CALLING ALL ARTISTS! Help us make a splash across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in 2025
JOIN US FOR A MER-MAZING ART TRAIL ADVENTURE
There’s going to be a wave of excitement across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) next spring, when more than 40 uniquely decorated giant mermaid tail sculptures bring a splash of colour to our beautiful area, helping to raise awareness and vital funds for your local children’s hospice charity, Julia’s House.
The Great Tail Trail will create a family-friendly public art spectacle that’s completely free to take part in. As well as encouraging residents to re-discover the towns they love, the trail will also attract thousands of visitors, providing a welcome boost for local businesses.
At the end of the trail, which runs from 5 April to 1 June 2025, the giant, one-of-a-kind sculptures will be auctioned to raise money for the care and support Julia’s House provides to seriously ill children and their families in Dorset.
BUT WE NEED YOU TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!
We’re looking for artists, designers and illustrators from the local community and beyond, to create inspiring and engaging artwork that will transform our mermaid tail sculptures from blank canvasses to fun, creative pieces of art.
Each of the 1.75m high mermaid tails will be adopted by different artists, who will hand-paint their own eye-catching and innovative designs on the sculpture. The very first painted mermaid tail, decorated by artist Stuart Semple, was revealed in March 2024.
Schools and community groups will also be invited to get involved in the project and create designs for their own Tiny Tail sculpture, which will form part of the main family-friendly art trail.
By the community, for the community
The Great Tail Trail is brought to BCP by Julia’s House and Wild in Art, the leading producer of spectacular public art events. The trail will bring together local businesses, organisations, groups, schools, artists, visitors and the whole community in a celebration of all that’s great about BCP.
Why mermaid tails?
We’ve chosen mermaid tails as they reflect the very special Mermaid Suite at our Dorset hospice in Corfe Mullen, where families can spend time when their child is at the end of their life. In the Mermaid Suite we provide round the clock clinical care, a listening ear and emotional support for parents and dedicated time for brothers and sisters, so that families can make their most of their final days together.
The mermaid tails are unmistakable and individual, just like our care – especially tail-ored to the needs of each child and their family.
ART TRAIL TIMELINE
1 May 2024
Application for design submissions open
16 December 2024
Deadline for sculptures to be completed
1 July 2024
Deadline for design submissions from artists August 2024
Artists who have been shortlisted are contacted
Decorating sculptures begin September 2024
Art selection event, where sponsors choose their artist’s design
21 October 2024
5 April to 1 June 2025 Trail is
14 & 15 June 2025
19 June 2025
Farewell weekend
Auction
LIVE
ABOUT JULIA’S HOUSE
As your local children’s hospice charity in Dorset, Julia’s House cares for the most seriously ill children in the community, many of whom need 24-hour care for their complex and often rare medical conditions.
We rely on public support and donations to provide this critical care – without that support we simply couldn’t exist. While we are known and supported, our costs are increasing along with the demand for our service, so each year we need to raise more money to ensure we can be there for every family that needs us. We receive just eight per cent Government funding.
The Great Tail Trail will help us raise vital funds and reach people and businesses who don’t know about the lifeline of care we provide in the local community.
ABOUT WILD IN ART
Wild in Art is the leading producer of spectacular public art events. Wild in Art trails can be found across the UK and worldwide, bringing communities together and leaving a lasting legacy. Julia’s House and Wild in Art have collaborated on art trails previously, in 2011 with the Pride in Bournemouth lion trail and in Swindon last year with The Big Dog Art Trail, both of which raised awareness and funds for the children’s hospice charity.
THE MERMAID TAIL IS YOUR CANVAS
Designs are welcome in any medium, from traditional to new media, fine art, graffiti, illustration or mosaic. Whatever your artistic style and approach, whether you’re a household name or an undiscovered newcomer, we welcome your ideas to add fun, creativity and innovation to BCP’s first mermaid tail art trail.
You might take inspiration from the work of Julia’s House, or you may choose to reflect the area’s rich and diverse history and culture. Or you might create your design based on something else entirely. The vision is yours!
You’ll need to be free to paint your design on a mermaid tail sculpture between 21 October and 16 December 2024.
“The work that Julia’s House does is really, really important. It helps so many families, and to be able to contribute my art to something like The Great Tail Trail means the world to me.”
Stuart Semple, artist, who designed the first mermaid tail for The Great Tail Trail
ARTIST BENEFITS
As
a Great Tail Trail artist, you’ll:
Receive £1,000 (+ £200 for expenses – including being provided with the varnish worth over £70) on completion of your sculpture.
