GPS: Annual Art Commission FAQs

The OPDC is regenerating and developing a whole new centre and community for west London. We want to make sure that both current and future residents and businesses benefit from the significant investment in the area by two major rail infrastructure projects: High Speed 2 (HS2) and the Elizabeth line (formally Crossrail).

The OPDC was established by the Mayor of London on 1 April 2015 to oversee the delivery of 25,500 new homes and generate 65,000 new jobs for London. OPDC is the Local Planning Authority and regeneration agency for the 650 hectare site.

For detailed information on the OPDC and our role, please refer to our website.

The three London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham were responsible for all the planning for their respective boundaries. The boroughs remain responsible for non-planning related services such as waste collection, education provision and highway maintenance.

For more information on Planning at OPDC, please refer to our website.

The Annual Art Commission is the first art commission to be issued as part of OPDC’s Great Place Scheme. The Great Place Scheme has been supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more information, please see our website.

No, the project can take any form. Artists are invited to propose work in any medium including visual arts, music, performance, digital, research-based or social practice. Our only requirement is that the work is participatory, involves the local community and uncovers an aspect of the industrial heritage of Park Royal.

The project does not necessarily need to result in a physical piece of artwork as the project can take any form. If you would like to propose a project that will require a site/venue we will endeavour to support you to find an appropriate space(s) in the area, but cannot guarantee this will be possible.

We welcome applications from everyone. If you have not had experience in delivering projects of this scale, we would advise that you consider how you would ensure you had the right resources and support built into the project budget to enable you to deliver your idea.

Artists can raise additional funding towards the project from other sources, such as sponsorship or grants, although these would need to be agreed with OPDC in advance. You would still be required to present a proposal for a project that can be delivered within the £50,000 budget, in case you are not successful in securing additional funding to enhance your proposed idea.

We are currently in the pilot phase of the three-year Great Place Scheme and this is our first major art commission. To date, we have commissioned two research-based artist residencies to investigate how best to engage with the business and residential communities. Sam Curtis was the first artist-in-residence looking at working with businesses, he will be publishing the findings of his work later this year.

The second artists-in-residence are Rebecca Davis and Eva Sajovic who previously ran a project called People’s Bureau in Elephant and Castle. They will be developing a collaborative project with local residents over the summer.

The best place to find this information is via our blog, which is updated regularly and via our enewsletter.

Working with volunteers is an important part of the overall programme. We are building a solid network of local community members, residents and employees in the area who are keen to volunteer in cultural projects. We will promote opportunities, but the day-to-day management of volunteers on a particular project will need to be undertaken by the appointed artist, with production support from Create London. When working with the public, including volunteers, artists will be required to hold appropriate public liability insurance and prove they have robust safeguarding policies in place.

It may be possible for you to set up a website as part of your art project, however you will need to liaise with Create London and the OPDC Comms team in order to ensure that it is agreed by the Mayor’s Office and that the correct crediting and logos are used in line with our funders’ requirements.

Currently OPDC does not have any workspace available in Park Royal. If the project required space for an artist to be based within, or for activities to happen, we will endeavour to support you to find this space, and to negotiate with potential venues, but hire costs would have to be factored into your budget.

Yes, images can be included within a PDF portfolio (max 5 pages) to demonstrate previous work, as well as links to online content. Please do not send separate image or video files.

We welcome proposals from artists, groups of artists or organisations. However, one individual or organisation will need to be the lead contact, who will be responsible for receipt of the grant, as well as reporting back to us.

Please only send one CV and portfolio which summarises the lead artist/organisation’s background and experience. Additional information about the individual artists could be provided through a link to relevant online content.

We have been building many relationships in the area and would be happy to arrange introductions where appropriate.

If the project has a public outcome (eg: event, performance) we would work together with the selected artists on a joint communications plan to ensure as many local people are able to attend/participate.

The venue for workshops or other participatory activity would depend entirely on the selected project and groups which the artist intends to work with. We would endeavour to support you to find appropriate partners to work with.

For full details on our expectations, please refer to the Submission Process section within the Open Call brief. It states that you should include: “Your initial response to the industrial heritage of Park Royal and how you would approach the commission (max 500 words)” – so yes, please give an outline of your idea and how you would approach delivering it.