Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2023: DRESS

Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2023: DRESS, scheduled for October 13-15, 2023, curated by Gretchen Vitamvas, invites proposals for its eighteenth annual outdoor public visual and performance art festival taking place on select blocks each day along 14th Street, Manhattan.

They invite applications from artists to participate in AiOP 2023: DRESS. Artists who are using dress as a medium, and interested in rethinking 14th street as a runway to present, walk, and pose may apply. Works may take the form of garments, textile, fashion design, costume, performance, sculpture and installation.

Everyday we get dressed. Our clothing communicates information about our work, activities and aspirations. Dress can be prescribed or intentionally personal. It can be practical, protecting our bodies from the weather or worksite; or fanciful, making a statement. We dress to provoke, to go unnoticed, to align with a social group, to conform (whether by choice or requirement), to challenge, to fit in, to be admired, to aspire, to protest, and to express identity. How do you know what people do for a living? How recently have they come to this country? Are they tourists? We regard each other and make judgments about gender, class, work, lifestyle, social group, and cultural heritage based on appearance.

Every October for the past eighteen years, AiOP has presented a multi-disciplinary public art festival in Manhattan (14 years on 14th Street). Creating a test-site for the possibilities and limitations of public space, AiOP is a gift to the popular imagination of New York City. The ethos is one of sharing, openness, and accessibility. The festival is produced without a budget, and taken up completely on the initiative of the organizers and participating artists. Permissions are not sought. AiOP is collaborative, horizontal, and agile.

Application Instructions