SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK 2009 Artist Application Guidelines Now Posted

SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
2009 APPLICATION GUIDELINES

Artists can apply for one or more of the following exhibition categories:

-SPRING EXHIBITION
-EMERGING ARTIST FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
-OPEN SPACE
-FLOAT

THE 2009 ARTIST APPLICATION GUIDELINES ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE: WWW.SOCRATESSCULPTUREPARK.ORG

DEADLINE: MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009

ABOUT SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
Socrates Sculpture Park was an abandoned landfill and illegal dumpsite until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members, under the leadership of sculptor Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents.

Located in an industrial neighborhood in Long Island City, Socrates is a waterfront park that overlooks the Manhattan skyline; the site is an affecting and inspiring place for artists to work and a spectacular setting for the presentation of public art. To date, Socrates has hosted over 700 artists and currently attracts more than 73,000 visitors annually.

Socrates Sculpture Park is the only site in the New York Metropolitan area specifically dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale sculpture and multi-media installations in an outdoor environment that invites interaction between artists, artworks and the public. Socrates is world renowned as a laboratory where experimentation and innovation expand, reinvent and redefine the tradition of art in public spaces.

ARTIST INFORMATION SESSION
NOVEMBER 2, 2008
1PM - 3PM

Socrates Sculpture Park will be hosting an artist information session in the Park's outdoor studio. We will review the application process, tour the studio facilities, and give an over view of the Park's history and programming, focusing specifically on our annual exhibitions. We will be addressing questions regarding the application process, and exhibiting and working at Socrates. We highly encourage all interested applicants to join us for this event.

Please RSVP by November 1 to: mt@socratessculpturepark.org


APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Artists seeking a Socrates Sculpture Park grant are strongly encouraged to visit the Park before submitting their application. Applicants must take into account the site's rugged, urban outdoor environment and be aware that sculptures installed in the Park must meet safety requirements and be able to withstand the effects of weather and public use. Visiting the site will give applicants a clearer idea of the factors that effect installations at the Park and an overview of the facilities that the Park has to offer, including the tools and equipment available in the studio and the materials and resources available in Long Island City.

Artists can apply for one or more of the following exhibition categories:

·Spring Exhibition
·Emerging Artist Fellowship Program
·Open Space
·FLOAT

If you are applying for more than one exhibition category, you only need to send one application package.

Grants and fellowships are not available to artists who are enrolled in a school, college or university program.
Spring Exhibition
For spring 2009, the Park will present an exhibition entitled State Fair. The show will open on May 3 and remain on view until early August. State Fair will cast the Park as a fairground, creating a platform for artists who are inspired and influenced by themes and subject matter relating to American rural society. The exhibition will include works that examine topics such as animal husbandry, local agriculture, specialized horticulture, traditional craft, and presentation, pageantry and competition within these fields. The exhibition will also address the wide variety of entertainment, rides, amusements and foods traditionally presented at state fairs.

For this exhibition, Socrates will provide artists with funding, administrative and technical assistance, a one to three month residency in the outdoor studio, and access to facilities, materials and equipment to create a new work - or will assist with shipping and rigging to place an already existing work - to be presented in the Park. The amount of financial support available to artists is contingent upon the requirements of their project and the funding that Socrates receives to support this exhibition.

Eligibility:
This program is open to all artists, nationally and internationally, but Socrates cannot provide any housing or transportation. Artists living outside New York will have to make their own living and travel arrangements.

Emerging Artist Fellowship Program
Fellowship artists are selected through an open application process. Proposals are reviewed by an advisory committee composed of past EAF recipients, prominent curators, artists, writers, gallerists, and arts administrators and the Park's Executive Director and Exhibition Program Manager. Following the first round of selections, Socrates staff members meet with the artists individually to discuss their proposal in greater detail and assist them with the development, engineering and fabrication of the project.

Emerging Artist Fellowship recipients are granted financial support in the amount of $5,000, a two to six month residency in the outdoor studio, and access to facilities, materials, equipment and technical assistance to create a work for the annual Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition (opening September 2009). Fellows are also given the administrative assistance to do additional fundraising for their project, procure in-kind support and pursue future commissions, residencies and placement for their work.

Eligibility:
Fellowships are awarded to artists who are not yet well established, are New York State residents and are in need of financial assistance.

Open Space
Socrates grants are also awarded for single artist projects and collaborations that are presented as separate exhibitions throughout the year. Through the Open Space program, Socrates provides artists with funding, administrative and technical assistance, a one to six month residency in the outdoor studio, and access to facilities, materials and equipment to create a new work - or will assist with shipping and rigging to place an already existing work - for exhibition in the Park. Funding for this program varies from year to year and the amount of financial support available to artists is contingent upon the requirements of a given proposal and the grants that Socrates receives to support the Open Space exhibitions.

Eligibility:
This program is open to all artists, nationally and internationally, but Socrates can not provide any housing or transportation. Artists living outside New York will have to make their own living and travel arrangements.

FLOAT
FLOAT is a biennial series of site-specific, temporary, interactive and ephemeral works that are installed, performed and screened throughout the Park. The series was launched in 2003 to address the environment of the Park, enabling participating artists to explore site-specific practice through a variety of media and formats.

Eligibility:
This program is open to all artists, nationally and internationally, but Socrates cannot provide any housing or transportation. Artists living outside New York will have to make their own living and travel arrangements.

Information about Socrates Sculpture Park and application guidelines are now available on the web:
www.socratessculpturepark.org
SOCRATES SCULPTURE PARK
32-01 VERNON BOULEVARD (AT BROADWAY)
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11106
TEL: 718-956-1819 FAX: 718-626-1533
WWW.SOCRATESSCULPTUREPARK.ORG
EMAIL: INFO@SOCRATESSCULPTUREPARK.ORG