The Stranraer Oyster Festival, working with Creative Stranraer, would like to commission an artist(s) to create an iconic temporary sculpture that conveys the spirit of the festival and the community of Stranraer in a dynamic and contemporary way.
Over the past 9 years the Stranraer Oyster Festival has grown rapidly to become one of the signature events of SW Scotland. Taking place annually, it attracts more than 20,000 people to a mix of culinary, musical and community events over a weekend in September. Loch Ryan, in Stranraer, is home to the only native oyster bed remining in the UK.
The Oyster Festival is based around the harbour but is growing to fill other spaces around the town, now the organising team would like to cement the link between the festival and the town with a piece of contemporary art that captures the imagination of locals and visitors and becomes a physical part of the identity of both town and festival.
In keeping with the temporary spirit of festival, the idea for this project is to first create a temporary sculpture which is capable of being moved between locations in the town in the lead-up to and during the festival – perhaps even taking a journey on a boat into the harbour?
The vision for this project in the long-term is that the temporary sculpture suggests a site and an appetite for a version of the sculpture to become a permanent fixture in the town and additional funds are raised to make this a reality in the future. There is a personal connection between the Stranraer Oyster Festival and the Carnival in Viareggio in Italy, we hope to bring something of the vibrancy and economic prosperity of Viareggio to Stranraer and see this commission as part of that aim.

Fee and Conditions

A total fee of £7500 is offered to the successful artist(s) – this amount is inclusive of all fees, materials, fabrication, VAT etc to deliver a temporary sculpture for the Oyster Festival with the themes of ‘wild’, ‘native’, ‘oyster-bed’ and ‘Stranraer’. Artists should also consider factors such as lighting, fixing, mobility within their designs.

Artist Selection
A shortlist of artist/artist teams will be selected from initial submissions for interview. One artist/team will then be selected to undertake the commission, the first stage of which will be to develop a vision for the temporary sculpture, and to fabricate this following assign-off on the idea from the client.

Application Process
Interested artists are encouraged to discuss the project with the commissioning team (see contact below) and thereafter submit as follows:

• Submit your application by 30/01/2026 and send to Allan Jenkins –events@stranraerdevelopmenttrust.co.uk
• A CV outlining your skills and experience
• A letter outlining your interest, relevant experience and approach to the role.
• Up to 5 examples of past work to support your application.
• Send nothing that is bigger than 10MB
• Interview dates are TBC and will be advised after a panel review of applicants

We are open to communication from you in whatever form is comfortable and natural to you. If you have any questions about this, or anything else please do not hesitate to get in touch.
It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value differences, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too. Wherever you’re from, and whatever your background, we want to hear from you.

Access Requirements
If you have any access requirements at any stage of the selection process, please contact – Allan Jenkins – events@stranraerdevelopmenttrust.co.uk

Project kindly supported by D&G Coastal Benefit Fund