Freelance Installation Artist & Maker Brief

Open to theatre designers, scenographers, visual and spatial artists, and others working in installation or site-specific practice.

 

Fifth Word are looking for a creative and collaborative socially engaged Installation Artist and maker to lead on the design of the Our Story exhibition – a youth-led creative oral history project celebrating trans and gender diverse lives in Nottinghamshire. As part of this role, you’ll facilitate sessions with young participants to shape the look, feel, and atmosphere of the exhibition, ensuring their ideas and voices are reflected throughout.

 

About Fifth Word

We are an award-winning theatre company based in the East Midlands, founded in 2007. We develop and produce vital new plays that change how people see the world.  We make work with and for younger audiences (age 14-25) and under-served communities: uncovering the stories that need to be told.   Our shows tour across the UK. They are always powerful, bold and accessible. They amplify the stories of those who often go unheard or easily slip through the cracks in society. We collaborate with a range of communities who do not always see the arts as for them: empowering them to tell their own stories through different artistic means. Our community projects connect closely with our productions; everything we do is driven by the desire to foster creative ambition, develop new talent, and platform under-represented voices.

 

About Our Story

In partnership with Nottinghamshire Archives, Our Story is a collaborative heritage project uncovering trans and gender diverse lives in Nottinghamshire through oral histories, photography, and film. In collaboration with Mansfield Museum, My Place Youth Centre, Notts Trans Hub, and Loughborough University, the project will train young LGBTQ+ and their allies aged between 16-19 to capture the oral histories of local trans and gender diverse stories. These interviews will be dramatised into audio stories and released as a podcast, accompanied by a touring pop-up exhibition of portraits anda sound installation. Launching at Nottinghamshire Archives, the exhibition will tour Mansfield Museum and libraries across the county. All stories will be archived for future generations, aiming to amplify trans and gender diverse voices, preserve overlooked histories, and increase representation in museum and archive collections.

 

Why Our Story

At a time when trans-communities are being legislated against and their voices silenced, this project seeks to place a spotlight on trans-stories, past and present, to be heard, seen and felt. Bringing together trans people across generations to redress the injustice of erasure from history, we will creatively collaborate to share and celebrate their rich histories: from community resistance to everyday life and joyful expression, honouring all facets of trans and gender diverse lives across Nottinghamshire.  This is a project shaped by the community it represents. It’s about connection, visibility, and pride.We’re looking for an Installation Artist who can help us bring this spirit into the exhibition design, co-curating with the young people to build a visually striking, vibrant and empowering exhibition that is deeply rooted in community voice.

 

What We’re Looking For

We’re seeking a socially engaged Installation artist and maker with experience in collaborative, community-led practice to co-design and realise the Our Story exhibition.  You’ll lead on developing the visual concept for the sound installation and the overall layout of the touring exhibition utilising the existing exhibition frames to tie the elements together. You’ll also facilitate creative sessions with the young participants aged 16-19 to capture and integrate their ideas into the final design.

You’ll work closely with the Our Story team, creative practitioners and the Graphic Designer (who will design the exhibition panels) to ensure the visual exhibition design complements the portraits, sound installation, and contextual materials.

The final exhibition will include:

● Portraits of oral history contributors (presented in existing portable exhibition frames)

● Quotes and contextual interpretation panels (presented in existing portable exhibition frames)

● A sound installation

● Text, colour, and visual framing that tie the elements together

● The exhibition will be touring so the design should consider its ability to easily travel.

 

Responsibilities

● Facilitate creative design workshops with young people to gather their ideas and aesthetic visions for the exhibition, supporting them to explore and interpret the oral histories interviews content that they have recorded

● Translate workshop outcomes into cohesive design concepts for the exhibition environment.

● Design and realise the visual concept for the sound installation, ensuring it connects cohesively with the exhibition’s overall aesthetic and narrative.

● Collaborate with the Graphic Designer on the visual layouts for exhibition materials, ensuring cohesion between wall panels, text boards, and interpretive graphics.

● Collaborate with the Photographer and Sound Artist to ensure a harmonious integration of visual, audio, and photographic elements.

● Liaise with the Fifth Word team to ensure practical installation needs are met.

● Develop accessible, adaptable exhibition materials suitable for touring venues of varying scales and layouts.

● Participate in feedback sessions and respond to community and partner input during the design process.

● Work collaboratively with the Fifth Word team to ensure the design is delivered within the agreed budget and resources.

 

Skills & Experience

We’re looking for someone who brings creative flair, curiosity, and a genuine commitment to co-creation and care in their practice. In terms of your experience, we would like to see:

● Experience in socially engaged or participatory arts practice.

● Ideally both a designer and maker

● Strong facilitation skills in delivering creative workshops with young people aged 16-19 and wider community participants.

● Experience designing or curating visual exhibitions, installations, or set or spatial design

● Sensitivity to the lived experiences of trans and gender diverse people and the ability to hold inclusive creative spaces.

● Experience in heritage, museum, or archive exhibition design.

● Familiarity with Nottinghamshire’s cultural landscape and communities.

 

Timeline

This project will run between November 2025 – June 2026.

It will include the delivery of up to four x 2 hour workshops with young participants as well as ensuring adult oral history contributors have been consulted and included in the design process.

 

Timeline

The Installation Artist and Maker will work alongside the creative team to design, prepare, build and install the tourable Our Story exhibition. This will include working with

the young participants in Mansfield to capture their ideas and inform the creative direction of the final exhibition.

What	When
Installation Artist confirmed & contracted	10 November
Supporting the kick-off workshop with young people in Mansfield Museum (TBC)	Tuesday 18th November 4pm – 6pm (+ set up time & post workshop evaluation)
Collaborating with Graphic Designer, Sound Designer, Photographer and other Our Story creatives to ensure successful integration of visual, audio, graphic and photographic elements.	March – May 2026

Facilitating up to 2 x 2hour workshops at Myplace youth centre on.                     co-designing the exhibition	March-April 20206 Dates TBC
Exhibition & Sound Installation Build	April – May 2026
Exhibition & Sound Installation Finalised	20 June 2026
Exhibition Installation at Mansfield Museum	Friday 26th June (TBC)
Exhibition opens	27th June 2026 in Mansfield Museum and 4th July in Nottinghamshire Archives
Evaluation/Feedback session	July TBC

 

Fee & Expenses

A total design fee of £1,700 is offered for this role inclusive of design, preparation, installation and evaluation between November 2025 and July 2026.

An additional facilitation fee of £200 per 2 hour workshop (including planning & evaluation) with young people in Mansfield will be offered for up to 3 workshops, totalling £600.

The Artist and Maker will have a materials budget of approximately £1,500.

Reasonable travel expenses within Nottinghamshire will be reimbursed.

This is a freelance role, with flexibility around scheduling to suit both practitioner and project needs.

 

Are you Interested?

Please get in touch by Friday 12th December by emailing Rosalie@fifthword.co.uk with:

Your Name

Contact Information

Website or Professional Profile

Please also share a short statement about your artistic practice, your approach to co-curation and why Our Story project resonates with you.

We particularly welcome expressions of interest from trans and gender-diverse practitioners, as well as those with lived experience related to the communities this project represents.

If you have any access needs or require reasonable adjustments to register your interest, please let us know and we will be happy to support you.