FLOW 2020: Temporary Art Exhibition Along the Ship Canal

The Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities, is seeking emerging artists to develop temporary artworks for FLOW 2020, an exhibition project to enliven construction walls and fences for infrastructure projects that are part of the Ship Canal Water Quality Project. The artworks will be installed on construction walls and fences at four locations in Ballard, Fremont, and Wallingford on a rotating basis starting in early 2020. The walls and fences will be a mixture of 8'-12' tall wood sound walls and 6'-8' tall chain link fences. Artists are invited to use a variety of materials including paint, photography, murals, sculptural attachments, rope or ribbon woven into fences, plastic puck attachments, or innovative approaches. Between six and eight artists will be selected to create works during the 2020 exhibition cycle.

Each selected artist will receive a budget of $10,000 all-inclusive to create, install, and de-install artworks that will be displayed for six months. Payment will be distributed as follows: 40% upon acceptance of the final artwork proposal, 40% after documented installation, and 20% after documented de-installation, photo documentation, and a brief project summary. At each site, the amount of wall space varies between 100-300 feet in length. Artworks do not need to cover the entire area but may be episodic or focus on a specific zone. Artwork proposals must consider safety issues related to visibility, excessive weight, and wind loads. Selected artists for chain link fence locations must submit their proposal to ARTS and SPU for a safety review.

This call is open to emerging artists residing in Washington State. An emerging artist is defined as an artist at an early stage in their career who may or may not have specialized training, has created a modest body of artistic work, and has not completed a commission greater than $20,000. Students are not eligible. Submissions must include work samples (8 images), a statement of interest, artist bio, and concept proposal (via written, audio, or video submission) specific to the scope of work. The concept statement should convey your approach to the project, including methods, materials, and themes. Submissions must be completely uploaded to CaFÉ no later than 10:59 pm (PDT) on Friday, July 19, 2019. Selected artists will be notified by early September.