As part of Wandsworth's London Borough of Culture, we are seeking to commission a local artist to artistically interpret the Making Smoking Obsolete report.
Introduction
The Annual Director of Public Health Report is produced each year. Its purpose is to address the health of the local population, highlighting key health issues and public health priorities, showcasing action and at times drawing attention to an issue.
As part of Wandsworth London Borough of Culture, we are seeking to commission a local artist to artistically interpret the Making Smoking Obsolete report to complement the written work. We specifically would like the work to highlight the issues and support a call to action.
About the 2025 annual report
The Annual Director of Public Health Report - Everybody Did It Then, is on making smoking obsolete in Wandsworth through people and partnerships.
Wandsworth has an ambitious aim to become smokefree. This means reducing the number of smokers in the borough to 5% or less of the population. Currently 7.8% of adults living in Wandsworth smoke. The report looks at how this can be achieved through conversation with residents. Why do people in Wandsworth smoke? What are the main challenges people experience when trying to quit and what types of support are found to be most helpful?
The answers to these questions have been grouped into five themes:
- starting smoking
- continuing smoking
- impacts of smoking
- stopping smoking
- smoking cessation services
The report concludes by saying that if this is to be achieved, the borough should ensure stop smoking services remain available and accessible to everyone, raising awareness of the harms associated with smoking cigarettes should be continued, alongside work to prevent young people who never smoked from vaping.
The report can be found here: Annual Report of the Director of Public Health - Wandsworth Borough Council
What we’re looking for
We’re looking for a local artist to design and produce a creative and engaging interpretation of the report, able to generate attention and spark conversations about the contents of the report.
We would like to use the art as an emblem or representative image/s. We welcome a single artwork or a variety of products as one set, that can be used to complement the report and the findings.
The work can be achieved as an independent artwork or set of artwork, through collaborative projects, community engagement as well as interdisciplinary responses.
Deliverables:
The artistic interpretation of the report could be either a single piece of art or a set of artworks of any artform provided it is:
- Transportable
- Accessible and inclusive
- Representative of the cultural diversity of the borough
- Encouraging reflection and dialogue to compassionately highlight to all residents the importance of stopping smoking and the health, social and financial benefits associated with quitting.
- Style: Positive, upbeat, vibrant
Commissioning fee: £1,500
This amount is fully inclusive of all costs including fees to the artist(s), materials, any necessary research, production, realisation, insurance and documentation .
A separate fee of £150 will be paid to shortlisted artists completing the interview process (upon invoicing the Council).
Payment will be processed in 3 instalments: £500 upon contract signature, £500 upon first draft and £500 upon delivery.
How to apply
This is a two-stage competition. Artists and/or creative producers are invited to submit proposals which will be shortlisted by a selection panel. 3 shortlisted artists will be invited to discuss their vision with the commissioning panel prior to final award.
Please send your proposal by the application deadline to Benjamin Humphrey, Wandsworth & Richmond Public Health Lead, on Benjamin.Humphrey@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk, including:
- Short biography and artist's statement (no more than two sides of A4)
- Your vision: detailed description of the concept behind the proposal and how it relates to the brief (no more than one side of A4)
- Description of the proposed artwork and relevant visualisations
- Detailed information on any technical issues relating to the proposal to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposal (including visual material, technical drawings, methodology/installation, maintenance etc
- A link to your portfolio
Feel free to submit your application by email, recording or video (no more than 3 min)
Selection criteria:
Proposals will be assessed by the selection panel using the following criteria:
- Concept and relevance to the brief and commissioning context and objectives
- Quality and originality of artistic ideas
- Process and feasibility of the proposal
- Capacity of the artist(s) or creative producer(s) to develop, manage and deliver the project on time and within budget
Timeline
15 September 2025 – Applications open
2 October 2025 – Q&A session on Teams (see Eventbrite registration link below)
31 October 2025 – Deadline for applications
15 November 2025 – Shortlisting
Late Nov 2025 – 3 shortlisted artists are invited to present their vision to the Director of Public Health
15 December 2025 – Award of the commission
30 January 2026 – First draft delivery
15 February 2026 – Second draft delivery
28 February 2026 – Final Delivery
11 March 2026 – Unveiling for National No Smoking Day
Terms & Conditions
- Late submissions will not be accepted.
- All submission material should be clearly labelled with the artist’s name and project title “Making Smoking Obsolete”.
- All reasonable care will be taken with each submission. Wandsworth Council do not accept any responsibility any loss or damage which may occur
- The Selection Panel, whose decision is final, has the right to clarify any issues which may arise during the course of selection
- Artists or teams may be asked to attend an interview as part of the selection process.
- Wandsworth Council reserves the right not to award commission and, in this instance, reserves the right to pursue other selection processes.
- The successful applicant will be issued a contract. Template contract models with annotated guidance will be provided at the appropriate point in the proposal and selection process. The template contracts can also be requested to view earlier if desired.
- The successful applicant will be required to have necessary, relevant insurance cover.
- Wandsworth Council is subject to the provision of Freedom of Information requests. If you consider that any of the information supplied by you is either commercial sensitive or confidential in nature, this should be highlighted and the reasons specified.
- The ownership and Intellectual property for the proposals will remain with the artists, including to those awarded the commission. Wandsworth Council will not take any ownership of them. The proposals would only be revisited if full agreement had been sought from the artist.
Meet the Funder Q&A
For questions or more information, please attend our Q&A session on 2 October 2025 at 12 noon in the first instance. Please register on Eventbrite here.
Any further questions can be addressed to Benjamin Humphrey, Wandsworth & Richmond Public Health Lead, on Benjamin.Humphrey@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk.
We look forward to receiving your proposals.