Arts in Heritage: Commission for St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church
Story Tellers are delighted to share a new commissioning opportunity in partnership with St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church, Kirton.
St Peter’s and St Pauls presents an exciting commissioning opportunity for artists working in all disciplines to respond to this beautiful architecture, place and the stories they hold.
Commission details
Kirton or Kirton in Holland is a historic market town and civil parish in the Borough of Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The parish church is dedicated to St Peter and St Paul.
The transepts had double aisles like those of Algarkirk and Spalding, but, in 1804, the central tower and transepts were pulled down and the chancel shortened, the architect (Hayward) using gunpowder to remove the tower. This was completed by 1809. In 1900 a restoration of the rebuilt church was undertaken by the architect Hodgson Fowler.
Historically it was referred to as The Cathedral of the Fen (when it had a larger footprint).
This commission invites an artist to explore the stories, people, landscape and ecology connected to St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church and the wider community of Kirton.
We are looking for an imaginative response that brings hidden histories to life, creates new connections between people and place, and considers how these stories might be shared with future generations.
Overview
Location: Kirton, Boston
Commission Budget including artist fee: £5,000 inc VAT
Expression of Interest Deadline: End of Day Friday 23 October
Artist appointed by: Friday 6th November
Commission Timeline: November 2026 – April 2027
Installation/exhibition: 5–9th April 2027
No activity can be undertaken 22 March – 3 April to account for Easter.
The Brief
Story Tellers is an arts and cultural programme bringing people together across East Lindsey, Boston and South Holland to celebrate local heritage and tell the stories of place in new and creative ways.
Through its Arts in Heritage strand, the programme is supporting heritage organisations to develop their commissioning skills and artists to create new work inspired by local histories, communities and places.
The programme is generously funded through Story Teller’s Arts Council England funding.
The commission is open to artists working in any discipline and the process might include:
Workshops
Collaboration
Film
Performance
Events
Site-responsive activity
The final commission should, however, include a physical outcome that can be presented within the church, and we would like children and young people to be involved in the activity at some stage, either through the making or outcome.
Key Prompts
The research and development for the commission has been undertaken through discussions, reflections and workshops with representatives from St Peter’s and St Paul’s Church who will be the lead commissioning partner.
Stories and themes you might want to respond to include:
Ecology
The local landscape and environment, protected species – the church is home to a pair of long eared brown bats.
Storytelling
Folk tale, fact, fiction, histories and tales and incorporating landscape.
Local people and community
The history of Kirton and the people that live there – the church has the only memorial to Dame Sarah Swift, for example.
Cathedral thinking
Definition is long-term projects or goals realised for the sake of/benefit of future generations, or a landscape forged by religion.
But could also mean church and land ownership and use of land and/or non-denominational explorations of the sacred, magic, ritual and hope.
Youth engagement
How do we tell and preserve these stories for future generations?
These themes are intended as prompts rather than prescriptions, and artists are welcome to respond to one or several of them.
Key Requirements
We are looking for an artist that can:
Work collaboratively with the commissioning partner and local communities, particularly children and young people.
Create a physical outcome that can be presented within the church.
Celebrate and raise the profile of the site, its stories and people, engaging new audiences.
Consider environmental sustainability throughout the project.
Contribute to the wider Story Tellers programme through a skills exchange/presentation and help lay foundations for future interpretation or a history trail for young people.
Local connections and resources
The commissioning partner can help broker relationships with local residents, the church community, two local schools and other community organisations.
Artists can also be connected with local historians, Heritage Lincolnshire and specialist knowledge through the wider Story Tellers network where useful.
We have a number of partner organisations that you can approach for access to specialist information and support, i.e. archives/information on plants and species/facilities or access to people and volunteers:
The town hall committee, who run a coffee morning at the local town hall
Local care homes
Special education needs school
Heritage Lincolnshire
A local historian
Other specialist knowledge sourced through the Story Tellers network if needed
Budget
The total commission budget is £5,000 inclusive of artist fees and VAT where applicable.
This must cover:
All artist time
Travel and accommodation
Engagement activity
Materials
Production
Installation/de-installation
Making good
Artists should propose a realistic allocation of the budget appropriate to their approach.
We recognise this is a modest scale budget, and we anticipate artists who are interested will therefore scale their proposals accordingly.
We want this to be a nourishing / rewarding experience and not to overstretch.
Please be creative but be realistic.
A&H, our programme partner, will provide additional planning and production, feedback and evaluation support alongside marketing and documentation, as well as forging key partnerships and relationships where needed and supporting these conversations.
How to Respond to this Brief
Please send us an Expression of Interest of up to 300 words telling us:
A little about your practice and why this opportunity interests you
Which themes, stories or aspects of Kirton you might be interested in exploring
An initial idea or approach to the commission
This is not expected to be a developed proposal.
Please also include:
A summary CV – maximum 2 sides, or weblink
Your Access Document (if relevant) – the kinds of support that would make sure your needs are met on this commission
Up to 4 images (JPG format preferred) or up to 6 minutes of footage demonstrating your practice/previous projects
MP4 format preferred, or clearly indicated Vimeo / YouTube linkPlease don’t embed any other web links
Make sure your files are compatible with PC and Mac and can be easily downloaded or viewed online
Please keep language accessible as your Expression of Interest will be read by a group of people who may not be familiar with contemporary art language.
Selection Process
A small shortlisting team composed of our partners, and Arts&Heritage will look at the Expressions of Interest.
Please note that we will do our best to provide feedback on your EOIs but please bear with us as we may not be able to do so immediately after shortlisting.
Site Visits
These are not necessary to propose an idea, but please do visit the site during service time if helpful:
Thursday: 9:30–11
Friday: 5:30pm–9:00pm
Sunday: 10:30am–1pm
A film of the outside of the church can be found in the Appendix.
Interviews
Shortlisted artists will be interviewed by a small team including representatives from the commissioners, partners and Arts&Heritage.
Please be aware that interviews will be held online, and we will ensure questions are all sent in advance to enable you to prepare.
Timeline
Expression of Interest Deadline: End of Day Friday 23 October
Artist appointed by: Friday 6th November
Commission Timeline: November 2026 – April 2027
Installation/exhibition: 5–9th April 2027
No activity can be undertaken 22 March – 3 April to account for Easter
What to do next
Please send your Expression of Interest and supporting materials to:
by the deadline: Friday 23 October
Access
If you have any Access Requirements, then please let us know and we will support you where needed through the process.
Help & Advice
We appreciate that timelines are compressed and Stephanie Allen will be on hand to give help and advice at any stage required.
Please request a chat via info@artsandheritage.org.uk if it would be useful.