A Moth for Amy –Background
A Moth for Amy is all about giving Amy Johnson, Hull’s aviation heroine, the recognition
she deserves. A Moth for Amy will be a major part of the Amy Johnson Festival, designed
to bring her remarkable life to the attention of people across the city, the region, the
country and the world! Our festival of the arts and engineering will celebrate this wonderful
woman and her amazing achievements.
A Moth for Amy will see dozens of beautifully decorated moths alighting on walls and
plinths across Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, key locations across England – and along
Amy’s flight-path to Australia! These beautiful sculptures will bring curious glances and
happy smiles to visitors and residents alike.
Businesses, community groups, education establishments and individuals are being
invited to sponsor a blank moth sculpture.
Artists, both well-known and undiscovered, are invited to submit their moth designs. They
will be presented to sponsors, who will make their selection, and artists will then be
commissioned to realize their creations.
The fibreglass moth sculptures, created from a master design by local sculptor, Saffron
Waghorn, and developed in Hull by Ideal Standard, have a wingspan of almost 1.5m.
The Moths will be revealed in their new habitats on Friday 1 July 2016, Amy Johnson’s
birthday, and stay in place for several months.
The event will conclude with a grand auction of the Moths. The proceeds of the auction will
support local arts projects and Hull and East Yorkshire charities through our partnership
with HEY Smile Foundation..
Amy Johnson Festival
2016 is the 75th anniversary of the death of Amy Johnson, Hull's flying heroine.
Born in Hull in 1903, Amy Johnson CBE was one of the most influential and inspirational
women of the twentieth century. She was the first woman to fly solo from England to
Australia and set a string of other records throughout her career.
During the 1920s and 1930s aviation was dominated by
the rich and famous and most female pilots were titled
women such as Lady Heath, the Duchess of Bedford
and Lady Bailey. But Amy was the first woman to gain a
ground engineer's "C" licence and, whilst working as a
secretary, she took flying lessons. In 1929 she was
awarded her pilot’s licence and just a year later set off
solo for Australia!
Amy Johnson Festival will mark this anniversary and celebrate Amy’s life, achievements
and legacy with an ambitious international programme of the arts and engineering
sciences appealing to all interests and ages.
A Moth for Amy –Artist’s Brief
We are delighted to invite artists to create designs for ‘A Moth for Amy’. We are seeking
designs which are vibrant, colourful and inspired by one (or more!) of the following festival
themes:
The life and flying achievements of Amy Johnson
Women’s equality and liberation
Women in engineering and science
The freedom of the skies – the growth and impact of aviation
The culture of the 1930s
The cultures of the countries along her flightpath – then and now
The cultures along her flight path are a rich source of inspiration and your design could
reflect on culture and society in the countries and continents at the time of Amy’s flight in
1930, or on the cultural, social or political situation today.
We invite you to be creative in your approach and, as well as traditional painted designs,
we are open to proposals that include lighting, digital and interactive enhancement.
Amy’s Flightpath:
Vienna (Aspern) è Austria è
Constantinople (San Stefano), Turkey è
Aleppo, Syria è Baghdad, Iraq è Bandar Abbas, Iran è Karachi, Pakistan è
Jhansi, India è Allahabad, India è Rangoon (Insein), Burma è Bangkok è
Singora, Thailand è Singapore è Tjomal, Java è Surabaya, Java è
Atambua, West Timor è Darwin, Australia
Submitting Your Design
Deadline for Submissions – Monday 25 January
Please complete a submission form for each design submitted, along with your design
using the template provided.
Submissions can be made electronically, with designs being submitted as rgb-jpeg file in
landscape format to [email protected]
Alternatively post your submission form along with your original design to:
Amy Johnson Festival Ltd, Danish Buildings, 44-46 High Street, Hull, HU1 1PS.
Things you need to know
An artist’s fee of £1000 is payable for each Moth commissioned and selected for
sponsorship. This is inclusive of all artist fees, travel and materials for the design
and the later execution of the design. The fee will not be paid if the design is not
selected for sponsorship.
Your design should be appropriate for public display and for an audience of all ages
and backgrounds.
Moth designs should not include trademarks or logos and should not be likely to
cause offence.
Experience has shown that collage is not a suitable medium.
Anything attached to the sculpture must be constructed robustly to ensure it stays
secure. For example, the moth does not come with proboscis or antennae so these
could be added!
The Moths will be mounted in variety of locations, with the majority being wall
mounted. As some could be quite high, please bear this in mind when considering
the complexity of your design.
You are encouraged to be creative with your approach and alterations to the
physical sculpture may be part of this. We recommend that only artists experienced
in working with fibreglass undertake this approach as the sculpture needs to retain
its structural integrity.
We encourage a creative and innovative response. However, please consider that
the Moths must be hard wearing and weatherproof.
We are open to proposals which incorporate neon, led or other lighting sources as
well as proposals for digital interactivity.
We will provide a workspace in Hull for you to create your moth (free of charge, but
subject to additional terms and conditions). If you wish to work on it at your own
studio, you will need to arrange the collection and return of the moth.
You will need to sign a standard copyright agreement, included with the submission
form, for each design submitted.
Please note that each sculpture will be bolted to a wall mounting or plinth using
fixings attached to the underside of the moth, so bear this in mind when considering
your design.
We recommend using acrylic paints. Artificial resin paint can also be used to paint
or spray a design. We will provide a waterproof non-yellowing varnish to finish the
design and you will be required to varnish your moth.
Timetable
Deadline for Submission of Designs
Moth Gallery open for sponsor selection
Artist to paint their sculptures
Moth Trail
Contacts
Clare Huby, A Moth for Amy Project Manager
Rick Welton, Festival Director
Amy Johnson Festival Ltd.
Unit 8, Danish Buildings
44-46 High Street
Hull HU1 1PS
Telephone 01482 224334
Email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Facebook: Amy Johnson Festival 2016
Website: www.amyjohnsonfestival.co.uk
Twitter: @amothforamy
A Moth for Amy delivery partners
25 January 2016
2 February 2016
March to April 2016
1 July 2016 onwards