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Job description

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

What’s in it for you? Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

Salary: £32,348 to £34,308 with progression to £42,155 per annum

Closing Date: 03 April 2023

The Role

Are you a contemporary artist working with clay in exciting and innovative ways? Are you interested in undertaking an artist residency at Europe’s most celebrated centre for ceramics and then researching and teaching at one of the UK’s best art schools? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

The Norma Lipman Fellowship for Artists in Clay is a one-year fixed term research and teaching fellowship from 29th June 2023 to 30th June 2024. The post is a partnership between Fine Art at Newcastle University and the European Ceramics Work Centre in the Netherlands; because of work period scheduling at the EKWC and teaching at Newcastle University the dates of this opportunity are not flexible.

This exciting opportunity is for artists who explore clay in their practice and who use the material in innovative ways. The partnership between the Fine Art community at Newcastle University and the EKWC, the internationally celebrated centre of excellence in ceramics, offers an outstanding opportunity. The fellowship begins with a three-month artist residency at EKWC, offering access to the world class expertise and resources of the EKWC and the community of artists working there. After completing the residency, the fellow will relocate to the Fine Art Department at Newcastle University for a further 9 months.

The fellowship is funded by the Norma Lipman Memorial Trust and will start on 29th June 2023. Salary will be paid throughout. In addition, the cost of the work placement is covered with a grant of up to £2000 for clay and firings at the EKWC. The fellow will need to meet their travel costs as well as material/firing costs at the EKWC that exceed the grant of £2000. The Fellow will receive an allowance of £1200 for materials at Newcastle University and firing and studio costs are included.
UK and international artists at all career stages are welcome to apply. We encourage applications from visual artists whose work draws on and reflects the full range of backgrounds, perspectives and diversity of our modern world, and welcome applications from underrepresented groups for this opportunity.

In addition to a CV and covering letter, you should either include a weblink to your work or submit visual documentation. Please note that applications will be assessed against the appointment criteria - your application should make clear how you meet the published criteria for this post.

Further information about Fine Art, our taught programmes and staff research, can be found here.

Informal enquiries concerning the position can be made to Andrew Burton, Professor of Fine Art and Head of Fine Art Research, [email protected]

The University has developed an Academic Job Summary Guidance document which summarises the range of activities that academic colleagues may be expected to perform.

We are open to all artistic approaches that explore clay within the broad field of the visual arts. The Fellowship offers -

A twelve-week work period at the EKWC.
A further nine months at Newcastle University with your own individual studio/ workspace and use of the Fine Art department’s resources to produce creative work in clay and other materials.
Access to experts in other disciplines across Newcastle University.
Mentoring and guidance in the development of your research and teaching.

Fine Art at Newcastle University has an exciting record of supporting artists working in clay. Previous holders of Lipman Fellowships include Katie Cuddon, William Cobbing, Markus Karstiess, Serena Korda, Eva Masterman, Elizabeth Manchester, Paul Scott, Gabrielle Wambaugh, Wolfgang Weileder and Elaine Wilson.

The EKWC is an internationally recognised centre of excellence for ceramics with a community of artists benefitting from state-of-the-art facilities and outstanding support from professional experts. Over its 40 year history, the EKWC has hosted many of the world’s leading ceramic artists as well as writers, musicians and other creative practitioners. The EKWC supports art professionals at all stages of their careers who see value for their practice of working with clay.

The successful candidate will undertake a work period at the EKWC from 29th June to 20th September 2023. See https://ekwc.nl/en/residency/ for further details of work periods. From late September the fellow will relocate to Newcastle University where you will work alongside staff and students in Fine Art, creating work in the Department’s studios. Please note that for tax and employment reasons the fellow must transfer directly from the EKWC to Newcastle at the end of the residency. You will be provided with a studio and access to our facilities for ceramics. There are excellent workshops for metal, wood, print, digital media, film, and music within the School of Arts and Cultures and state of the art facilities elsewhere in the University covering a range of contemporary technical processes.
From September 2023, the fellow will contribute to teaching in the Fine Art Department (one day per week) tutoring and providing workshops and seminars to undergraduate and postgraduate Fine Art students. Whilst candidates need to demonstrate their enthusiasm for working with Fine Art students in their letter of application, previous experience of university teaching or research is not a requirement. We will consider applications primarily based on professional artistic practice and approach. The teaching element of the Fellowship will be one day per week (term-time) and support will be provided if you have not taught previously.

Applications from all international and UK-based artists are welcome. You will be required to base yourself throughout the Fellowship first at the EKWC and then close enough to Newcastle to allow regular access to Newcastle University. We welcome applications from artists from all backgrounds and with a range of abilities. We are committed to supporting development for artists from groups historically underrepresented in the cultural sector to ensure fairer access to creative opportunities in the arts. We remain committed to the belief that arts and culture have greater vibrancy, innovation, richness and quality when they include stories and perspectives of artists and creative practitioners from all backgrounds.

Fine Art at Newcastle University
Fine Art at Newcastle is ranked as one of the best Fine Art Schools in the UK in all the major published league tables. At the recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) 96% of our research was rated world leading or internationally excellent. We are a community of staff and students who are artists, curators, theorists and art historians. Collectively, our research and practice contribute to a vibrant creative culture and is the foundation for our excellent research-led teaching & studentship. We encourage work that is risk taking, imaginative and that challenges creative orthodoxies. We want our community to make its mark both in the contemporary art world and in wider society.
The Fine Art BA at Newcastle is a four-year studio-based programme that encourages creativity, autonomy, and experimentation. Studio staff teach and conduct research across the visual arts. Students are encouraged to develop their own productive relationship between studio practice and historical, curatorial and contextual studies. A stream of professional practice modules, LifeWorkArt, is woven into the undergraduate programme, enabling students to engage directly with the creative eco-system of the region.
Currently in Fine Art, there are around 240 undergraduate, 16 postgraduate (MFA) students and 25 PhD students and around 30 members of faculty.

Key Accountabilities
To research, develop and produce work that innovates the use of clay in contemporary art
To undertake a work period 29th June – 20th September 2023 at the European Ceramics Work Centre
To contribute to teaching, research, and administration within Newcastle University Fine Art department, School of Arts and Cultures

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
A strong track record of achievements as an artist with an active and exciting creative practice and a portfolio you can share
Proven interest in and commitment to exploring clay as a medium within contemporary art
Commitment to your professional development and to reflecting on your practice with an awareness of contemporary critical issues in and around visual art in its widest forms
Enthusiasm and commitment to contributing to the communities of artists and students at the European Ceramics Work Centre and Fine Art at Newcastle University, including working with students to help develop their creative potential
Desirable
Experience of engaging with national and international discourse, practice and research networks.

Attributes and Behaviour
Ability to work with artists and others in the arts sectors and willingness to be positively challenged on the artwork/s you propose and produce
Empathy and sensitivity to the challenges of working with clay
Capacity to be flexible and adaptable to working in different situations
Demonstrate an ability to work to timelines in a safe and professional manner
Demonstrate a commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and widening participation in the arts/art education
Be available to commit to undertake the Fellowship on a full-time basis between June 2023 and June 2024, basing yourself at the EKWC during the work period (June – September 2023) and subsequently at Newcastle University (September 2023 – June 2024)

Qualifications
Whilst academic qualifications are not an essential requirement for this fellowship, a demonstrable commitment to artistic practice and excellence is required. This can include evidence of previous projects, commissions, exhibitions and/or publications that involve working with clay

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25164