repurposed after the commission. The aim of this will be to reduce the waste from commissions/exhibitions and the use of non-recyclable materials where possible. Artists should consider where possible choosing accessible locations for activities and events – locations that can be easily accessed by public transport or walking as well as by older people. We accept that this can be challenging for less central locations. You may wish, for example, to consider including transport in your budget if public transport is a particular challenge.

We expect the appointed artists to evaluate and track the outcomes of the project as they go, and we will provide guidelines for this upon appointment.

It is important for ECDP as an Arts Council England funded National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) to report on all of our activities effectively and accurately. Commissions are is a key element of our NPO programme and we expect there to be important outcomes, which we will work with the commissioned artist to record and track. The appointed artist(s) is expected to provide a final report at the end of the commission and record both quantitative and qualitative information to support ECDP in capturing outcomes. These include:

• Description of what took place and numbers of workshops/events/meetings
• numbers of participants, volunteers, audiences who attended events and digital audiences
• Reflections on how the commission has impacted on the practice of the appointed artist(s), and how the commission may have impacted beneficiaries
• Any recorded feedback from participants/beneficiaries or partner organisations involved
• Photos from workshops, events and the artwork/performances

It is expected that the commissioned artist(s) will meet with commissioners regularly throughout the project, to update on progress and talk through any issues or challenges.

We accept written, verbal and video proposals for this commission. Video proposals should be no longer than 10 minutes in length.

To apply, please email your proposal to jo@essexcdp.com by midnight of the day of the deadline and include the following:

– An outline of the artistic concept and its creative starting points, your project title, intended participants and any groups you may like to work with (if known), and your community engagement process (no more than 600 words).
– How your practice and project explores or promotes diversity (no more than 200 words).
– Some info about you and your work. This could be a short biography/artist statement with examples of previous work / a pdf portfolio / a CV / links to your website and social media.
– A short, estimated and basic budget outline, showing how you would utilise the £10,000 (we suggest 4-6 lines of key budget headings)
– A short approximate timeline for the work (we suggest 4-6 lines with key milestones)
– A completed Commission Monitoring Form 2025-26 (MS word doc – please note on some computers this document goes direct to your downloads folder once clicked)

About Essex Cultural Diversity Project (ECDP)

Since 2007 Essex Cultural Diversity Project has been bringing together artists, museums, libraries, performers and writers with local authorities and commissioners to improve and enhance artistic and cultural diversity, ensure that excellence is thriving, and that cultural integration and understanding is supported through arts and cultural activity. ECDP is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) working across the East of England to support diversity in arts and cultural practice. ECDP has a key role to explore the concept of ‘diversity’ across the East of England and beyond, working with a wide range of partners and providing opportunities for artists and creative practitioners from diverse backgrounds and contexts. Through our commissioning programme ECDP supports the production of challenging work that responds to specific places and the local context, as well as reflecting on national themes and issues around diversity.

You can get a good overview of our past and present commissions at https://essexcdp.com/commissions/

We are here for a 1-2-1 if you have any questions, or if you want to talk through your ideas, the commissioning process and ideas.

Email Jo at jo@essexcdp.com to arrange a meeting or a call.