Application Information
Artists, educators, and cultural workers of all disciplines are invited to apply
Initial Application
The selection of three finalists will be based on the following criteria:
- Experience working as a practicing artist and/or educator.
- Interest in, connection to, and/or experience engaging with populations and/or communities who have not had previous engagement with the District.
- Experience using creative practice to inspire environmental stewardship.
- Interest in, connection to, and/or experience using storytelling to inspire and inform.
- Experience working with a multidisciplinary team.
You can also download the information here.
| Criteria | Details | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Experience as a Practicing Artist/Educator | • Minimum 5 years’ experience as a practicing artist or educator. NOTE: “Experience” is not confined to a proven record of conventional public art commissions. We encourage artists/educators with a diverse background of creative practice to apply. • A demonstrated focus on community engagement as part of your creative practice. | 45 |
| Engaging and Working with Communities | • Demonstrated experience or interest in engaging and working with communities on creative and/or educational projects. • Knowledge and skills to ensure equitable engagement with communities, including but not limited to honoring place and connecting to local resources, and creating community ownership of the narrative. • Exceptional cultural competency and demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with community members from a diverse range of social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Preference will be given to applicants who have experience or interest in engaging with low-income, Black, Indigenous, and communities of color. | 45 |
| Experience Inspiring Environmental Stewardship through Art/Education | • Demonstrated experience or interest in using creative artistic or educational practices to inspire personal connections to the natural world. • Experience or interest in using relationship-based approaches to encourage communal environmental stewardship. • Demonstrated experience or interest in working in the field of environmental justice. | 30 |
| Storytelling | • Demonstrated experience or interest in using your creative practice to tell a story that builds a line-of-sight between actions and consequences, or between history and the present. • Demonstrated ability or interest in using your creative practice to tell a story that enables the audience to “see” what was previously “unseen.” | 20 |
| Professional Experience Working with a Multidisciplinary Team | • Strong communication skills including interpersonal, facilitation, and presentation skills. • Ability to instruct and lead District staff regarding principles for effective community engagement. • Ability to problem solve and overcome the unexpected obstacles inherent to collaborative projects. | 15 |
Finalist Stage
Three finalists will be selected from the initial application and invited to submit a full proposal.
Selected finalists will be notified by October 19, 2022 and have until October 21, 2022 to declare whether they’d like to proceed with submitting a final proposal.
Full proposals are due November 21, 2022. We encourage applicants to make submissions in a manner that best reflects their work, including images, audio, video, and/or written narrative. Development of a full proposal will be compensated $750.
Final proposal requirements and scoring criteria are outlined below
Full Proposal Content:
Residency summary
A narrative summary describing your vision for the residency, and the themes and objectives you will pursue with your creative practice.
Residency Plan
The residency plan should address the following criteria.
- Community engagement approach:
- Identify what community, or communities, you will seek to engage with, and how.
- Describe how you will ensure community engagement is equitable and that community members retain ownership of their narrative.
- Describe how the community, or communities, will be enriched by the engagement.
- District engagement:
- Provide descriptions for specific activities for the residency.
- Description of how District buildings will be utilized during the residency (if applicable).
- Description of any logistical support from District staff that you feel would be necessary to help ensure the success of the residency (if applicable).
- Ongoing community impact:
- What relationships will be developed during the residency? How will these be maintained?
- Will the residency produce durable deliverables for the communities engaged?
Residency timeline & process
Map out the project steps and prospective timeline for project activities and deliverables.
Residency expense budget
Description for associated project expenses. Please break it down into line items. There is up to $10,000 for an associated expense budget.
Full Proposal Scoring Criteria:
| Criteria | Details | Relative Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Plan Feasibility: How developed is the plan? | • Is the plan possible given the constraints and resources available as part of this residency? • Does the plan have detail? Is there flexibility within that detail (ie. not contingent upon one thing or one person/group). • What kind (if any) collaboration is required for District staff in filling out plan details? | 20% |
| Artist/Educator's Creative Vision: How well does the plan align with Shop One's Values? | • Does the plan advance reflection, conservation, and protection of water resources through creative engagement? • Do activities honor place and connection to local history? • Does the plan make the invisible visible by illuminating the hidden systems for water stewardship? | 20% |
| Community Engagement Approach: How well does the plan ensure equitable engagement with communities? | • Is the plan clear regarding which communities will be engaged? • Do plan activities connect to local resources and create community ownership of the narrative? • Do plan activities effectively communicate the finalist’s ability to competently engage with the identified communities? • Will the plan strengthen water stewardship through relationship building? | 30% |
| District Engagement Plan: How Well does the plan engage the District? | • Does the plan incorporate ways to engage District staff? • Does the plan incorporate the use of the Shop One building? | 10% |
| Ongoing Community Impact: How will the plan create long term relationships and opportunities? | • How will relationships developed over the course of the residency be maintained? • Is there an opportunity for ongoing engagement with participating communities? • Does the plan include creations/deliverables that can last beyond the scope of residency? | 20% |
It is the District’s intention to respect the intellectual
property of artists.
All final proposals considered will be kept confidential to the
District and proposal selection committee internally unless otherwise agreed
upon between the artist and the District. Should an idea that is generated as
part of this process be considered for future implementation, the contributing
artist will be given the first right of refusal.
You can also download the information outlined above here.
This residency is the first of a series of Catalytic Projects for the District & Shop One. Design of this residency was supported by the US Water Alliance Arts & Culture Accelerator program. Community members served as creative collaboration advisors to guide development of this residency and other catalytic projects.