Showcase your work to a wide audience as part of this mass participation public art event.
Be part of a unique event, celebrating the area, community pride and well-being.
Meet other artists and get the chance to work side-by-side in a communal art space.
Help to raise funds for Julia’s House children’s hospice, supporting the charity’s lifeline of care for the most seriously ill children and their families in Dorset.
SUBMIT YOUR MER-MAZING DESIGN!
You’ll need to complete an Artist Submission Form to submit your design which can be accessed from juliashouse.org/MyDesign
We recommend writing your submission in Microsoft Word, and copying and pasting into the online form, as it is not possible to save draft versions of the form.
You may submit up to two designs.
We will require you to sign our standard artist terms and conditions for each design.
Design submissions must be completed by midnight on 1 July 2024.
To explore the world of Wild in Art and discover the sculptures created for other trails visit wildinart.co.uk
If you have any questions, please email teamtails@juliashouse.org
Designs must be in high resolution and in PDF, JPG or PNG format.
Attachments must not exceed a file size of 5MB.
Julia’s House cannot return any materials submitted.
PLANNING YOUR DESIGN
Your design(s) must be appropriate for public display; the audience will be wide-ranging and of all ages.
Designs that are overtly religious, political or sexual in nature will not be accepted. Additionally, neither advertising nor corporate logos are allowed. We cannot accept designs which infringe on third party intellectual property i.e. recognisable brands, logos, personalities, franchises and characters, etc.
Artists may alter the basic sculpture shape, but if doing so must ensure that the finished work remains structurally intact.
Remember that the public will touch and interact with your sculpture! Therefore, any attachments must be robust and able to withstand this handling (including, potentially, the weight of an adult), not be likely to cause an injury, and must be durable in an outdoor environment.
It is recommended that only artists experienced in working in fibreglass submit designs that use this process.
When placed on the streets, each sculpture is bolted to a plinth made of recycled plastic using fixings. Artists must keep the base area of the sculpture clear of any attachments.
PLANNING YOUR DESIGN
Subject to availability, a painting space can be provided for you to create your mermaid tail. Should you wish to paint it in your own studio, delivery can be arranged within BCP and the surrounding areas at the discretion of Julia’s House. Delivery outside of the area may incur a capped fee. Please be aware of the size of the sculpture when considering this option (height 1.75m, depth 1.12m, width 1.72m).
While we welcome all art forms, experience has taught us that collage and/or sticking paper or paper-based products onto the sculpture does not prove as effective as painting or mosaics. Please consider this before submitting your design and be aware that most of the sculptures will be positioned outside for eight weeks exposed to the British weather.
Artist materials are not provided. The use of water-based acrylic or emulsion paint is recommended, although artificial resin paint or two component paint can also be used to paint or spray a design. To complete your sculpture, it must be finished with a waterproof, non-yellowing varnish which will be provided.
Artists will not be responsible for placing their sculptures on the streets or collecting them once the trail has closed. We do ask artists to be available, if possible, during and after the event for any touch-up work that may be required. If a sculpture is damaged on the trail, the original artist may be given first refusal of any necessary repair work for an additional fee.
DESIGN TEMPLATE
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
In these Terms and Conditions:
• “You” means the person or business making the submission.
• “We” means The Great Tail Trail, Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art.
• Julia’s House (charity number 1067125) registered office is at Ground Floor Allenview House, Hanham Road, Wimborne, England, BH21 1AS.
• “Event” and “project” mean “The Great Tail Trail”, a public art trail of giant mermaid tail sculptures culminating in an Auction of the giant mermaid tail sculptures, and all related advertising, promotion and merchandising.
• “Event Sponsor” means an organisation sponsoring a giant mermaid tail sculpture.
• “Wild in Art” means Wild in Art Limited, a consultant and curator of art trail events.
Eligibility
1. The project is open to all artists, whether amateur or professional artists.
2. You must be aged 18 or over and living in the UK.
3. By submitting one or more designs you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Design submission
4. To enter, the work must be received by the closing date of 11.59pm on Monday, 1 July 2024. All entries must be accompanied by a completed Artist Submission Form.
5. You may submit up to two applications in total. You must submit each design with a separate Artist Submission Form.
6. You may upload a maximum of one file per submission. The file size limit for each Artist Submission Form is 5MB. The file types allowed are PDF, JPG and / or PNG.
7. All terms and conditions in your application form a part of the agreement between you, Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art in connection with The Great Tail Trail. By submitting your work, you are agreeing to be bound by all terms and conditions in the application form.
