VACANCY: Project Co-ordinator

We are currently recruiting for a Project Co-ordinator!

Short term contract: 12 weeks (August 2010 – mid October 2010)

Fixed fee: £2800 (estimate 28 days FTE)

Overview

A visual artist with an interest in the history of Tower Hamlets and skills in community engagement is sought to co-ordinate and deliver a 12 week project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the Story of London 2010. The project is a partnership between Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives and Bow Arts Trust and aims to inspire local volunteers to create a collaborative artwork for the Story of London festival in response to a summer-long programme of research, visits and discussions about the history of social housing in the East End.

Purpose of the role

The post holder will recruit and manage a team of approx. 15 residents of Tower Hamlets and will be supported by a project board comprising members of the Local History Library & Archive and Bow Arts Trust staff.

You will lead the volunteers in researching, investigating and discussing the development of the estates and buildings, in particular those with historical and architectural significance, and consider their impact on residents' lives. You will facilitate visits, meetings and oral history interviews for the volunteers and provide a forum for structured discussion and debate about their lives on these estates, and with them undertake research using the council's extensive and rich archive collections to trace the history of social housing developments in the borough. You will then pull together, with the volunteers, images and testimony generated from their research and interviews, and produce a publication to be disseminated to the public during the Story of London Festival which runs from 1-10 October 2010.

You will finally lead the volunteers in a creative collaboration in response to the heritage, using their learnings to develop a new artwork to be installed and exhibited in situ on one of the estates during the Story of London festival. Depending on the artist’s specialism and the volunteers' interests, this could take a variety of forms (eg a performance, film, painting or photography).

You will also facilitate the volunteers in developing walking tours of the featured estates to take place during the festival, and programming a launch event.

Throughout the project term you will be responsible for keeping accurate records about the project, including receipts for expenditure and volunteers’ expenses.

Duties

• Recruiting and managing 15 volunteers from housing estates in Tower Hamlets
• Taking responsibility for the successful delivery of three project outputs: production of a publication, a collaborative artwork and walking tours
• Arranging reminiscence / oral history sessions with the volunteers and other residents, recording them to an acceptable audio quality standard and providing copies to the Archives
• Contributing to programming and delivery of launch event
• Convening weekly volunteers’ meetings, visits and discussions
• Keeping records of expenditure, including volunteers’ expenses
• Reporting to the project board at meetings every 2-3 weeks
• Evaluating the project’s success and producing final report
  

Please note, project activity is concentrated across the 12 week term and the postholder will be required to be available to work on the project consistently between the beginning of August and mid-October.

Person specification

• A fine art graduate, or equivalent experience
• Experience of community engagement
• Experience of managing volunteers
• Experience of collaborative working
• Experience of producing publications and events
• Strong interest in the history of the East End
• Excellent record-keeping
• Upholds principles of equal opportunities at all times

Fee and payment

A fixed fee of £2800 exclusive of VAT is available. Payment will be made in four instalments.

Recruitment and selection

Please submit a CV and covering letter via email to Anna Sexton (asexton@bowarts.com) by 12 noon Friday 30th July 2010. You must be available for interview on Tuesday 3rd August. The post is subject to CRB and ISA vetting.

The covering letter should outline your interest in, experience and suitability for the post, and your proposed methodology for recruiting the volunteers and producing the project outputs in no more than two pages. Please include two references stating if we can contact them pre- or post-interview. For further information please read the posts below.