Without Walls invites artists and companies to request support through the Blueprint R&D programme. This is designed to support the Research and Development costs of new outdoor touring work for final presentation in 2021 or beyond.

Without Walls recognises the importance of Research and Development in the creation of new and ambitious projects. As part of this longer-term planning Without Walls wishes to invest in early or mid-stage research on projects that may come to fruition in 2021 or beyond.

Blueprint support is available to enable artists to undertake development for new shows for presentation in 2021, 2022 or later. Without Walls recognises that ambitious new work takes time to bring to fruition and that artists can benefit from the opportunity to explore new ideas as part of the development process, before committing to a production.

This approach can also assist with fundraising for new work, and can be a useful way of engaging commissioners, supporters and partners.

Without Walls issues Open Calls to artists in order to ensure that all artists have the opportunity to present their ideas to the consortium in an equal and democratic way. Experience has confirmed that this is an important mechanism for finding out about new artists and projects – though usually there are many more projects than it is possible to support.

Proposals to Without Walls are to be made through the online portal at the bottom of this page.

To help, we have provided an offline template of this application form so artists can work on their proposals remotely. Please be aware that you can not save your progress on our online form.

We strongly recommend that you read the relevant eligibility and guidance notes for Blueprint.

Key point about eligibility and guidance

• Without Walls is looking for work from all disciplines and genres, that is innovative and ambitious and challenges the idea of what outdoor arts can be.
• Without Walls supports work that is designed for outdoor touring and artists should be committed to exploring touring opportunities for the works beyond the Without Walls festivals.
• Proposals for work could be adaptable in scale, suitable for daytime and / or evening presentation and may also include promenade or processional based elements.
• Without Walls exists to support the development of new and ambitious work by UK artists; projects can be developed in association with international artists, but the lead partner on the project must be based in the UK.

Areas of special interest

Without Walls has identified several priorities for development including:

• Work led by South Asian artists
• Work led by BAME artists
• Work led by d/Deaf and Disabled artists
• Digital work

Additionally, Without Walls is keen to support artists whose artistic process includes a clear focus on dramaturgy. This could include explaining the approach to structuring the work, producing a visual script, storyboard or similar document, or explaining the process by which dramaturgy will be addressed and by whom.

Without Walls is also keen to encourage artists to work with experienced directors. In cases where the director of the project has limited experience of outdoor work, please explain whether you intend to invite a more experienced outside eye or mentor into the process.

We welcome proposals that align with these areas of special interest, but it is not compulsory that proposals should fall into any of these categories. Please note there is no guarantee of Without Walls being able to support projects even if they do align with one or more of these priorities.

Practicalities and money

Most Blueprint investment will be between £5000 – £10,000.  Please explain what is required to complete the research and be clear about how the investment will be used in the development of artistic goals.

Please explain whether there are other investors in the project but note that this is not crucial at this stage. It is hoped that several of the projects supported through Blueprint will be supported by Without Walls commission funds in the next stage of development and production in 2021, but future commissioning support is not guaranteed.

All artists supported through Blueprint will be asked to report back to the partners at a later point to share the results of their work. At this point artists will be asked to explain the next steps in the development of their project, including an outline of projected costs, so that Without Walls can consider whether it can be supported and presented by the consortium in 2021 or beyond.

Without Walls values the work and time that artists put into these Open Calls. For further information or advice please refer to the Without Walls website or contact Elena Cavallero or Adam Cooper by emailing: proposals@withoutwalls.uk.com or by calling the XTRAX office on 0161 227 8383