LONG, HOT SUMMER—EXTENDED PLAY
OCAD University’s Office of Public Worx, in collaboration with Kolab Project, is thrilled to announce Long, Hot Summer—Extended Play.
DESCRIPTION OF OPPORTUNITY
The Office of Public Worx and Kolab Project are soliciting proposals from members of the OCAD U community—students, recent alumni and select faculty—for impactful, limited-duration public art activations. In the spirit of re-opening, remerging, reclaiming the summer that never really came, a summer of cancellations and disconnection, a long, hot summer of protest against police brutality and anti-Black and anti-Indigenous systemic violence, the proposed works will create safe, positive social engagements and critical reflections on the city we have and the city we want.
Long, Hot Summer—Extended Play invites project proposals for works of various forms and media for consideration. A jury compromised of artists, curators, and designers from Kolab Project and the larger OCAD U community will select six public works that demonstrate and activate creative approaches to engaging audiences across the city around key concerns: re-emergence, public safety, urban justice and an inclusive city.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Current OCAD U students from any program of study who have earned 15 credits or more
• Recent OCAD U alumni who graduated in June 2018 or later
• Individual faculty members who are approached to consider putting forward a submission
• Applicants must be 19+
SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS
Individual applications, from individual artists and collaborative teams, will be expected to provide a clear and reasonable plan for project execution. The jury will assess the feasibility of the project in relation to criteria, including:
- Creativity—formal, conceptual, or visual impact
- Artistic capacity
- Production costs/budget
- Proposed site and/or location for the work
- Duration and timelines
- Submission Deadline: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (5:00 pm EST)
GRANT VALUE
The maximum budget is $4,000 per project, which will include a $1,000 artist fee and up to $3,000 in material and production costs. Provisions for projects costing more than $4,000 to produce will be considered providing applicants are able to propose additional funding sources and/or partners. To help ensure the successful realization of selected projects, The Office of Public Worx will work with participating artists to help ensure the creation and public installation of the final works. Projects will be activated on a rolling schedule from September through October.
PROJECT TIMELINE
September 15: Submission deadline
September 22: Recipients notified
September 22 - onward: Public launch of projects
November 21: Closing Party
PARTNER INFORMATION
The Long, Hot Summer—Extended Play builds on earlier Kolab Project-OCAD U collaboration The Next Fourteen Days. Extended experiments in social connection, the central idea of both projects is to explore and demonstrate how creative practice can bridge social distance, while providing engaging opportunities to reflect on the power of social cohesion and inclusion. As the City of Toronto emerges from collective isolation, the Office of Public Worx will continue this work with Kolab Project by seeking innovative approaches that champion creativity and cultural production in response to maintaining public health and well being in these difficult and challenging times.
OCAD U’s partnership with Kolab Project, established in 2020, will enhance the community experience, foster faculty innovation, and enrich academic programming at OCAD University.
A subsidiary of Auxly Cannabis Group, Kolab Project’s mission is to provide Canadians with a carefully curated selection of exceptional products, while championing high quality, purposeful goods and experiences produced in collaboration with culturally relevant creators.
PARTNER
Kolab Project, a subsidiary of Auxly Cannabis Group
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
• Name and contact information and confirmation of eligibility regarding the qualifications to participate
• A current resume or CV
• A short project proposal (max. 250 words)
• A link to an online portfolio of prior work that relates to your project proposal
• Applicants must be 19+
Submit all application materials to John Rubino jrubino@ocadu.ca by Tuesday, September 15, 2020 (5:00 pm EST)
OFFICE OF PUBLIC WORX
OCAD University’s Office of Public Worx provides a point focus for creative public engagements and activations in Toronto, and beyond. Built on OCAD U’s dynamic partnerships and collective expertise in public art across local, national and international contexts, the Office of Public Worx is designed to function as a platform for creative exploration and collective expression. A physical space, knowledge network, repository, library, and archive, the Office of Public Worx seeks to choreograph new modes of understanding and producing art in public spaces. The Office of Public Worx is formed around a powerful core of OCAD U faculty, students, staff, and alumni, who are actively involved in the production of work that enrich public space through creative intervention, in the form of murals, sculpture, environmental design, performance, documentation and social engagement. Committed to developing of curricula and discourse, The Office of Public Worx expansive range of activities aim to create a multi-platform atelier capable of catalyzing both object-based and non-object approaches.
