The following opportunity has been shared on behalf of a member or affiliate of the Austin Area African American Behavioral Health Network.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
How can creatives help expand our identities as Black people?
What folklore has been adopted that no longer serve us?
And how has this moment laid bare all that is broken?
High Signs & Beacons is a project of CarverMuseumATX, Six Square, the City of Austin Equity office, and the African American Heritage Facility that calls on artists, poets, scholars, and writers of African descent to join in a mutual aid effort. More than ever, people need help grounding in this moment and visualizing a collective future. This is an invitation to engage with the isolation, uncertainty, and essential chaos of these times…
What we know is that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the current pandemic, and African Americans are some of the least likely to recover once they have contracted COVID-19. While this is real, how do we (un)speak this onto ourselves? How do we speak health and wealth onto all people when we are blessed and plagued by the pre-existing condition(s) of Blackness? We are in the midst of a system reset, and we need your help to prepare for and imagine this future.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The signs will be 4ft x 8ft (or larger) with 33% – 50% of the visual real-estate dedicated to text in the form of a proverb, haiku, or short phrase that literally or subjectively responds to the following questions and prompts:
My present is____________.
My future is ____________ .
What myth and/or folklore will become reality?
What does it mean to re-evaluate our relationship to living and living amongst other people?
Old world or new?
Participating artists must identify as people of African descent. Women, people living with disabilities, immigrants, and people who identify as LGBTQIA+ will be given additional consideration. Priority will be given to artists living in Austin/Travis County. A small number of applications will be considered from teams living within the state of Texas. Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- artistic merit, clarity of concept, and adherence to project guidelines
- statement of impact related to COVID-19
- scalability and readiness of project to move into production
Artists must apply in teams of two and will need to submit the following:
- a working title of the proposed collaboration
- 50-100 word bios
- Two hi-resolution headshots
- Statement of Impact
- Website and/or Instagram Links
- 5-7 sentence description of the submitted proposal
Additional project parameters are detailed in the application.
Apply to learn more!
Notification of Acceptance: May 29, 2020 at 5:00 pm
Final Text/Artwork Deadline: June 5, 2020
Honorarium Disbursement: June 8th – June 12th
Installation: TBA
Walk/Bike/Drive Tour Launch: TBA
Through the preservation and exhibition of African American material culture, history, and aesthetic expression, the Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center works to create a space where the global contributions of all Black people are celebrated. We accomplish this by telling stories about our local community and connecting those histories to larger narratives about Blackness.
|