Monday, June 8, 2020
DEADLINE EXTENDED
Conceptual artist Joshua Schwebel is seeking a qualified candidate for a one-year non-renewable, part-time basis to assume responsibility for grant-writing and fundraising for Forest City Gallery artist-run centre in London, Ontario. The position is the initiative of the artist, made possible by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. The position is both a paid job opportunity working with Forest City Gallery, and the delegated enactment of a conceptual artwork. The successful candidate will work with the gallery director, fund-raising and finance committees, potential funders and sponsors, and the artist’s community of London, Ontario to augment and secure funding for the Forest City Gallery artist-run centre.
Project
The Employee
Job Posting
Contract position for Grant Writing Services
Joshua Schwebel
joshuaschwebel.com
- and -
Forest City Gallery
258 Richmond St, London ON N6B 2H7, Canada
ForestCityGallery.com / Facebook / Instagram
Reporting to
Joshua Schwebel, artist, and Teresa Carlesimo, Director, Forest City Gallery
Anticipated Start Date
July 1, 2020*
Application Deadline
***DEADLINE EXTENDED: June 8, 5:00pm EDT***
About the Position
The advertised position is both a paid job opportunity working with Forest City Gallery, and the delegated enactment of a conceptual artwork. Joshua Schwebel is seeking a qualified candidate for a one-year non-renewable, part-time basis to assume responsibility for grant-writing and fundraising for Forest City Gallery artist-run centre in London, Ontario. The position is the initiative of the artist, made possible by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
Despite its early role as a hub of artist-led activism for fair wages for artists, leading up to the founding of CARFAC, Forest City Gallery currently exists in a state of permanent precarity: it operates with one sole employee. Out of a desire to both repair this precarity and to lay bare the systemic shortfalls that allow it to perpetuate, Joshua Schwebel’s artwork is to use Canada Council for the Arts’ project funding to hire an additional qualified arts worker, whose task will be fundraising and grant-writing for the artist-run centre to potentially augment its long-term operational funding.
The successful candidate will work with the gallery director, fundraising and finance committees, potential funders and sponsors, and the artist’s community of London, Ontario to augment and secure funding for the Forest City Gallery artist-run centre. The position requires 80 hours work per month, however hours and scheduling may vary in order to meet deadlines. The successful candidate is expected to work onsite at the Gallery at 258 Richmond Street in London, Ontario for the duration of the project and so must either live in the London area or be willing to commute.
From an artistic perspective, the project will be defined as a year-long delegated performance, which will be enacted by the successful candidate (the ”Employee”) hired to write grants and solicit funds to support the gallery. This means that performing the tasks associated with the job is also the enactment of a performance. The Employee will be credited as the performer of Schwebel’s artwork. This requires no additional effort or affect, simply fulfilling the tasks of the job suffices but does require that the Employee should, on occasion, be willing to engage with inquisitive members of the public about the Employee’s work for Joshua Schwebel and by extension, Forest City Gallery, as both a job and an artwork. On agreed-upon dates, the Employee must be willing to be photographed while working, and should also be aware that their image will be associated with the project, and, along with selected products of their work, will be reproduced, and circulated as documentation of the work.
The successful candidate will act as an independent contractor under contract with the artist and will not be an employee of either the artist or Forest City Gallery. While the Employee is retained and remunerated by the artist, the work will be supervised by Forest City Gallery and its director. Work must be of a professional calibre, geared towards successfully fundraising for the artist-run centre. The Employee must be willing to work collaboratively with the Gallery Director. While the Employee is technically under the remit of the artist, the project itself is intended to serve the Forest City Gallery, and therefore the Employee must recognize and work within these parallel mandates which structure the position.
The job is a limited term position, yet is intended to be a step towards actualizing the Gallery’s need for a second, permanent position. Despite the prevalence of temporary, precarious, project-based labour, which demands greater and greater time and energy for survival, and leaves no reserve resources for changing the circumstances of its insecurity (encouraged by the increased availability of limited-term project funding, as compared to the decreased commitment to long-term funding), the hope of this project is to potentially assist the centre’s access to long-term funding by supplementing its labour capacity.
The Employee may, by the product of their work, succeed in increasing the gallery’s operational funding to the extent that it might be able to support a second employee. Or at least that is the hope of this artwork.
About Forest City Gallery
Forest City Gallery was founded in 1973 by a nationally recognized group of London artists and musicians. As one of Canada’s first artist-run centres, Forest City Gallery became a catalyst for the development of artist-run culture, contributing to the conception of ARCCO (Artist-Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario) and CARFAC (Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens). As the only artist-run centre in London, Forest City Gallery is an important venue for introducing contemporary artistic practices to Londoners.
Forest City Gallery is situated on the traditional land of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Huron-Wendat and Attawandaron peoples who have long-standing relationships to the region of southwestern Ontario and the City of London. In close proximity, there are 3 local First Nations communities: the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, Oneida Nation of the Thames, and Munsee Delaware Nation. In the region of southwestern Ontario, there are 9 First Nations and a growing Indigenous urban population. We would like to recognize the significant historical and contemporary contributions of local and regional First Nations and all of the Original peoples of Turtle Island (North America) to the development of Canada.
Forest City Gallery is an artist-run centre founded on artistic autonomy with a commitment to excellence in programming exhibitions and events that reflect and address recent developments in cultural production. Forest City Gallery serves to foster and support contemporary art, promoting dialogue amongst local, regional, and international arts communities. Forest City Gallery represents artists of all disciplines and career levels with a focus on emergent artists and practices.
Equity
Both parties are committed to equity and strongly encourage applications from candidates of visible minorities, from migrant backgrounds, from women, queer and trans people, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and those with experience of other forms of oppression or marginalization. Please let us know if you have any access needs for the interview process and we will work with you to meet them.
Position Qualifications
2-5 years experience in the non-profit sector and in a culture-related field
demonstrated ability to fluidly and effectively articulate ideas, orally and in writing strong knowledge of contemporary art
proven success with grant writing and fundraising for contemporary art and an excellent rapport within the arts community
strong knowledge of arts councils and funding agencies in Canada
must be highly organized, detail oriented, committed to quality and able to work independently with minimal supervision
a history of working side-by-side with marginalized communities including but not limited to LGBTQ2 people, Black people, Persons of Color as well as Indigenous communities; and an understanding of issues of representation in the arts ecology in Canada
history of working with diverse staff, artists and community members
skills in financial management, strategic thinking and project management
competence with word processing, spreadsheet and database software
Assets
proven ability to cultivate donors
proven ability to promote financial sustainability
familiarity with conceptual art, delegated performance, and institutional critique
public programming experience
Equipment
The Employee must provide their own laptop computer
Compensation
$21 an hour up to 80 hours per month
How to apply
Please submit a cover letter outlining your interest in the position and your relevant background, a resume, and any other support material you feel is pertinent to josh@joshuaschwebel.com
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with questions about the call or to further clarify the terms of the project.
Only those shortlisted will be notified.
***DEADLINE EXTENDED: June 8, 5:00pm EDT*** *Start date may be delayed by the continuation of public health measures to slow the spread of Covid-19