Bold and ambitious ideas

Jerwood Open Forest was established by Forestry Commission England and Jerwood Charitable Foundation to examine art in the environment and what it has the potential to be in its broadest definition. The aim of the initiative is to give artists an opportunity to create new work in a forest environment allowing them to test out and develop a new aspect of their practice for the first time, while also testing and expanding the field of art in the environment. It took the form of an open call with an open brief, and we stated that we wanted to encourage bold and ambitious new ideas. For Forestry Commission England this is a flagship initiative in our 'Forest Art Works' programme, which was established in 2012 through a memorandum of understanding between Arts Council England (ACE) and ourselves to help bring great art and culture to everyone across England's Public Forest Estate. We believe that woodlands and forests are vital places for contemporary artists to present new work. Since 1968 we have played host to artworks and initiatives across artforms, including Kielder Art and Architecture, Grizedale Sculpture, Fermynwoods Contemporary Art, Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail, King’s Wood in Kent run by Stour Valley Arts and Sutton Manor in St Helens, the site of The Dream. 

Funding from Jerwood Charitable Foundation was confirmed in January 2013 and Jerwood Open Forest was launched in March 2013, inviting artists within 15 years of starting their practice to make broad, bold-thinking proposals in response to the Public Forest Estate. We received an overwhelming response from across the sector and the country. Targeted at visual artists, we received a depth and breadth of interest from practitioners working across a wide range of disciplines. Having intended to engage a wide range of practitioners this was gratifying − such an open brief is a rare opportunity.

Ecologists, climate change scientists, wildlife and recreation managers have all been actively involved

Shortlisting five artists’ proposals to be further developed through a supported R&D period of six months and an exhibition at Jerwood Space, London, was no easy feat. The critical input of highly experienced and engaged selectors Michaela Crimmin of Culture and Conflict, artist Tania Kovats and Dan Harvey from Ackroyd and Harvey, alongside Shonagh Manson, Director of Jerwood Charitable Foundation, and myself, was vital.

The exhibition in January presented multi-sensory exhibits showcasing new work by the five shortlisted artists: Juan delGado, Adam James, Amanda Loomes, artist duo Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) and Chris Watson collaborating with producer Iain Pate. This aspect of Jerwood Open Forest formed an integral part of the opportunity on offer, providing a chance to test ideas out in the gallery as well as critical exposure for the five shortlisted artists.

With such an overwhelming response to the open call resulting in a strong and diverse shortlist, we were able to secure support for an additional commission through public funding from the National Lottery through ACE’s Grants for the Arts programme, enabling an additional artists’ proposal to be realised. Selected to create their proposed £30,000 commissions, artist duo Semiconductor and Chris Watson collaborating with producer Iain Pate are now working to realise their ambitious proposals. Both will produce works that take their artistic practices into new areas: Semiconductor will create their first sculpture and sited work in the public domain, while Chris Watson and Iain Pate will mount an ambi-sonic sound installation to be experienced by audiences in the landscape for the first time. Both commissions will be launched this autumn.

There are very few opportunities for artists engaged with the environment to make proposals through an open call. As well as financial investment, Jerwood Open Forest provides support for the artists and, crucially, behind-the-scenes access to the knowledge base of a range of specialist professionals. Ecologists, climate change scientists, wildlife and recreation managers have all been actively involved in supporting the development and delivery of these new art works.

Semiconductor, whose work considers scientific data as a means of understanding the environment and explores the relationship between how science represents the physical world and how we experience it, worked with Forest Research climate change scientist Matt Wilkinson to collect a year’s worth of data from the top of a flux tower in Alice Holt Research Forest in Surrey. The real benefit of the partnership means that we are able to provide access to the full range of specialist knowledge, expertise and data to inform and support the realisation of the artists’ proposals in the environment. As Richard Mabey writes in the exhibition catalogue: "Our ancestors came out of the open forest more than a million years ago, and we compulsively return, maybe in search of our origins."

Hayley Skipper is Curator of Arts Development for Forestry Commission England.
www.forestry.gov.uk/forestartworks
Tw: @ForestArtWorks