St Ives Bay Line art competition

Call for artists

The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership and Great Western Railway are delighted to offer an opportunity for artists to get involved with a public art commission along the St Ives Bay Line.

The challenge is to design ‘direction of travel’ signs at Carbis Bay and Lelant stations which reflect the landscape, wildlife, history or community value of the line. A prize of £500 per artwork is up for grabs.

To give you a flavour, here is an example of a direction of travel sign created recently on the Tarka Line:

Tarka Line sign showing otters in landscape with text - Direction of Travel: Barnstaple (left arrow), Exeter (right arrow)

The St Ives Bay Line competition is open to artists of all levels – so whether you’re a professional, a hobbyist or somewhere in between why not take part?

Full details & how to apply

Client: The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership in association with Great Western Railway
Contact: Rebecca Catterall

Brief:

  • Open to artists of all levels
  • Create large-scale public artwork piece to function as a direction of travel sign at two stations on the St Ives railway line. One on the platform at Carbis Bay, the other at Lelant. A different design is sought for each station.
  • In the case of each sign, the imagery/artwork should reflect the landscape, wildlife, history or what the line means to the community, not the railway or trains.
  • Submissions in all art mediums are welcome.
  • The signs will be large billboard size; 1.5m wide x 0.75m high in the case of Carbis Bay and 1m squared for Lelant.
  • Should the image be accompanied by a slogan? The design/artwork is entirely up to you but must be relevant, aesthetically pleasing and non-controversial and should also include directional signs (e.g a St Erth arrow at one end, and a St Ives arrow at the other).
  • Consider how the board will be viewed by passengers waiting for their train on the platform and those passing through the stations on board trains.
  • The commission is worth £500 per artwork.
  • Once in place, we anticipate the signs will be in situ for a minimum of five years

Stage 1

Artists should email artcomp@dcrp.org.uk by 8th February 2021 with:

  • a sketch of your ideas
  • a brief description of the concept
  • examples of previous work (either as links or attachments)
  • a contact telephone number (purely so we can inform the winners – all personal data will be destroyed after the competition)

It will be acceptable to submit a proposal for just one of the two stations.

A panel of judges will choose their two favourite concepts to be worked up into final pieces.

Stage 2

The two artists chosen will be notified by 15th February 2021 and asked to create their final artwork.  Each will be paid £250 initially to help with costs, with the final £250 paid on completion. Final artwork should be completed by 31st March 2021.

There will be an official opening and launch of the artwork signs in the spring (dates are dependent on the ongoing pandemic) to which contributing artists, dignitaries and the press will be invited.

Contact

For further information, please contact Rebecca Catterall at the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership: rebecca.catterall@plymouth.ac.uk

Notes

Client and Stakeholders: The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is a non-profit Partnership between local authorities, the rail industry and the University of Plymouth, where it is based.

The Partnership works closely with local communities and stakeholder organisations to promote the branch lines, support economic growth and help to deliver improvements to rail services and stations through partnership working.

This project has been part-funded by the Community Rail Development Fund, which is backed by the Department for Transport and the Community Rail Network.

Latest travel advice (12th April 2021)

Face coverings must be worn on public transport and in stations unless you are exempt. If you can, please buy your ticket online on the GWR app or website. Please also remember to wash your hands and use social distancing. Read more on GWR’s Covid advice page.