CALL FOR PROPOSALS – TRANSFORMATION

Fellowship recipients will receive a $8,000 production grant to support their project, a $2,000 honorarium, and three-months of seven-days-a-week access to the resources and fabrication facilities of the Park’s outdoor artist studio.

Artist Fellows are responsible for the fabrication, transportation (if necessary), and installation of their works. Socrates provides limited technical and installation assistance during a three-week installation period, M–F, 10AM–6PM. Specifics of installation assistance will be discussed with each artist selected.

Thematic Prompt: Transformation

Applicants to the 2023 Socrates Annual fellowship & exhibition program are encouraged to submit proposals focused on the idea of ‘Transformation’, with the goal of presenting public artwork for a fall 2023 group exhibition.

Transformation: A thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance or a complete change in the appearance or character of something or someone, especially so that thing or person is improved.

In nature, the metamorphosis of a seed into a plant or a caterpillar into a butterfly is often considered symbolic of how transformation is a good, necessary, and beautiful process. Transformation can also be tricky or painful, needing careful planning to consider why it is needed, what would happen without it, and what are the key ingredients for a successful outcome. Transformation might also question what is required to deal with changing circumstances in any situation.

The transformation of Socrates Sculpture Park itself is an on-going process. Abandoned land-fill site turned cultural space, community park and unique environment for artists, its goal of long-term sustainability is threatened by the impact of forces like gentrification and the climate crisis. Its continuing transformation will help build the resilience needed for that sustainable future.

What does transformation mean to you?

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