Image: Hadis Karami (MFA ’23 3D, 2023 MassArt – Wheaton College Public At Partnership awardee).
MASSART WHEATON PUBLIC ART PARTNERSHIP
2024 Call for Proposals
Public Art at Wheaton (PAaW)
Wheaton is pleased to offer emerging artists an opportunity to produce and exhibit public artwork on our campus. Current graduate students from any MassArt graduate may submit proposals annually for review and PAaW at Wheaton will commission the creation of one or two public artworks in a given year. The artwork will be accepted into The Wheaton College Permanent Collection as a two-year loan. If at the end of two years, the work is determined by the Program to be in good condition, and if the artist is amenable, the loan may be extended for up to an additional two years. The artwork will be insured throughout the loan duration with an insurance value stipulated in advance by the artist.
While the artist will be chiefly responsible for the installation of their work, technical advice and some installation support will be available. The Program will provide signage for the artwork and the College will provide regular maintenance of the area around the work (e.g. weeding and mowing around a free-standing sculpture, but not repainting it yearly). The Program will fund up to $2000 in materials and provide an artist honorarium of $500.
2024 TIMELINE / DEADLINES
- Proposal Submission Deadline: March 30
- Production Budget: up to $2000
- Artist Honorarium: $500
- Installation Deadline: By the end of summer
- Artwork duration: 2-4 years on campus
Timeline
- February 24: Info session via Zoom
- March 2: Artists conduct a site visit/tour of Wheaton campus
- March 30: Proposals due
- April 15: Artists informed of selection
- August 15: Deadline for completion of installation
Proposal Requirements
- A written project narrative of less than one page.
- A 2D rendering
- A small, 3D rendering
- A material/finish sample (if helpful)
- An itemized budget of up to $2000
- All proposals must be emailed to gradprogram@massart.edu, with the subject line “WHEATON PUBLIC ART PROJECT PROPOSAL”.
UPCOMING EVENTS
ZOOM INFO SESSION:
MassArt<>Wheaton Public Art Partnership
Saturday, February 24, 2024 | 1-2pm (EST)
Join us for an info session with our Wheaton Partner and founder of the project Kelly Goff, on Saturday February 24 at 1pm.
2024 WHEATON SITE VISIT WITH KELLY GOFF
Saturday, March 2, 2024 | 1pm
Join us for a Site Visit to Wheaton College with project founder amd Wheatn faculty Kelly Goff on Saturday, March 2 at 1pm.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
- Current students from any MassArt Graduate Program (MFA, MFA-DMI, MDES, MArch, Art Education Graduate Programs), including students with a December 2024 graduation date
- MFA Fine Arts alumni (MFA 3D, 2D, Photography, Film/Video, or Low-Residency) with a graduation date of 2023 or 2024
- Collaborative proposals are welcome, provided all collaborators meet the above eligibility requirements.
PROGRAM GOALS
The college seeks to enrich our public spaces through the exhibition of temporary artwork. We believe in the power of public art to add aesthetic value, strengthen communities, and facilitate important conversations. The Program is especially interested in supporting work that is designed with our campus in mind. Works may, for example, seek to engage with aspects of Wheaton identity through our values, history, architecture, landscape, academics, athletics, etc.
Proposals may include plans to engage with the Wheaton community as a form of research or as participants in the realization of the work over time (an interactive work for instance). The Program welcomes work that involves challenging subject matter, however intentionally disruptive or broadly offensive works will not likely be supported.
While a campus site visit will reveal a handful of specific locations that are ready to welcome artwork, we are equally happy to review proposals for works imagined for installation in unexpected public locations across campus. Proposals may also express a flexible mindset regarding location. This new program is made possible by the Caroline Edwards ’70 Wheaton Public Art Fund.
Questions may be directed to Kelly Goff at goff_kelly@wheatoncollege.edu.
ABOUT WHEATON COLLEGE
Wheaton College is a leading liberal arts college located between Boston and Providence. We serve 1,700 undergraduates from 40 U.S. States and more than 70 countries. Nearly 23% of our students are U.S. students of color and 11% are international citizens. Almost all students live in residence halls or themed houses on our iconic New England campus, which fosters a palpable sense of community and pride. The college values innovation and interdisciplinary engagement and our curriculum supports over 100 academic majors. The Wheaton community is especially dedicated to issues of social justice and equality.
The Wheaton campus is beautiful and historic. Many of our buildings date back to 1834, when the college was founded, while others are state-of-the-art. The main campus occupies approximately 75 acres of land, with many landmarks such as the library, admissions, and student center facing an active, quad-style green space known affectionately as “The Dimple.”
Other Considerations
A portion of the Wheaton Campus near East Main Street overlaps with the Town of Norton Historic District. This area must remain visually unchanged, so it should be avoided as a potential location for artwork. A helpful metric is to focus on locations not clearly visible from E. Main Street.
Preference will be given to artworks designed with sufficient durability to withstand two years of outdoor New England conditions with the exception of works that are intentionally ephemeral. Artwork should be low or no-maintenance. Artworks should be engineered with safety in mind and with reasonable anticipation of moderate interaction with passersby including college students, townspeople, and children.
The final commissioned work must comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act: http://www.ada.gov/
COVID-era Considerations
Access to Wheaton campus building remains restricted to community members only, though special permission may be granted for one-off visits. Applicants may visit the campus outdoors anytime.
Artwork that engages directly with Wheaton participants must be designed to work within standard COVID limitations (masks, distancing, and the avoidance of large gatherings).
PAST ITERATIONS
2023: Hadis Karami (MFA ’23 3D Fine Arts)
Hads Karami was seelcted for thesecond funded public art partnership between Wheaton College and MassArt in 2023.
Bringing the Sky to Earth is an installation designed to cast the shadows of hundreds of stars onto the ground, making a transition between the natural world and the built environment.
The installation consists of a group of organic, cloud-like forms to be suspended in the entrance to the Balfour Atrium. The cloud forms are crafted from natural flat reed, woven with a hexagonal plaiting technique. The hexagonal pattern creates a sense of order and symmetry, similar to the patterns seen in the night sky. The hexagons also create a sense of depth and dimensionality, as the shadows cast by the suspended clouds will shift and change throughout the day, mimicking the movement of stars in the night sky. The clouds will be arranged in a non-linear pattern, as if they are gently floating in the breeze. As the sun moves throughout the day, the shadows cast by the suspended clouds will shift and change, creating a sense of movement and fluidity.
Notes: Both natural reed and dyed reed could be used.
2022: Eileen de Rosas (MFA ’22)
Eileen de Rosas completed the installation of Into The Woods on the campus of Wheaton College, made possible by the inaugural funded public art partnership between Wheaton College and MassArt.
Into The Woods is a digitally altered landscape mural of the Wheaton Woods. Across the road from the manicured areas of the college lies a semi-wilderness of trees, vines, undergrowth, swamp, weeds, and trails. Walking through the area in summer, de Rosas documented the environment and later collaged the images into a layered landscape. The contemplative space of the Beard Courtyard provides a backdrop for the murals that will change through the seasons. In the spring and summer, the birch tree and other plant-ings leaf and bloom in proximity to the prints, camouflaging the images. In the fall and winter, the images of lush, green overgrowth emerge and fill the courtyard with color and the memory of summer.
View the recording of Eileen de Rosas’ artist talk on the Wheaton College campus:
