FOSTERING CREATIVITY, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & MENTAL WELLBEING THROUGH CURIOSITY

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FOSTERING CREATIVITY, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & MENTAL WELLBEING THROUGH CURIOSITY 〰️

open call

BE PART OF PLAY THE TOWN

What is Play the Town?

An interactive treasure hunt; an array of pop up, playable art installations across Hastings, Bexhill and Ore, launching in April 2025.

There will be numerous interactive installations to spot throughout our community that anyone can experience and ‘play’ with. If users choose to download the ‘Play the Town’ app they can also log their journey through photos, videos or voicenotes to unlock rewards and incentives, linking and promoting local community groups, businesses & organisations.

A Curious Town Plays Festival

The Play the Town interactive treasure hunt will be part of our bigger combined arts festival for 2025, A Curious Town Plays.

Our annual A Curious Town festivals have now been running for two years. Firstly around the theme of DREAMS in 2023 and then GROWS in 2024, expanding each year.

Our festivals celebrate creativity and community in Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill. Our 2024 festival featured over 200 local and guest artists, performers and facilitators, offering workshops, exhibitions, and interactive experiences that sparked curiosity and connection. It is a hub of creativity and collaboration, fostering connections and sparking curiosity among attendees of all ages throughout our community.

We are looking for artists to design and execute an original piece of work on the back of a giant wooden playing card based around the theme of PLAY! The final giant playing cards will be displayed as part of our Play the Town interactive treasure hunt running throughout the entire month of May across Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill.

Our 2025 festival theme is PLAY and we encourage you to interpret play in any way you can think of. Some examples could include:

Playing music ❋ Playing games ❋ Playing with words ❋ Playing sport ❋ Playing with art

We would like you to design a play themed piece that can be translated onto the back of a giant ply wood playing card, the other side will be a card number and card suit. The finished cards will also be displayed with a QR code linking to information about the artist and their design.

We also want to let you know there will be further opportunities to showcase art as part of the Play the Town interative treasure hunt. To be the first to know sign up to our newsletter, contact us or keep watching our social media pages for the next open call.

Open Call

Fees
Timeline
& Location

  • Open call runs from 17.12.24 - 03.02.25

  • Final designs will be chosen by children involved in the festival and successful artists informed by 07.02.25

  • Sucessful artists will need to complete final piece by 07.04.25

  • Successful artists can collect their giant wooden card from us or arrange a specific time to work on the piece at The Compound, West St Leonards

  • Successful artists will receive £250 per one side of a card

⬇︎ ⬇︎ GET YOUR APPLICATION PACK HERE ⬇︎ ⬇︎