CreateSpace Public Art Residency

 

 

Photo: Little Station gallery / workspace

Artist Call: 2024 CreateSpace Public Art Residency

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Key program dates:

Application Deadline: February 29, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST

Selected Artist Announced: March 2024

Residency Programming:
March – December 2024

Facilitated Sessions:
March – November 2024

Public Artwork Production & Installation Period:
June – October 2024

Documentation & Audience Development:
June – November 2024

Program Reflection & Wrap: December 2024

How to apply:

To apply, please click here to fill out the application form by Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.

PLEASE NOTE: Applicants cannot save the form and return to complete it at a later time. We strongly recommend downloading the following form and saving your answers on a separate document prior to filling out the online form. We encourage all applicants to visit the STEPS website prior to preparing this application to have a better understanding of the organization that will be facilitating this residency. 

We encourage applications from all qualified candidates that represent the full diversity of communities in Canada, including complexities of intersecting identities such as ability, class, gender, race and sexual orientation. We are particularly interested in receiving applications from equity-deserving communities, such as those who identify as two-spirit, trans, Indigiqueer, Afro-Indigenous, as well as individuals living with a disability. 

Applicants who are Deaf, have a disability, or who need support applying for this opportunity are encouraged to contact Belinda Uwase at belinda@stepspublicart.org or call 1-888-783-7780 ext. 2 at least two weeks before the application deadline to allow STEPS to appropriately accommodate your needs and to discuss alternate formats for submitting your application.

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Financial Support:

$7,500 CAD (inclusive of a $2500 participation honourarium and materials)
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Location:

Virtual, and
Port Hope, Ontario 

Not a live-in residency.
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Accessibility: The Little Station gallery and artist studio is a partially-accessible facility.

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For more info, contact:
Debbie Beattie (she/her)
Program Director
Critical Mass Art
Port Hope, ON
905-269-2120
debbie@criticalmassart.com

STEPS Public Art and Critical Mass – Call for Artists: 2024 CreateSpace Public Art Residency

Are you, or an artist you know, interested in gaining experience, building networks and professional skills needed to launch or expand a community engaged public art practice?

For 2024, STEPS Public Art is partnering with Critical Mass to support the development of a new temporary public artwork that will be exhibited in Summer/Fall of 2024.

STEPS believes public art has the ability to challenge the systemic inequities that exist in public space. In support of this important work, we facilitate programs that: foster inclusive public art practices; build the capacity of artists who are underrepresented in Canadian public art and demonstrate the power of community engaged art to reimagine equitably designed cities.

Critical Mass: A Centre for Contemporary Art believes that art changes how we see the world and our place in it. Our volunteer group of curators, artists and art supporters are dedicated to seeking out, creating, and presenting inclusive, socially-aware and engaging contemporary art experiences to make our community a better place for all its members.

The selected artist for the partnership will meet with Critical Mass to help determine the site for the public art and themes for the artwork. Critical Mass identifies a yearly curatorial theme and the selected artist’s work could align with or interpret this overarching theme. Production space and additional resources (tools, projectors, etc) will also be available for the selected artist. An artist talk will also be required from the selected artist and this fee is included in the honorarium.

This virtual residency is open to early to mid-career Northumberland area based visual artist working in public space, who identify as Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and/or racialized, interested in participating in a virtual residency from March through December 2023. This partnership between STEPS and Critical Mass will see one Northumberland area based artist selected for this opportunity by a selection panel composed of members of the arts community who identify as Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and/or racialized. Consideration will also be given to regional artists outside the Port Hope/Northumberland County area. Program components will be offered primarily in English, with translation and ASL services available as needed to support participation of a diverse community of artists. 

The 2024 CreateSpace Public Art Residency was designed in collaboration with advisors from coast to coast, to provide emerging Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and racialized artists with the skills, relationships and practical experiences needed to build and advance community engaged public art practices.

Thirty artists and artist teams from across the country participated in the program’s first three years, with each participant acquiring valuable skills in the field of public art. Each artist created unique and inspiring public artworks that ranged from experimental to performative to sculptural. Visit the CreateSpace Public Art Residency webpage to learn more about these artists and their projects. 

There will be a total of up to ten artists in residence selected for the 2024 CreateSpace Public Art Residency program, with one spot reserved for this unique partnership. If selected for this particular call, you will join the other program participants in virtual workshops, planned residency activities and programming. 

2024 CreateSpace participating artists will gain:

  • Skills: Virtual workshops, artist talks and studio visits for greater understanding of the public art process through the lens of Community, Identity, Accessibility, and Land, including: demystifying public art RFPs, exploring fabrication and approaches to public engagement.
  • Relationships: Opportunities to connect with public art practitioners from across the country, cultivating professional networks in various sectors and industries.
  • Practical Experience: Creating new community engaged public art work with tailored coaching from STEPS staff and artistic advisors, through which experimentation is encouraged.
  • Public Audiences: Through promotional support leveraging STEPS and partner network, as well as supports to document and present past and current public work.
  • Financial Support: The artist selected for this partnership with STEPS and Critical Mass Art will receive individual support valued at up to $7,500 CAD, inclusive of a $2500 participation honourarium as well as production, documentation, engagement and accessibility supports.

This residency is open to early to mid-career Canadian-based visual and media artists working in public space, who identify as Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and/or racialized, interested in participating in a virtual residency from March through December 2024. Up to ten artists will be selected for the 2024 CreateSpace Residency by a selection panel composed of members of the arts community who identify as Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and/or racialized. Program components will be offered primarily in English, with translation and ASL services available as needed to support participation of a diverse community of artists. 

Applicants must be a Canadian citizen, or Permanent Resident to qualify for this opportunity. Interested applicants must submit their expressions of interest by February 18, 2024 at 11:59 PM MST. 

The CreateSpace Residency is supported by the Canadian Race Relations Foundation with funding provided by the Government of Canada and TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.

Participating artists, with the support of STEPS staff and program mentors, are expected to:

  • Attend at least 10 of approximately 15 virtual residency sessions held over 10 months which will include: workshops, artist talks, panel discussions facilitated discussions, studio visits, etc. We estimate each session to be an hour to an hour and a half time commitment per session. These sessions will run primarily between 1 – 8 PM EST, Monday through Saturday;
  • Identify and execute a community engaged public art project by the end of the residency;
  • While participating artists are NOT expected to have well thought out plans for a public art project at the time of their application, having a project concept and clearly defined learning objectives for advancing your public art practice are important to make the most of the support that STEPS and CreateSpace partners can provide;
  • Participate in ongoing program evaluation that will help shape the CreateSpace Public Art Residency and other artist capacity building programming;
  • Respect the time and knowledge of CreateSpace advisors, mentors, staff and fellow participating artists, by committing to cultivate a safe, inclusive, supportive and respectful space for learning, exploration and growth.

To apply, please click here to fill out the application form by Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.