08 Jan 2011

2011 Artist Applications Due Jan 24 - Socrates Sculpture Park

SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
2011 APPLICATION GUIDELINES
Artists can apply for one or more of the following exhibition categories:

-SPRING EXHIBITION
-EMERGING ARTIST FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
-OPEN SPACE

Visit www.socratessculpturepark.org/exhibitions/artist-opps.php to download the 2011 Application Form and Guidelines

DEADLINE: MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011 (due in-hand, by 5pm)

ABOUT SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
Socrates Sculpture Park was an abandoned landfill and illegal dumpsite until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members, under the leadership of sculptor Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. The Park is an innovative public/private partnership that has become an internationally renowned outdoor museum and artist residency program that also serves as a vital New York City park offering a wide variety of free public programs.

Located in an industrial neighborhood in Long Island City, Socrates is a waterfront park that overlooks the Manhattan skyline; the site is an affecting and inspiring place for artists to work and a spectacular setting for the presentation of public art. To date, Socrates has hosted over 800 artists and currently attracts more than 78,000 visitors annually. Socrates Sculpture Park's existence is based on the belief that reclamation, revitalization and creative expression are essential to the survival, humanity and improvement of our urban environment.

Socrates Sculpture Park is the only site in the New York Metropolitan area specifically dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale sculpture and multi-media installations in an outdoor environment that invites interaction between artists, artworks and the public. Socrates is a laboratory where experimentation and innovation expand, reinvent and redefine the tradition of art in public spaces.


APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Artists seeking a Socrates Sculpture Park grant and exhibition opportunity are strongly encouraged to visit the Park before submitting their application. Applicants must take into account the site's rugged, urban outdoor environment and be aware that sculptures installed in the Park must meet safety requirements and be able to withstand the effects of weather and public use. Visiting the site will give applicants a clearer idea of the factors that effect installations at the Park and an overview of the facilities that the Park has to offer, including the tools and equipment available in the studio and the materials and resources available in Long Island City.

Artists can apply for one or more of the following exhibition categories:

·Spring Exhibition
·Emerging Artist Fellowship Program
·Open Space

If you are applying for more than one exhibition category, you only need to send one application package. If you want to, you may submit more than one proposal with your application.

2011 Spring Exhibition
May to August 2011
The 2011 Spring exhibition will examine the ways that methods of viewing and observation determine the interpretation, assessment or evaluation of an object or scene, including themes and ideas relating to visual alignment, altered perspectives, and the framing of a site-line or point of view.

For this exhibition, Socrates will provide artists with funding, administrative and technical assistance, a one to three month residency in the outdoor studio, and access to facilities, materials and equipment to create a new work - or will assist with shipping and rigging to place an already existing work - to be presented in this exhibition. The amount of financial support available to artists is contingent upon the requirements of their project and the funding that Socrates receives to support this exhibition.

Eligibility:
Participation in the spring exhibition is open to all artists, nationally and internationally, but Socrates cannot provide any housing or transportation. Artists living outside New York will have to make their own living and travel arrangements. Artists who are enrolled in a school, college or university are not eligible for this program.


Emerging Artist Fellowship Program
September 2011 to March 2012
Emerging Artist Fellowship recipients are granted financial support in the amount of $5,000, a residency in the outdoor studio (beginning in March 2011), and access to facilities, materials, equipment and technical assistance to create a work for the annual Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition. Fellows are also given the administrative assistance to do additional fundraising for their project, procure in-kind support and pursue future placement for their work.

Fellowship artists are selected through an open application process. Proposals are reviewed by an advisory committee composed of past EAF recipients, prominent curators, artists, writers, gallerists and arts administrators. Following the first round of selections, Socrates staff members meet with the artists individually to discuss their proposal in greater detail and assist them with the development, engineering and fabrication of the project.

Socrates Sculpture Park will award 20 fellowships in 2011 and the 2011 EAF Exhibition will inaugurate the Park's 25th anniversary.

Eligibility:
Fellowships are awarded to artists who are not yet well established, are New York State residents, and are in need of financial assistance. Artists who are enrolled in a school, college or university are not eligible for the Emerging Artist Fellowship program.


Open Space
Socrates grants are also awarded for single artist projects and collaborations that are presented as separate exhibitions throughout the year. Through the Open Space program, Socrates provides artists with funding, administrative and technical assistance, a one to six month residency in the outdoor studio, and access to facilities, materials and equipment to create a new work - or will assist with shipping and rigging to place an already existing work - for exhibition in the Park. Funding for this program varies from year to year and the amount of financial support available to artists is contingent upon the requirements of the project and the grants that Socrates receives to support the Open Space exhibitions.

Eligibility:
This program is open to all artists, nationally and internationally, but Socrates can not provide any housing or transportation. Artists living outside New York will have to make their own living and travel arrangements. Artists who are enrolled in a school, college or university are not eligible for this program.


The application form and guidelines are available on the Socrates Sculpture Park website: socratessculpturepark.org