Submission Deadline: February 2, 2020, 11:59 PM

Artspace invites professional artists working in any medium to apply with proposals for a multi-arts festival to take place in May 2021 at King George Public School, 220 Hunter St E, Peterborough, Ontario.

CALL TO ARTISTS

Artspace is looking for experimental and socially engaged proposals from individual artists, curators, and collectives to create site-specific work for a space, or multiple spaces, inside King George Public School located in Peterborough, Ontario. Proposals for work utilizing the exterior of the building and the grounds are also welcome.

Artspace is dedicated to presenting work from contemporary artists working in a variety of disciplines and strives to present art that reflects and promotes diverse cultural and political perspectives. Submissions from emerging, mid-career, and senior artists are welcome. We encourage applicants to confront some of the issues raised by the site, which include accessibility, colonialism, and public education. This is an opportunity to open relevant, necessary dialogues and point to ways forward together through engagement with histories of exclusion and oppression. Submissions of new and existing work are welcome, but successful proposals will be site responsive.

Eligibility

Proposals are being accepted from professional artists, curators, and collectives.

Proposals must be for new or existing work that responds to the site in some way. Please describe how your proposed project is particularly relevant to the site, how it is suited to the space(s) the site offers, or how it connects to the site and its surroundings.

Evaluation Criteria

Submissions will be assessed according to the following criteria: artistic merit and innovation; ability to see the project to completion; application clarity and completeness; and responsiveness to site.

Submission Criteria

• A detailed Project Description (max. 500 words) that describes the proposed work and outlines how the work will engage audiences and/or encourage public interaction. Describe how the proposed work either contributes to your artistic practice or relates to other work you, or your team of collaborators, are currently engaged in. If possible, include an indication of the room or space(s) you prefer to use. Floor plans of the school are attached.
• Technical Requirements: Please outline any lighting, sound, projection, or installation requirements.
• Artist Bio (max. 250 words/artist): Describe your artistic practice and history of presenting artistic work. If there is more than one principal collaborator, please provide bios for each.
• Artist(s) CV (max. 2 pages/artist).
• Support Material: up to ten images of recent work and maximum 3 audio/video files. Video documentation should be uploaded to a site such as Youtube or Vimeo and linked in the application. Regardless of duration, please include full videos. Due to time constraints, the selections committee may only view up to 5 minutes of each video. Please note the clip you would prefer the jury view by including time marks in the documentation list.

Please note that proposals cannot include damage or any permanent changes to the site. All spaces must be returned to their original state at the event’s close. Also note that the gymnasium and grounds are the only area currently not accessed by stairs.

Submission Guidelines

All submissions should be made online through:
https://artspace-arc.submittable.com/submit

Artspace does not accept mailed submissions. Applicants who do not adhere to the submission criteria will be disregarded.

Deadline for Submissions: February 2, 2020, 11:59pm.

If you have any questions regarding submissions, please contact:

Hannah Keating
Assistant Curator
Artspace
378 Aylmer Street North
Peterborough
hannah@artspace-arc.org
705-748-3883

Successful applicants will be invited to participate in a site visit.

Additional Information

King George Public School was built in 1913 on Armour Hill in Peterborough’s Ashburnham (East City) neighborhood, and served grades JK – 6 up to the end of the 2018-2019 school year. A brand new school is being built on the site, due to open in fall 2020. Artspace and its collaborators (Public Energy Performing Arts and The Art Gallery of Peterborough) have received permission from the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board to use the school as the site for a multidisciplinary art event planned for May 2021.

The 3-storey school has more than 50 rooms spread out over three floors, including classrooms, corridors, coat rooms, offices, library, and a gymnasium. There are no elevators in the building, so the gymnasium at ground level and the school’s exterior grounds are currently the only accessible spaces.

View the school’s floor plans and links to relevant historical information on our website: https://artspace-arc.org/calls/call-for-submission/

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