Future Curators: FAQ's

What is the network and how often will it meet?

The network is a partnership of equals with a shared commitment to change and shared learning.

The network will be made up of the 6 partner organisations, DASH, the 6 future curators, the evaluator(s) and invited guests.

Each organisation will have their main contact as their representative. Marketing and Learning engagement teams are often invited to be part of relevant discussions.

The network is the 'engine room' of the programme and the meetings are used to share updates, discuss any issues and make decisions on the programme.

The network meets about every 3 months and before Covid these meetings moved around each partner's venue. This allowed for a lot of sharing and connections with organisation staff. Since Covid the network has been meeting on zoom and our expectation is that we will devise an accessible hybrid version, which will be part live, part zoom.

What support will our organisation receive from DASH and the network during the programme?

The success of the FCP has been the supportive peer network created by the organisation partners and DASH and this will be an essential part of the next round.

Outside of network meetings DASH will support each partner's questions and issues that may arise (these issues will be treated with strict confidentiality). DASH aims to have a balance between hands on and hands off. We would expect to provide advice around access and accessibility (see training)

DASH will also support each Future Curator with informal mentoring and support as required.

What is the expected timeline for the programme?

June 2021	Callout goes live
Summer 2021	Callout promoted
September 2021	Callout closes / shortlist / selection PR announcement of new partners
Sept 21 – Jan 21	Partners write residencies into their NPO bids or funding bids Planning
2022	Setting up new partners with training, budgets, partnership agreements Preparation for group callout for 6 new future curators
2023	Callout / shortlist/ selection of the new future curators New round starts

Will the six residencies happen concurrently or consecutively?

In the present programme the 3 residencies have happened consecutively, which meant there were missed opportunities for a PR buzz and shared learning between curators if there had been more crossover.

The decisions of when each residency will happen will ultimately be made by each organisation with the support of the network looking to aim to have all 6 residencies happen within a 2 year period, to ensure as many crossovers as possible.

Will there be a partnership agreement PA negotiated between all the partners?

Yes there will be a partnership agreement. In the present programme we have adapted the touring Exhibition Group's agreement. The PA is an essential document to ensure that there is clarity around the roles and responsibilities of all the partners including DASH

Will this include a payment schedule, which will be negotiated?

Yes the payment schedule will be part of agreeing the partnership agreement. The payment schedule will be negotiated to be agreeable to all parties.

What will be the selection process to recruit the three new partners?

We will make decisions based on the questions in the application form to shortlist applicants. We will either interview by zoom or interview at each applicants venue depending on what is possible in September 2021.

What will be the selection process to recruit the 6 future curators?

The new network will decide the selection process when they first meet in the Autumn/Winter 21. We are considering one accessible callout for all 6 venues. There are pros and cons to this process and the network will need to discuss and decide the best and most workable process.

How many days/month will the future curator expected to be present in our gallery?

This will vary from each residency according to what works best for the curator and the gallery. In this round each curator has spent 1 day/week in the organisation, which has allowed the curators to carry on with their practice and not get 'burnt out'.

Who will decide how the budget for an exhibition/project will be spent?

The responsibility for this will ultimately rest with the organisation and curator according to what they decide to do

Who will be responsible for the Disabled Young artists DYAs project?

We want the DYAs project to be discussed as a network to look at an overview of this work within each organisation and DASH's knowledge and experience. We will then use this shared knowledge to make decisions on what will be the most impactful and effective way to proceed with this work.

How will the FCP be promoted and marketed internally and across the media?

There is a budget for a PR person to promote the programme over the 3 years and work with each organisations marketing staff. We will need to ensure that the PR of the programme has a high impact on the art media.

Will senior curators/directors be expected to be involved in the programme?

We will expect senior curators to be actively involved with the curatorial resident and Directors to have regular contact with the resident. We will be looking for this direct commitment in the applications. If an organisation cannot provide this level of commitment they will not be shortlisted.

What will be the content of the training that will be provided? Who will the trainers be?

The training for each organisation will be bespoke and will be developed with the organisation. Training will range from accessible marketing to disability equality and can include an access audit.

We work with a group of experienced disabled trainers who have worked nationally and internationally and bring their lived experience with an in depth knowledge of the art sector to the training.

Will the programme be evaluated?

The evaluation of the programme will be essential to show the impact that the residencies will have had on the future curators, the organisations and DASH. We will use an external evaluator who will be a part of the network.

What level of access support will be expected from each organisation?

We are not looking for the 100% perfect organisation, in fact we are looking for organisations who are willing to learn and adapt.

We will expect each organisation to make adaptions and changes to ensure that the workplace is accessible for the future curator.

We would expect that your organisation would have a basic understanding of access and access requirements. 99% of these changes will be very straightforward and will be a part of the induction period with the future curator. If your venue is not physically accessible then you would not be shortlisted.

Budget breakdown:

Curatorial commissions 2023 - 2026	Total/host 15 months	Total for 6 hosts 15 months
Expenditure
The resident 1 year plus 3 months post residency	18750	112200
Evaluation / host £300/day X 12 days	3600	21600
Programme Coordinator PC/ host £10K/year X 3 years	5000	30000
exhibition/project	10000	60000
Training budget including ongoing support	5000	30000
Data collection	500	3000
disabled young artists project	5000	30000
access costs	5000	30000
Marketing and PR	450	8100
Internal documentation
TOTALS	53300	324900

Income
DASH	17750	106500
Hosts	35550	218400
TOTALS	53300	324900

What's missing
DASH Costs
DASH paying for access for callouts and interviews		6000
Documentation - film		20000
Marketing and PR -freelance		8100
Total Staff Costs for 3 year programme		24695

Total Costs for DASH		58795