Are you an artist or creative practitioner who loves to share their skills and knowledge whilst encouraging others to express themselves and their ideas? The British Ceramics Biennial (BCB) is seeking to appoint up to four Associate Artists to join our pool of freelance staff who work across our creative engagement programmes.

About BCB

BCB’s vision: Making change through clay.

Our mission: To develop, sustain and expand innovative ceramics practice and improve lives together with artists and creative communities.

Our values: Bold, accountable, welcoming, significant, grounded, inclusive, connected and collaborative. 

About the role

British Ceramics Biennial have a pool of freelance Associate Artists. These artists work across a wide range of our creative engagement projects.

The project participants may be children, young people or adults. They may belong to a particular community group or receive support from a health or wellbeing service. Project themes often relate to the rich local heritage of Stoke-on-Trent but can also explore contemporary issues or subjects that resonate with individual participants. A series of workshops may lead to a celebration event or exhibition. You can find examples of previous work on the BCB projects page.

The Associate Artists draw on their individual experiences and creative practice to design and deliver creative activities for others. They collaborate with BCB staff, project partners, stakeholders and other Associate Artists to facilitate high-quality opportunities for residents of Stoke-on-Trent. During the Biennial, there are also opportunities to work with participants from further afield.

As well as having their own creative practice, the Associate Artists need to be friendly, energetic, and able to work well with others. They are reflective and responsive to the scenario they are working in. They put in time and effort to ensure their workshops are accessible, innovative and fun.

Our current pool includes several experienced ceramic artists. If you work with other materials, this is an opportunity to bring an alternative approach to BCB’s work and collaborate with ceramics specialists. This is also an opportunity for artists who are at the early stages of their career to work alongside other more experienced practitioners.

Breakdown of the role

Title: Associate Artist

Reports to: Studio & Community Programme Manager

Rates of pay: These range from £21.20 to £26.50, depending on the responsibilities of a particular project role

Contract: Freelance contract

Location: BCB Studio and various locations across Stoke-on-Trent

Closing date: 12 noon, Monday 4 November

Please download the Role Description and Person Specification for full details. The Role Description includes a list of responsibilities. We will provide an induction and ongoing training to give you the skills to complete these tasks. We will refer to the Person Specification when shortlisting and appointing for the role, so it is important to have the qualities listed in mind when applying. These are labelled as essential or desirable, so do not feel that you must fulfil all of these to apply.

Access

BCB commits to making our recruitment process transparent and accessible. If you have questions or you require the application pack in an alternative format to Word or PDF, please let us know. You can do this by emailing:  jo@britishceramicsbiennial.com or by calling 01782 294634.

Please note that alternative formats are made available upon request to ensure they are suitably tailored to support an applicant’s access requirements.

BCB will make reasonable adjustments to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. You are welcome to discuss your access needs with us at any stage in the application process by emailing jo@britishceramicsbiennial.com

Application

To apply for this role, please submit the following as a word document or PDF via email to jo@britishceramicsbiennial.com by 12 noon, Monday 4 November 2024.

• A covering letter describing why you are interested in the role, and how your skills and experience relate to the person specification (up to 2 pages of A4)
• A CV or equivalent (up to 2 pages A4)
• A selection of 6 images of your work with captions describing the project shown (up to 2 pages A4)
• Applicants must also complete the online Diversity and Equality Monitoring Form

You are welcome to have an informal conversation about the role. Please contact Joanne Mills at jo@britishceramicsbiennial.com to arrange this.

Timings

Deadline for receipt of applications: 12 noon, Monday 4 November 2024

Notification of applicants called to interview: Friday 8 November 2024

Interviews (in person): Thursday 14 November 2024

Equality and Diversity

Opportunities to work for BCB are open to all. All job applications are treated equally, regardless of age, disability, gender identity or gender expression, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, relationship status, pregnancy or any other equality characteristic.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as being Black, Asian, LGBTQIA+, d/Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent, from a lower socio-economic background or those with long-term health conditions as people from these groups are currently underrepresented in the cultural sector. Male applicants are also particularly encouraged to support the diversity of the Associate Artist pool.

We understand the paragraph above isn’t holistically reflective of the rich community in which we live and work and if you don’t feel this speaks to you and you would like to support how we communicate this in future please get in touch with us: info@britishceramicsbiennial.com.