Idea for research at Coventry.

Progress in many fields - the following recent events are coming together.

1. I've been accepted at Coventry to do a MA Research.
2. I've been on holiday via Gretna and went to the Devil's Porridge museum. I looked at the role of women in WW1, making cordite at Eastriggs, Scotland in the largest munitions factory (3 miles long).  Lots of female heritage (and my great aunt May worked in munitions in the London area during WWII).  I drew the triangular War Service Badge.
3.  I visited Cragside NT - where William Armstrong built the first domestic (! - 100 rooms) home with electric light powered by hydroelectricity.  He made his money from munitions - having used an Archimedes screw to lift water to get height and thus power - then applied the Archimedes screw to rifles to make them more accurate - which was then called rifling.
4. I've found an artist opportunity (paid!) in Enfield, requiring research into female manufacturing work from 1916.  Plus 2 workshops.

WOMEN - A paid opportunity

ACAVA and Building BloQs are calling for proposals from a women artist for a residency for a residency as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Women at Work: Then and Now project in Enfield.

Artist must show competency with working with machinery within workshop environment.

The selected artist will be resident at Building BloQ's open-access workshop, with full use of state-of-the art machines. She will research Enfield's women in industry since conscription in 1916 and use her findings to interpret and generate a body of work and participatory opportunities for local people. The 12 week residency, starting in mid-October will include a research period at Enfield Local Studies Archive, a visit to The National Co-operative Archives in Manchester and 8 Weeks within the Building BloQ's workshop.

The artist will generate four outputs during their residency:
The artist will collaborate with a Building BloQs maker in facilitating two 3 hour workshops for local people which will aim to engage participants with the heritage of Enfield women's history in manufacturing. The workshops will be hands on and will explore relevant materials and manufacturing processes. The residency will conclude with a public exhibition at The Dugdale Centre, displaying work generated by the artist and workshop participants. The exhibition will include a launch event with a panel-discussion, convened by the artist including key contributors to the project who will speak about the heritage as researched and interpreted. Included in the selected artist’s brief will be the task to design a small publication including documentation of the research material gathered from Enfield and Manchester archives, development of new artwork and the outcomes of the participatory workshop.

Artist Fee
Research and development (1 day a week for 4 weeks @ £133 a day) £532
Making period (2 days a week @ £133 per day for 8 weeks) £2128
Materials £200
Artist Workshop Fee £310
Panel discussion delivery fee £124
Total Payment £3294
Travel to The National Co-operative Archives, Manchester will be covered

If you are interested in this opportunity please submit the follwing by email:
1. Name and address
2. ACAVA membership details
3. A short statement about your practice and why you are interested in researching the heritage of women’s work in Enfield .
4. An brief project proposal for the residency including an example plan for a public workshop (no more than 2 sides of A4)
5. An up to date C.V including 3 images of recent work.
6. Your availability for the project delivery dates.

Deadline 9am Monday 1st October 2017
Interviews to be held on Friday 6th October at Building BloQs

Please send submissions via email to rridgway@acava.org

5. There was a major munitions factory in Enfield.  https://new.enfield.gov.uk/services/leisure-and-culture/museums-and-heritage/past-exhibitions/museums-and-heritage-information-enfield-at-war-1914-1918-royal-small-arms-factory.pdf.  Which notes the lack of knowledge about the women at the factory, although research shows they were present.

6. My idea for the art workshops with the community would be to make triangular On War Service Badges, possibly updated to represent specific women known to the maker.

6. My tutor at Coventry is ok with me following up this opportunity while I am a student in my first year.