Political art

The Artists’ Sanctum Public Art Grant 2020 - 2020

Submission Deadline: October 16, 2020

Mission:

The Artists’ Sanctum is a community-based arts non-profit that exhibits and funds underrepresented artists. Our core mission is to support artists, filmmakers, designers, and creatives whose work addresses contemporary issues and fosters social change. 

The grant program funds timely public artworks that catalyze socio-political discourse on micro and macro scales. The Artists’ Sanctum takes an integrated approach to supporting artists, and develops close working relationships with our grant recipients. Alongside funding, the award includes holistic support from The Artists’ Sanctum team, as well as access to our community of civically-engaged global citizens. 

Award: 

• A Financial award of $2,000
• Logistical and developmental assistance
• Feedback from The Artists’ Sanctum Board of Directors
• A platform for sharing artwork  with a community of artists and creatives
• Publication of work produced with the help of the grant on The Artists’ Sanctum website

In order to realize the furthest extent of the artist’s vision, The Artists’ Sanctum is available to assist with dissemination of the work, PR, material sourcing, permitting, shipping, storage or other logistical needs.

The awarded artist will present their work to the Sanctum community at a live salon upon completion of the grant project. The project will also be published on the Artists’ Sanctum website.

Eligibility:

The Artists’ Sanctum Public Art Grant is open to artists of all ages living and working in the continental United States. We welcome participants of any gender or race, regardless of legal/residential status, who are committed to making socially engaged artworks.

Creatives working in all mediums are invited to submit a proposal for a public artwork(s) that addresses a timely socio-political issue. We ask that applicants engage deeply with their chosen subject, and seek to make a work that will have a lasting impact. Submissions must demonstrate how the work will engage members of their community, and the ideas and actions the artist hopes it will foment.

We Accept Grants Applications From:

• Individual artists
• Artist collectives (Under 5 members, Non 501 (c)(3))

Ineligibility:

Grants will not be awarded to applicants seeking funding for:

• Multi-year projects
• Retroactively funded projects
• Non-profit organizations, foundations, or endowments
• Scholarships

Evaluation:

Grantees are selected via Sortition* - aka lottery - in a two-step process. First The Artists’ Sanctum board will remove applications that are incomplete or do not meet the grant criteria. Then an artist will be selected by a lottery monitored by a third party. 

Our board will review submissions and sort for applicants who express their issue of choice in a clear and concise manner, including how they imagine the public to interact with their artwork. All applications that fulfill the submission requirements will be eligible for the lottery pool. 

The Artists’ Sanctum Public Art Grant invests in the idea that a person or project’s potential cannot be predetermined. Our role is to facilitate timely public artworks and conversations, not be their gatekeepers. 

Submission Requirements: 

• Letter of intent (1000 words max)
• Description of your project and how it addresses a timely issue 
• How you envision your work impacting a chosen issue/community
• Project production timeline 
• Description of material and equipment needs, as well as any assistance you would like from The Artists’ Sanctum team
• Sustainability, maintenance, and imagined durability of your work 
• Portfolio (10 maximum)
• Work samples of previous projects, current experiments, and future plans (at least 3 images depicting your proposed project). Not to exceed 20 MB in total.
• One page resume & Contact Information

Email Subject: AS Public Art Grant Application

Application materials should be named with applicants' first and last names.

Example: (first_last.pdf).

Grant Cycle:

Application Opens: September 8, 2020

Final Submission Deadline: October 16, 2020

Notification of Award: November 2, 2020 

Production Period: November 2020 - March 2021 

Unveiling Date: March 1, 2020