A Memorial for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in the Church

Call for Art: A Memorial for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in the Church.

This is a public art commission seeking a durable work in ceramic, stone, metal, tile, or other weather-resistant material to be installed on or near the entrance to a church building. The initial installation will be located near the entrance on the south-facing exterior of the Riverside building on the Campus of Concordia College at 310 14th Ave S., Moorhead, MN. Two subsequent installations are already planned—one at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, MN and another at Crown of Glory Lutheran Church in Chaska, MN. The artwork should be small enough to be affixed to a building front or positioned on a pedestal or post near an entrance, yet large enough to be recognizable from the sidewalk or roadway.

The budget for the initial piece is $3,000-$4,000, which includes initial drawings/plans, stipend, supplies, and mounting for final execution and installation. Subsequent executions of the piece should not exceed $2,000, not including installation, shipping, or travel. The work should convey both brokenness and hope/healing, expressing that survivors are loved, cared for, valued, heard, and believed by the church. Artists should provide a brief explanation for how subsequent pieces would be executed/reproduced and a schematic for how the art could be mounted to a building, pedestal, or post.

Eligibility: Open to professional artists, 18+, working in the USA, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identification, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical ability. Applicants may submit 3-9 images. Entry deadline: 1/16/22 at 11:59 p.m. MST. A panel of sexual abuse survivors, ELCA bishops, and task force members will adjudicate proposals.