We are keen to increase the information artists and freelancers can access about what we do and why we do it making our processes transparent and clear. As part of this we would like to publish the call outs we are planning for the next eight months (up to March 2023). If you have any questions about any of these opportunities and projects please do get in touch by emailing Fiona Ferguson, Creative Development Director.
Call out summaries
- Family Encounters Commission: Opened September 2022, deadline 30 October
- Accelerator: Opened September 2022, deadline 10 November
- Creative Encounters: Opened October 2022, deadline 8 December
- Teachers’ Theatre Club: Opened November 2022, deadline January 2023
- Family Encounters Programme: Opened December 2022, deadline in January 2023
- Launchpad – Opened January 2023, deadline in 20 March 2023
Family Encounters Commission
Family Encounters (FE) will take place on 27 May 2023 at the National Museum of Scotland as part of Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. FE is a day of free pop-up performances and arts activities, the Family Encounters commission is a chance for Imaginate to support artists based in Scotland to create something new for this event. In the past, the Family Encounters programme has varied widely in scale and form such as a dance piece on a huge set of swings, a cross artform durational performance and an interactive radio station dedicated to young experts and their advice for adults.
This call out will be open to individual artists and collectives/companies who would like to make a brand new pop-up piece of work for Family Encounters.
Call out online – September 2022
Deadline - 30 October 2022
Panel and decision – November 2022
Project timeline – Family Encounters will take place on 27 May 2023. Conversations and planning with the commissioned artists will begin at the start of 2023.
Accelerator
This project is for artists to research and develop a new performance idea for young audiences, developing it to a work in progress stage. The project comes with funding, artistic and producing support. This call out will be open to individual artists and collectives/companies who have experience of making and presenting performances and who are based in Scotland.
Call out online – September 2022
Deadline - Thursday 10 November 2022
Panel and decision – November 2022
Project time line – the Accelerator development can take place between January to November 2023 with the option of sharing something at Edinburgh International Children’s Festival in May 2023 or at another event in Autumn 2023.
Creative Encounters
Creative Encounters is an exciting new three-year project in partnership with North Edinburgh Arts. Children from North West Edinburgh will work closely with artists to co-create new performances. This project explores children’s rights and what it means to put these at the centre of creating work for young audiences.
The project is open to individual artists and collectives/companies who would like to collaborate with children. You do not have to have experience in collaborating with children, we will work with you to craft this process together. Apply for Creative Encounters now
Call out online - November 2022
Deadline - Thursday 8 December 2022
Shortlisting - December 2022
Panel and decision - January 2023
Project timeline - Training, sessions with young people and development of performance will take place between February and and May 2023, leading to a performance at Family Encounters Day on Saturday 27 May.
Teachers’ Theatre Club (TTC)
TTC is a project in partnership with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe offering teachers in Edinburgh and the Lothians the opportunity to see professional performances and to meet the artists who made the work and other industry professionals. The project is open to teachers working in Council-run primary, secondary and ASN schools in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Call out online – November 2022
Deadline - January 2023
Panel and decision – February 2023
Project time line – selected teachers will have an introductory session in April 2023 followed by a programme of shows at Edinburgh International Children’s Festival in May/June 2023, Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2023 and other relevant performances throughout the year. The project will finish in December 2023.
Family Encounters Programme
Family Encounters (FE) will take place on 27 May 2023 at the National Museum of Scotland as part of Edinburgh International Children’s Festival. FE is a day of free pop-up performances and arts activities. For this call-out we’ll be looking for small, pre-existing performances that are suitable for a public environment. Previous work has included walk about characters, pop-up dance performances, interactive experiences and arts activities. Generally performances are between 5 – 15 minutes long.
Call out online – December 2022
Panel and decision – January 2023
Project time line – Family Encounters will take place on 27 May 2023. Conversations and planning with the commissioned artists will begin in February 2023.
Launchpad
Launchpad offers funding, artistic and producing support for early career artists to research and develop a new performance idea for young audiences. Applicants do not need to have previous experience of making performances. The project includes professional development for the artist including a visit to an international festival for young audiences.
This call out will be open to individual artists who are based in Scotland and at least one of the two places will be allocated to artists currently underrepresented in the young audiences sector in Scotland.
Call out online – January 2023
Panel and decision – March 2023
Project time line – the Launchpad development can take place between April to November 2023 with the option to attend Edinburgh International Children’s Festival as a Professional Delegate in May 2023.