2024 Engaging Artists Commission

More Art’s Engaging Artists Commission is an opportunity for early career artists focused on the incubation and commissioning of a public art project and carries an $8000 award to realize the project, plus curatorial, conceptual, budgetary, and logistical mentorship. The Commission is part of More Art’s Engaging Artists program which provides infrastructure and laboratory for artists to gain a deeper understanding of the history and vitality of public and socially engaged art. The Engaging Artists Commission was formerly known as the Engaging Artists Residency.

In 2024, More Art will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. To commemorate the work they’ve done over the past two decades supporting socially-engaged public art and creative practices in NYC, they will be focusing our theme for the year of programming on the ever-changing city itself—its present and future(s)—through the broad lens of economic inequality and economic justice.

They are seeking proposals for public artworks, broadly defined and in any medium, that not only critique but also propose to construct more equitable solutions for the current and future generations of New Yorkers. Our 2024 program will focus on such interlinked issues facing New Yorkers such as: economic and racial inequality, the housing crisis, mass incarceration, and climate justice. As always, they are interested in ways that artists can intersect with these issues to imagine a more equitable future.

These projects might range in size, form, and duration from performance series to small-scale activations and temporary installations within NYC’s parks and public spaces.

Through these interactions, they hope to shed light on ideas and potential solutions for the city, which will strengthen what NYC is known for—being a city of progressive values and creativity. How can the arts contribute to more equity and more justice? What does NYC need “more” of in the future?

More Art is a non-profit organization based in New York that supports collaborations between artists and communities to create public art projects and educational programs that stimulate creative engagement with critical social and cultural issues. Since 2004, our focus has been to provide free, accessible, public art and programming to all New Yorkers, and to support artists—from emerging to established—in producing work that engages communities, welcomes a diverse range of people and practices, and reflects the social, political, and lived realities of New Yorkers today.

Requirements

• Over 18 years of age
• Not enrolled in a degree program during 2024
• Individual artists or artist collectives may apply
• NYC-based (or commuting distance) during the time of the project (March-December 2024): All applicants must be willing and able to be in NYC regularly for meetings, site visits, workshops, and events/gatherings throughout the year, as well as artwork maintenance (see next bullet point)
• For artworks that have a physical element on view for a prolonged duration (eg. sculpture in a park on view for 1-2 months), the artist must be able to visit, monitor, and maintain the artwork 2-3 days a week during the “exhibition” phase. The artist must also be available within 24 hours to respond to vandalism or damage
• We ask that artists commit to having no more than one overlapping fellowship, residency, and/or project at a time to avoid scheduling conflicts and spreading oneself too thin
• Applicants should be early career artists who have an established practice as an artist (record of exhibitions, talks, reviews, publications, or public presentations) with a demonstrated history of work in social or community-based practice, but who have had limited opportunities to produce and present their work to the public. Oftentimes, the EA Commission is an artist’s first public art project.
• More Art welcomes applications from artists of all disciplines, including but not limited to: visual artists, performers, choreographers, musicians and sound-based artists, designers, and new media artists.

Quick Project Eligibility Checklist

• The public facing/exhibition phase of the project must take place between March and December 2024.
• Projects must be new or build on a current project in its early stages. Previously presented or recently completed projects will not be considered.
• Must be free, open and accessible to the general public within New York City. It is preferable that projects take place within the NYC parks system but we are open to considering other options. Proposals for the presentation of work within art galleries or traditional presentation venues will not be considered.
• Projects must be socially engaged through its creation and/or its presentation. We define socially-engaged artwork as a form of creative practice that involves the public in ways that build power and agency among participants and strive towards equity and justice.
• We are open to any and all disciplines of art and creative practice including music/sound, choreography/dance, performance, theater, video, visual art, writing, community organizing, and more. We are also open to disciplines that may not traditionally fit into an artists practice, however the project must have some kind of art element.
• We are open to projects that can exist in physical and/or digital space, however we give preference to projects that take place in physical space within New York City. For digital projects, we are particularly interested in applications from artists who explore the potential of digital space as a public space. This includes research, digital models, web design, and remote learning.

Project Feasibility Considerations

• More Art will not consider any projects that would require a temporary structure permit from the NYC Dept of Buildings (DOB). This includes a structure that is taller than 10ft, or a stage, press platform or scaffolding that exceeds two feet in height and covers an area of 120 square feet or more. Any structures enterable by the public also fall within this requirement. A small 10’ x 10’ open sided tent that is erected for a single day/event is allowed.
• Electricity access within the NYC Parks system is extremely limited. Please note any projects that require electricity for prolonged periods (eg. overnight or over the course of a number of days) may be considered non-feasible. More Art has access to a 2000w portable battery-powered generator for events which cannot be left unattended and needs to be recharged and stored in the office overnight.
• Please also consider how any electronic, expensive, or fragile elements may be secured from theft or damage if installed in public spaces over prolonged periods of time.
• High profile tourist-heavy parks such as Central Park, Union Square, and Washington Square Park are often difficult to gain access to for public art projects. Moreover, we give preference to projects located in communities that would benefit from access to public art and socially engaged projects.

Application Instructions