Call for Indigenous Womxn Artist/Artist Teams
Red Embers, Allan Gardens, Toronto

Proposals Due: October 25, 2018

Red Embers is a recipient of the 2018 Park People’s Public Space Incubator competition. The installation proposes 13 large-scale banners suspended from tall wooden gates sited throughout Allan Gardens. The Incubator supports and mobilizes people to challenge the way we think about public spaces by activating free/inclusive temporary art in public parks.

For more information and a conceptual rendering of Red Embers see: https://parkpeople.ca/publicspaceinc/

The organizing design team of Red Embers invites you to submit your qualifications and vision for the design of one of the banners.

The 13 installations honour the 13 Grandmother Moons within the Lunar System, as the Grandmother Moon is the leader of Feminine life. For a woman who has experienced domestic violence or sexual assault, it is the Grandmother Moon that provides healing and a re-balancing of energy. All 13 installations create a bigger civic platform for artists to share their work and collaboratively design banners that symbolize an intervention into the MMIW inquiry.

The Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto (NWRCT) is Red Embers’ Charitable Status Partner. NWRCT will provide further programming around the installations within its centre across the street from Allan Gardens, or within the park itself.

Red Embers will be installed in Allan Gardens in May 2019 until Autumn 2019, as a powerful backdrop to the (MMIW) Sisters in Spirit Vigil held annually on October 4th. If budget permits, Red Embers could be installed in other parks around Toronto, following its original installation at Allan Gardens.

Project Objectives

• To develop red banners uniquely designed with ribbons, fabric, stitching, fabric paint and/or jingle cones to create kinetic sound works;
• To create a visual representation of the strength of our matriarchs, and the resilience of Indigenous womxn that continues to be held together by our matriarchs;
• To promote collaborative placemaking as a model for Indigenous inclusion in our cities.

Artists and/or Artist Teams are encouraged to focus on contemporary jingle or ribbon skirt designs as a theme of matriarchal identity and community strength/perseverance.

Artists must source their own working studios and decorative materials. Locally sourced and/or Indigenous manfactured materials are encouraged, such as tin cones made in Manitoba at: https://anishinaabebimishimo.ca

The Red Fabric (UV, weather-resistant) will be supplied to each of the selected artists. A budget of up to $150 is provided for each banner’s decorative materials. Both sides of the banner should be designed.

A fee of $1500.00 is paid to each qualifying artist. Payment is provided in three installments.

Artist fees and material costs must be invoiced directly to the Native Women’s Resource Centre. All payments will be made promptly.

Who is Eligible?
To qualify, you must be an Indigenous womxn artist, or Indigenous womxn collaborative artist team. Partnerships and collaborations are encouraged, (for eg. between established and emerging artists, or an established artist and a woman’s group.) Establoished artists should be knowledgeable about Indigenous design and contemporary practices. Only one application per artist/artist team will be accepted.

Timeline
Artists/Artist Teams will have the following timeline to work from once the Art Commissions are Awarded to the approved Artists by November 1, 2018:

Art Production: November 30, 2018 – April 1st, 2019
Art Installation: May 1st, 2019
Opening Ceremony of Red Embers: May 17th, 2019

Artists are encouraged to apply as an individual or as a group. Please submit the following:

1. Your Name, or Name of main collaborators, which may include a woman’s group. Email contact. Tel contact. Website link.
2. A Letter of Interest – (no more than 250 WORDS) identifying the public art opportunity AND a summary of the idea you are interested in developing for the artwork.
3. A conceptual drawing of your banner. Material palette you are considering.
4. Images – up to 3 images of past work and a brief description (50 words max) of the artwork, title of artwork, LOCATION, medium, date of artwork, dimensions, budget.

The final artists or artist teams selected will enter a Contract Agreement to complete the proposed artwork on time and budget.

To Apply
Please send your Submission Package digital copy to:

The Red Embers’ Design Team, Tiffanny Creyke, Larissa Roque, Lisa Rochon
tcreyke@gmail.com, CC: larissa.roque42@gmail.com, lisarochon28@gmail.com