Commissions are being sought for an artist to create four new framed portraits which will depict four individuals with African heritage from Lancaster's past.
The portraits will be displayed inside the Judges' Lodgings, alongside historic paintings of individuals who have connections with the slave trade and slavery. They will address the lack of representation of the stories of Black people in Lancaster and in the collections and displays at Judges' Lodgings.
They will also enable the museum and community to acknowledge Lancaster's role as a major slave trading port.
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The closing date for expressions of interest is 8th April, with a view to the winning commission working between May 2022 and March next year.
The chosen artist will create four new portraits of enslaved Africans for the collection and long-term display at Judges' Lodgings Museum from 2023.
Lancashire County Council Museum Service, working collaboratively with its partners, is seeking to appoint an artist to work on the Facing the Past project in Lancaster. The chosen artist will create four new portraits of enslaved Africans for the collection and long-term display at Judges' Lodgings Museum from 2023.
For more details and how to apply click this link
Background to Facing the Past and the Commission
In 2020 graffiti with the words SLAVE TRADER appeared on a prominent memorial to the Rawlinson family in the graveyard of Lancaster Priory. This prompted the formation of an action group bringing together multiple agencies and people in the city to address the complex issues that this raised.
The Facing the Past Project emerged from this with multiple strands of work to address and acknowledge Lancaster's role in the slave trade and slavery and also the lack of public information and representation of the stories of Black people in the public realm.
One of the areas of work included the Lancaster Slavery Family Trees research project by Lancaster Black History Group which uncovered the histories of individuals and families connected to slavery. Some of these individuals had portraits in Lancaster's museums by celebrated artists such as George Romney. Judges' Lodgings also housed a significant collection of furniture by Gillows and Co and many of the woods used were cut down by enslaved Africans in the Americas. The Gillows Company and its owners also had a share in a slave ship in the 1750s that took Africans into slavery across the Atlantic and many of their customers were involved in the slave trade and its associated industries.
As part of Facing the Past, Lancashire County Museum Service are now working to acknowledge this history through new displays, interpretation and education programmes.
For this commission, Judges' Lodgings is working with Lancaster Black History Group, Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) to appoint an artist to create the four portraits.
The artist will be chosen by a panel made of representatives from the steering group and the Lancaster's community. The Project lead and main contact will be Judges' Lodgings Museum.
The commission is grant funded by a Reimagine Grant from the Art Fund and the Association of Independent Museums New Audiences New Stories Project and will be administered by Lancashire County Council.
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