Creating Work and Stimulating Non-Digital Creativity
Cambridge City council set out to engage with their community during COVID. They used Zealous to accept submissions for a commission to provide work for local freelancers and engage with households in need.
In brief
Commission artists for activity packs
Put local talent in front of 13 judges
Provide work for local freelancers during COVID
Cambridge City Council found the right talent for their activity packs by:
- Saving candidates time in applying
- Inviting local institutions to curate selection
- Accepting visual submissions
Supporting Non-Digital Communities in Lockdown
The online creative and cultural offering available online has been a positive way to stay connected during the lockdown. However, the Cambridge City Council’s Culture and Community Team recognised some households, where digital access is limited or non-existent due to lack of income, did not benefit from this cultural lifeline.
Local creative practitioners were invited to apply for one of 4 micro-commissions to design an activity for a creative activity pack to be distributed to households in need, via the City’s Community Food Hubs.
Also, this created an opportunity to provide work for freelance creative practitioners whose livelihood has been affected by social distancing measures.
Shining a light on local talent
Cambridge City Council designed the application process to minimise the amount of labour for each applicant.
- Each applicant was invited to submit a maximum of 3 ideas. Each idea could contain up to 3 uploaded files (images and/or videos) and a short proposal
- A panel of 13 judges was invited to go through the applications.
Zealous supplemented Cambridge City Councils marketing by recommending the opportunity to the 1,200 artists based in Cambridgeshire on the network.
Zealous offers a convenient and fair process for managing the applications, but also a way to expose the artists to a range of organisations via judging. Additionally, artists could then encounter other opportunities to pursue on the network.
Akua Obeng-Frimpong
Arts Development Officer (Cambridge City Council)
Creating a Legacy
With the help of additional funding, Cambridge City Council extended their selection to 8 local artists. This doubled the positive economic impact of the project on local talent and allowed those receiving their activity packs a much richer experience.
Finally, the Council actively seeks to provide and communicate the breadth of opportunities for arts and cultural skills within Cambridgeshire. Zealous aligns with those values by recommending further opportunities to candidates based on their location and skills, regardless of the status of their application.
