Following the success of the North Notts Journeys Book Bench Trail in 2021, a swarm of 30 bee sculptures will be buzzing into North Notts during spring and summer of 2022.
Can you find all our bees, which are collecting pollen across Worksop, Retford, Harworth and Tuxford? Locate them all using our interactive app, and discover more about how amazing bees are, our environment and how you can ‘bee’ more environmentally aware.
Our swarm of dazzling bees – showcasing artwork from a wide range of talented artists, including many from the North Notts area – are made from recycled, reformed plastic, and each will celebrate positive character traits and good environmental behaviours.
Let’s all ‘bee’ curious, get outside, explore North Notts and learn how to ‘bee’ eco-friendly!
At the end of summer 2022, the sculptures will be displayed one last time at an exciting farewell event and auction, where each will be sold to its highest bidder to raise money for the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity.
The North Notts Nectar Trail is being created by Making Trails and is being brought to you by North Notts Business Improvement District (BID), in partnership with Bassetlaw District Council and the DBH Charitable Fund.
Artist Submission
We are looking for artists, both amateur and professional, to create designs for 30 bee sculptures, which will capture the imagination of thousands of people in North Notts, as part of an outdoor art trail running for over 20 weeks in the spring and summer of 2022.
The project will raise money for the DBH Charitable Fund, helping it to go above and beyond when it comes to patient care. We are happy to receive submissions from artists in all locations, but priority will be given to artists from North Notts or those with links to the area.
Why Bees?
Bees are perfectly adapted for pollination, helping plants to grow, reproduce and yield food. In fact, one-third of our global food supply is from plants pollinated by bees. Our trail aims to teach its visitors about these vitally important insects in a fun and engaging way, as well as educating them on the wider importance of being environmentally aware.
How Will It Work?
Artists: Artists will be invited to submit up to five designs for bees between mid-January and 7th February 2022. They will be presented to the project partners, and 30 designs will be commissioned; each artist may be commissioned for more than one of their submitted designs. Artists who are commissioned will be able to use painting space at Making Trails headquarters (HQ) in Burton Upon Trent town centre, or they can take their sculpture away to paint at their own studio – in which case, they themselves must cover the costs of transporting the sculpture.
The live event: The sculpture trail will go live at the beginning of April 2022, and will run for 22 weeks. The sculptures and app will attract visitors and local residents to the streets, open spaces and public areas of North Notts.
Auction: After the trail has ended, there will be a closing event and a charity auction with each bee sculpture being sold to the highest bidder for it. All the money will go to the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals Charity.
Honorarium: Commissioned artists will each be given an honorarium of £500 per commissioned design upon completion of their design(s).
Timeline
January 2022 – call for artists
6th February 2022 – closing date for submissions
2nd April 2022 – the trail will go live
September 2022 – closing event and charity auction
The Sculpture
The bee and flower sculpture stands approximately 1.7 metres tall and 2 metres wide. They are constructed from a reformed, recycled plastic material that will be supplied primed, ready to paint.
Design and materials
We cannot accept designs that infringe on third-party intellectual property (Disney, The Football Association, etc.).
An artist may submit up to five designs, but each one must be accompanied by a signed standard copyright agreement, as included in this pack.
No corporate logos or advertising for commercial organisations can be included in designs.
Designs must be appropriate for public display for an audience of all ages. Designs that are overtly political or religious will not be approved.
Space for artists to paint their sculptures will ‘bee’ available Making Trails HQ, but they can also take their bee sculpture to their own studio or another location to paint it. If they choose to take their bee sculpture away, they will be responsible for its safekeeping, and if it becomes damaged or is stolen, they may be liable for the cost of replacing it.
We cannot reimburse travel expenses or transportation costs for artists.
Collage and paper-based products attached to the bee sculptures are not likely to withstand the weather conditions they will be subjected to outside, so we recommend the use of painting and mosaics only.
When positioned on the trail, each bee sculpture will be securely fastened to a base, and a plaque will be fixed on this base, giving the names of its sponsor(s) and artist, as well as any further information required.
Artist materials cannot be provided or reimbursed. The use of water-based acrylic paints is recommended, along with at least three topcoats of exterior varnish.
The Making Trails team will keep an eye on all our bee sculptures and manage any running repairs needed.
The North Notts Nectar Trail has the following list of titles for its sculptures; an artist can choose to create a design for up to five of these. The title does not have to be featured on the design, although it can be.
Sculpture Titles
- Bee resourceful
- Bee green
- Bee prudent
- Bee frugal
- Bee economical
- Bee thrifty
- Bee happy
- Bee brave
- Bee positive
- Bee friendly
- Bee innovative
- Bee kind
- Bee creative
- Bee confident
- Bee curious
- Bee visionary
- Bee loyal
- Bee compassionate
- Bee imaginative
- Bee considerate
- Bee fun
- Bee fair
- Bee respectful
- Bee responsible
- Bee forgiving
- Bee optimistic
- Bee reliable
- Bee ambitious
- Bee focused
- Bee thoughtful
Submitting a Design
Please use the templates provided to create a design and save them in PDF or JPG format at high resolution. Then, they should be emailed, along with a completed Artist Submission Form, to tilley@makingtrails.co.uk. Attachments must not exceed a file size of 3MB. For artists submitting more than one design, a separate form is needed for each design.
We encourage our artists to choose a colour for the cement base their sculpture sits on; our team will be painting these upon installation to fit in with the design.
We are not able to return any design submissions.
The closing date and time for submission is 23:59 GMT on 6th February 2022.
