Going Places: Mural Commission for Green Spaces, Shared Places

Green Spaces, Shared Places is part of Going Places, a touring exhibition and engagement programme that places under-represented community voices at the heart of cultural production. The Green Spaces, Shared Places network is one of six UK-wide network partnerships, comprising 20 museums, galleries and heritage sites across the UK.

Our Green Spaces, Shared Places network partners include the National Memorial Arboretum, The Dales Countryside Museum (Yorkshire Dales National Park) and Arlington Court and National Trust Carriage Museum (National Trust) and our focus is working with young people aged 13 – 30 years to co-produce the exhibitions and supporting programmes.

The project explores themes of place, nature, collections, and identity, connecting people to the Museum and their local green spaces in new ways. The young people involved in the project are currently working on defining the scope of the exhibition with a heavy emphasis on the memory of the landscape coming to the forefront.

The Green Spaces, Shared Places team are in the process of developing a co-produced touring exhibition with young people from Sunderland. This will be the first of two touring exhibitions being developed by the Green Spaces, Shared Places network during the programme period from 2025 – 2030 and will launch at the National Memorial Arboretum in May 2026, then tour to each of the network partner venues, being hosted in Sunderland from March – June 2027.

In anticipation of Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens being closed in Spring 2027 for a redevelopment project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Tour will be based at Durham Wildlife Trust’s headquarters Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve and will involve working with young people and communities from the Coalfields area of the city.

Going Places is an Art Fund programme made possible with major support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The Julia Rausing Trust, with additional support from a generous group of trusts, foundations and individuals.

Community & Partnership Engagement

• Build trust and sustained engagement with existing and new participant groups and partners in the Green Spaces, Shared Places project
• Develop creative ideas with participants, linked to project themes and if appropriate, museum collections

Project Management

• Plan, manage and track project delivery to meet outcomes and timelines
• Support the management of project budgets and reporting
• Contribute to feedback mechanisms, case studies and formal evaluation

Documentation & Evaluation

• Document activities with photographs and contribute to internal and external evaluation
• Follow the Going Places evaluation framework and support youth-led evaluation
• Provide regular progress reports and maintain records of outputs

Communications & Promotion

• Work with Sunderland Culture’s marketing team to provide PR, social media and website content
• Capture co-created outcomes for wider sharing

Compliance & Best Practice

• Adhere to Sunderland Culture’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, Safeguarding, and Health & Safety policies
• Conduct risk assessments
• Use the carbon tracking and environmental responsibility toolkit to monitor and reduce impact

Proposed payment schedule

• 50% upon signing
• 25% mid-point
• 25% upon completion

Project delivery timeline

• w/c 30 March – shortlisting
  • Rainton Meadows Young Conservation Rangers will choose the final proposal and the commission will be awarded directly without an interview
• Saturday 25 April – artist to be on site 12 – 4pm
  • opportunity to meet with the Young Rangers while you work
  • also an opportunity to explore Rainton Meadows with the Young Rangers at this session if this is helpful for your design process
• Saturday 30 May – opening event
  • Final design will need to be installed and completed for this event