DSAC’S PRESIDENTIAL EMPLOYMENT STIMULUS PROGAM – “BANKING WITH ART – CONNECTING LIVES”  

The ArtbankSA in partnership with the Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA) invites visual arts organisations, galleries and individual mentors operating in the visual arts sector in all Provinces to submit their expression of interest to host the 2020/21 Job Placement Program.

VANSA is in the process of rolling out a series of job placement as a program directed at emerging artists for the period of 2020/21. The program is aimed at enabling arts organisations, institutions, businesses or professional individuals to host an emerging artist. 

The qualifying selection criteria for the artist to be placed should vary from Matric, TVET college qualification, university qualification and/or should have been practicing as an emerging artist for more than a year.

The monthly salary will be R5 700 for the candidate.

PROGRAMME CONTENT

During the course of placement the candidate should be exposed to a variety of organisational functions and processes, and should by the end of the period of the program be able to complete a small project (e.g. the planning and organisation of an exhibition, event, workshop etc.) with minimal external supervision and should be equipped and have the possibility to be in a position to:

• be employed on a part-time, full-time or contract basis by the host organization or any other similar organisation; OR
• be in a position to pursue freelance work as an administrator, curator or project manager in the visual arts or an adjacent field.

The opportunity is open to the following:

• development organisations in the visual arts;
• municipal and university-based art museums;
• contemporary art galleries;
• contemporary art media/publishing;
• project spaces, independent art spaces
• any other business or organization involved in the promotion of contemporary art practice in South Africa;
• individual professional artists with an ability to mentor and guide an emerging artist with interest in their area of work;
• in the case of entities that work across multiple art forms, the focus of the program should be on the visual arts/contemporary art.

The call is open to all organisations that have the interest to participate in the program.

TIME FRAME

The commencement of the program is envisaged to be 1 December 2020. The period of the program is four (4) months to end in March 2021;  

REQUIREMENTS

Participating organisations and candidates will be required to submit monthly reports using the VANSA reporting template during the course of the program. 

Applications for participation in the program should briefly outline the following:

• the process for recruiting and selecting the candidate on the part of the host organisation (it is mandatory that an open targeted call be included in the process)
• the duration, time commitment and proposed remuneration for the intern (organizations must indicate when they are able to top up the provided stipend)
• the areas in which the intern would acquire competence, and how this process would be actively facilitated/supported by the host organization
• the ways in which the intern’s work would enhance/add value to the work of the organization and its distinctive contribution to supporting, stimulating and promoting contemporary visual arts practice.

The expression of interest for inclusion in the program should be captured in not more than 2 x A4 pages, excluding any supplementary information about the organization or business.

Organisations should consult the VANSA Internship Toolkit in order to develop a comprehensive program plan.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Criteria for the award of the placement program will include the following:

• a coherent address of the above requirements and valid compliance documents; – the extent to which the host organisation/mentor individual is involved in promoting new directions and possibilities for contemporary art practice in South Africa, including but not limited to one or more of the following:
• supporting the professional development of visual artists;
• creating opportunities for artists to produce new work;
• creating opportunities for artists to access new markets;
• exploring new contexts for and approaches to the presentation of contemporary visual arts;
• the development of new audiences for contemporary visual arts practice;
• the organisation’s commitment to creating opportunities for people from historically and presently marginalised groups, whether on the basis of race, gender or class with a focus on youth, women and people with disability;
• applications from organisations operating outside of the main urban centers are particularly welcome.

The closing date for submissions is the 20 November 2020. 

Submissions should be sent via email to Katlego Taunyane at katlego@vansa.co.za.