We’re preparing the fourth edition of the biennial Compass Festival in Autumn 2018 taking place in Leeds, UK. 

We invite project proposals from artists working in any medium whose practice is based in public engagement. The festival has grown in scale and ambition over the first three editions and is characterised by the exploration of communality, community building, place-making and individual experience. 

Programmes from past festivals are available to view here: https://compassliveart.org.uk/festival

Please note we are not looking for works that happen in theatres and galleries. We will favour: 

Projects that break down barriers to participation and in which artists engage directly with specific communities and/or the general public.
Works of long duration or that can be repeated several times over a number of days. 
Original, arresting, and thoughtful projects that generously invite public interaction. 
Works that acknowledge the context of a regional city and urban environment - its possibilities, complexities and histories.

Timescale – deadline for submissions for this open calll is Friday 2nd June 2017

If you have questions or want to discuss your proposal with us before applying please contact us at [email protected]

We aim to respond to all submissions by 16th June 2017

We envisage supporting several projects from this open call with a mixture of cash (£2k-£15k) and full production support (production, marketing, press, documentation and audence engagement). Compass commissions are either entirely financed through this support or in some cases, using this support as leverage for further funding. 

You need not specify a budget in your proposal, the above information is just a guide as to the scale of seed finance Compass can realistically provide to new projects.

We actively encourage applications from black and minority ethinic artists as we feel their voices are currently under-represented in our programme. 

This call out is not open to artists based outside the UK. If you are an artist working outside of the UK and are interested in proposing projects to Compass, please contact us separately via email at [email protected].