City of Seattle: SPU Your Body of Water Portable Works Call

The Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities, invites artists to submit images of two-dimensional artwork exploring the meaning of water and its relationship to our lives for a competitive direct purchase for SPU's Portable Works Collection. Artworks may be included in the 2016-2017 Poetry on Buses program. Artwork should reference water, water bodies, water systems including drainage, waste water, storm water and reservoirs, or the human relationship to water. Artists working with a colorful palette are encouraged to apply. The artwork must be available for purchase. The call is open to professional artists residing in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Montana, Idaho or Alaska.

Only two-dimensional media will be considered. Maximum measurements for two-dimensional work is 48 x 48 x 5 inches. Artists may submit up to eight images of available work. A total of up to $40,000 is available for all artworks. Artworks will enter the Seattle Public Utilities Portable Works Collection managed by the Office of Arts & Culture and will be displayed throughout city galleries and offices. Some selected artworks may be included in the 2016-2017 Poetry on Buses program with reproductions placed on public transportation.

Application deadline is 11 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, Tuesday, June 7, 2016. Required materials include 8 images of available work, image descriptions (not to exceed 1,000 characters including title, year made, medium, dimensions and price), artist's statement (not to exceed 2,000 characters), and résumé. Artists from outside the Seattle area must include shipping costs for each artwork as a separate line item. A panel of three arts professionals will select works based on artistic merit, appropriateness for public setting and existing collection, artistic diversity, and completeness of application. Artists will be notified of selection decisions by late-July 2016. Contact Elisheba Johnson at [email protected] or 206-684-0182 with questions.