Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award

2013 Application Guidelines

Deadline: December 15, 2012
Installation: June 14, 2013

The Award

Clare Weiss (1967-2010) was the Public Art Curator for New York City’s Department of Parks & Recreation. During her tenure she curated more than 100 outdoor public art installations throughout the city and organized complex, thought-provoking and visually compelling thematic exhibitions for the Arsenal Gallery. Clare’s passion, humanity, energy, courage, and collaborative zeal were valued by all who knew her.

The Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award will be granted annually to one emerging artist who submits the most compelling proposal for an outdoor sculpture in a New York City park. The location will change annually and will be determined based on the site’s visibility and proximity within a neighborhood underserved by public art.

Location

Tappen Park in Staten Island has been selected as the 2013 location. All areas of the park can be used except for the Village Hall building and the red brick roadway connecting Wright Street that runs between the Village Hall platform and the Park House, as this is an active fire lane. Regular concerts and performances take place on the center lawns during the summer. These activities should be taken into consideration when drafting proposals for this park. The sculpture will be exhibited for a maximum of one year.

Artists submitting proposals are strongly encouraged to visit Tappen Park before submitting a proposal. Applicants must take into account the site's terrain and submit proposals that will stand up to the park’s particular urban outdoor environment. Sculptures installed in New York City’s Parks must meet safety requirements and be able to withstand the effects of weather and public interaction.

No proposals for sculptures previously exhibited will be accepted. This award is open to New York City-based emerging artists only.

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Details

The chosen recipient will be granted an award in the amount of $10,000. The recipient is highly encouraged to procure in-kind support and other additional funding necessary to support this installation.

The Award recipient shall be solely responsible for the installation and removal of the artwork and shall provide at his or her sole cost and expense, all labor, services, and supervision necessary. Additional expenses the artist will be responsible for include fabrication, insurance and maintenance. At the end of the award term, the artist is responsible for returning the park location to its original condition. This project must adhere to Parks’ specifications for public art.

The Parks Department will assist the awarded artist with technical logistics such as permitting and site specifications. The artist will be responsible for engineering documents if they are necessary.

The Award recipient will be selected through an open application process. Proposals will be reviewed by a jury comprised of an artist, an independent curator, and a Parks Department representative. Proposals will be judged according to artistic and creative merit and suitability to the site.

Eligibility

Proposals will only be accepted from New York City-based emerging artists— artists who have specialized training in their field (not necessarily gained in an academic institution), who are at an early stage in their career, and who have created a modest independent body of work. Artists who are enrolled in a school, college or university are not eligible for the Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award.

Timeline (all dates are subject to change)

December 15, 2012: Proposals due. Proposals can be submitted earlier.
February 1, 2013: Award Recipient announced
February 15, 2013: Installation plan and budget submitted for review
June 14, 2013: Sculpture installed in Park
TBD: Dedication ceremony and opening reception

Application Proceedure

Proposals must include:

Resume with current contact information
One-page statement describing artist’s work in general
Proposed sculpture
- detailed description of no more than 2 written pages
- representative drawings or renderings if sculpture has not been fabricated
- images of sculpture if it is already fabricated
- list of materials proposed/used; dimensions (including weight)
- installation recommendations
- maintenance recommendations
Names and full contact information of two references who are familiar with artist and artist’s work
5-6 images of previous work (8x10 color prints or if emailing jpegs no larger than 1 MB each); each image should be labeled and succinctly described
Self-addressed, stamped postcard if you would like to receive notification that your proposal was received.

Materials will not be returned. All materials must be received by Saturday, December 15, 2012. Proposals should be sent or emailed to:

Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award
Art & Antiquities
City of New York Parks & Recreation
The Arsenal
New York, NY 10065
artandantiquities@parks.nyc.gov

Previous Award Winners

2012

Katherine Daniels, Ornamental Paths

June 7, 2012 to June 2013
Joyce Kilmer Park, Bronx

Katherine Daniels transforms everyday objects and materials into elaborately woven ornamental forms in her site specific installation, Ornamental Paths. The large-scale pieces are currently on view on the Grand Concourse between 161st and 164th Streets in the Bronx. “The placement of the weavings defines the inner triangular shape at the heart of Joyce Kilmer Park and creates a place where people can enter into a spatial drawing.” The brick and mosaic Art Deco patterns that have historically defined the neighborhood’s architectural landmarks are interpreted through Daniel’s interlaced geometric forms, horizontal stripes, and vertical bands that grace the park’s permanent wire fencing. Transcendent of an ordinary walk through the park, a stroll through Ornamental Paths will be a new experience full of color and history.

2011

Ruth McKerrell, Ancient, Goatie Boy, and Goat as Wolf

June 1, 2011 to May 30, 2012
Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn

McKerrell’s three sculptures, originally made of reclaimed Styrofoam, have been cast in aluminum, giving them a timeless presence reminiscent of traditional garden statuary. Two sprightly goats and an alert deer will animate this welcoming space. Attracted to the naiveté and purity of animals, McKerrell has focused on them in her recent drawings and sculptures. A native of Scotland, she frequented local farms as a child and even owned a pet goat, which inspired Goatie Boy. A regular visitor to the Central Park Children’s Zoo, she creates studies from direct observations, as well as historical paintings, and anatomical reference books. However, her final works are made entirely from memory, working intuitively as she imbues her playful subjects with plasticity, life, and undeniable charm. McKerrell is attracted to the “freeness and rawness” of her modeling materials, which permit her to work spontaneously, and comments that they enable her to “create textured surfaces suggestive of an animal’s tactile form.”

Contributions

Please help sustain the Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award. Please send contributions payable to the City Parks Foundation with CWEAA noted in the Memo field to NYC Parks & Recreation, Art & Antiquities, The Arsenal, Central Park, Room 20, New York, NY 10065. For more information, please contact Jonathan Kuhn, Director of Art & Antiquities at (212) 360-3410 or Jennifer Lantzas, Public Art Coordinator at (212) 360- 8163.