8. By entering your work for consideration to be selected for use in the event, and for eligibility for payment of the honorarium, you warrant that you have all required rights and consents to submit the work and allow Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art to use the work in connection with The Great Tail Trail. You also agree to grant an irrevocable royalty-free licence to Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art to use the completed work for the purposes described elsewhere connected with the event.
9. You must be the sole author and owner of all intellectual property rights of the work entered, or if the work is not your own in full, you must have sole permission in writing from the copyright owner/s to use their work. Source material or proof of permission for use of another person’s work must be made available on request by the selection panel. Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art do not accept liability in the publication of any reproduced art.
10. The design must represent a piece of work that you have the ability to reproduce on a 3D sculpture.
11. Any additions or modifications to the giant mermaid tail sculpture must be sufficiently strong to maintain structural integrity of the sculpture, must be attached securely and must not cause injury.
12. Work that arrives later than the deadline will not be submitted to the selection panel.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Design submission
13. By completing the Artist Submission Form and submitting your giant mermaid tail sculpture design(s), you consent that all data provided by you may be used by The Great Tail Trail, Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art for marketing, communications and evaluation purposes unless you opt out in writing.
14. We do not, and never will, sell or pass on any of your details to another organisation for them to use for their own purposes.
15. We reserve the right, however, to use your data with third party organisations to help deliver services on our behalf, for example distributing our email newsletters or feedback questionnaires, or managing participant lists for our events.
16. At all times, we will ensure that we look after your details responsibly and that any organisations using your information on our behalf do the same. For more information, please see juliashouse.org/privacypolicy and wildinart.co.uk/privacy-policy
17. You consent to the use of your work, name, agreed biographical details and photograph in any promotional material carried out by Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art without any further compensation.
Commissioning of designs
18. Your work will be reviewed and subject to approval by Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art prior to being shown to the Event Sponsors.
19. Work will be commissioned following confirmation of selection(s) by the event sponsors. This decision on all matters relating to the work selected to be used is final. No further correspondence will be entered into.
20. Upon commissioning, Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art will enter a separate contract with you to include an agreed schedule and the terms and conditions of engagement.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Production
21. For each of your designs which are commissioned, Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art will provide you with one undecorated giant mermaid tail sculpture at no charge to you, to recreate your designs on the giant mermaid tail sculpture. No other use of the giant mermaid tail sculpture is permitted.
22. Cost of materials is your responsibility except for varnish, which will be provided.
23. If you are unable to paint the giant mermaid sculpture in the painting space and will be painting it in your studio or another space, please note the following delivery and transport charges:
Delivery and collection fee for artists based INSIDE BH POSTCODE (EXCLUDING BH20 and BH19) - £20
Delivery and collection fee for artists based INSIDE BH20 and BH19 POSTCODE - £30
Delivery and collection fee for artists based OUTSIDE BH POSTCODE - £95
Delivery arrangements will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
24. You will provide a list of artist materials — for example, paint brand and colours — used in the application.
25. Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art reserve the right to withhold any fee payable to you in connection with the event if in their sole opinion the quality of the finished work falls below that which can be reasonably expected for public display and/or is substantially different from the design submitted. This decision will be final and not be subject to any appeal.
26. The giant mermaid tail sculptures remain at all times the property of Julia’s House charity and must be returned in good order, suitable for public display.
27. If the giant mermaid tail sculpture is returned unfinished by you or deemed irreparable due to damage while in your possession, you shall be charged the full replacement cost of the sculpture.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Payment, copyright and licensing
28. Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art will award commissioned artists an honorarium of £1,000 + VAT (if applicable) against an invoice. This will be paid on completion of the finished artwork, subject to sign-off, and all relevant paperwork. Payment will made within 28 working days of receipt of invoice.
29. Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the design belong to and remain with the artist. However, subject to Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art paying all amounts due to the artist under any final commissioning contract, the artist grants to Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art an irrevocable royalty-free licence to use the completed artwork for purposes in connection with the event.
30. Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art may from time to time produce facsimiles of the completed giant mermaid tail in both 2D and 3D form, excluding figurines. For the avoidance of doubt, any agreement reached in connection with any facsimile of your design should include any consideration to be paid to you by Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art and require transfer of rights to Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art.
31. Subject at all times to your agreement, Julia’s House charity and Wild in Art may produce a figurine of the completed sculpture as part of the event merchandise. If your design is selected to be a figurine, this will be subject to a separate figurine contract and include a royalty fee.
Auction
32. Following the event, the giant mermaid tail sculptures will be auctioned to raise money for Julia’s House at an Auction event run by Julia’s House charity.
Registered Charity No. 1067125
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