2018 Call for ProposalsThe Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts invites artists to

propose commissioned interactive artwork projects, showcasing the visual and/or performing arts, to be featured at Artscape, America’s

largest free arts festival. The deadline to submit a proposal is Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

Please read through the detailed guidelines before submitting your proposal.

Overview Criteria LOCatiOns respOnsibiLities appLy

OverviewProduced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion &

The Arts (BOPA) — the city’s arts council, events

agency and film office — Artscape is America’s

largest free arts festival, celebrating its 37th year

in 2018. Artscape attracts 350,000+ attendees

over three days, and the festival’s total economic

impact on Baltimore City is $28.5 million.

Artscape is an outdoor festival, and takes place

rain or shine. Hours of operation are Friday and

Saturday from 11am–9pm, and Sunday from

11am–7pm. Artscape After Hours, a program of

Artscape, takes place Friday and Saturday from

9–11pm, on Charles Street between Preston Street

and North Avenue.

CriteriaIn recent years, Artscape organizers have applied

an overarching theme, relevant to both the arts

and Baltimore City, into the festival’s creative

thinking. For 2018, we’re going back to the basics…

ART. For “the year we didn’t have a theme” we

encourage artists and festivalgoers to embrace

Artscape for what it is — a fully accessible, 100%

FREE, world-class arts festival — right here in the

heart of Baltimore City.

Artscape is accepting proposals for interactive

artwork projects, showcasing the visual and/

or performing arts to be featured at the festival.

Proposed artwork projects should actively engage

the audience and provide a unique and memorable

experience for festivalgoers. Artwork projects

should be compelling through design, color and

scale, and interactive wherever possible. For

performance-based artwork projects, a strong

visual component is required. In keeping with

the spirit of Artscape, all artwork projects and

performances are required to be free, open to

the public, fully accessible, and operational

for the entire festival weekend (including

inclement weather, unless a shelter-in-place is put

into effect).

Artwork projects should be designed with

considerations to safety, accessibility, large crowds

and weather elements such as rain, winds and

high temperatures. Spanning 16 city blocks in

downtown Baltimore, the festival is in the heart

of the Midtown/Bolton Hill neighborhood, and

Station North Arts & Entertainment district.

Installation and de-installation schedules vary

based on the location designated for your work.

These artwork projects are temporary in nature;

BOPA will not underwrite repairs, restoration,

storage, etc. after their use at Artscape.

Artwork projects accepted into Artscape are fully

commissioned by BOPA, with honorariums ranging

from approximately $5,000 to $25,000. Artscape

presents three categories of funding available for

works of various scales and sizes. Once Artscape

approves a budget, no additional funds will be

provided to the artists by BOPA.

Artwork and creative placemaking projects along

Charles Street will be curated and commissioned

through a separate call with most budgets ranging

from $400–$10,000.

Please note, Artscape may not be able to fully fund

your work. Artscape may be able to supplement

budgets by providing some logistical necessities

(generators, tents, volunteers, signage, etc.).

• As a base level for works with a small

footprint/scale, we recommend budgets up to

and in the area of $5,000–$10,000.

• For works with a moderate impact/scale, we

recommend budgets up to and in the area of

$10,000–$20,000.

• For works with large impact/ scale, we

recommend budgets up to and in the area

of $25,000.

• The 1500-1700 blocks of Charles Street

welcomes experiments in art and placemaking

at a variety of scales with stipends from

$400–$10,000.

LOCatiOnsWhen submitting your proposal, please keep the

festival’s site locations in mind and advise if you

have a preferred location(s).

Some of the site locations fall in the footprint of

Artscape After Hours, which is open 9–11pm on

Friday and Saturday nights. Artwork projects

within this footprint must provide programming

and be operational during this time period

(in addition to the daytime hours of the festival).

1. Kidscape — pearlstone park: Artscape

is looking for several artwork projects to

accompany Kidscape, the festival’s offerings

for school-aged children (arts/crafts,

organizations/exhibitors, performances,

family-friendly entertainment). Kidscape is

open 11am–8pm on Friday and Saturday, and

11am–7pm on Sunday.

2. Dance Camp @ artscape — Charles and

preston streets: Artscape is looking for

artwork projects to complement Dance Camp

@ Artscape, Artscape’s commissioned program

by Guardian Dance Company. Dance Camp is a

performance-based artwork project featuring

interactive dance workshops, high-energy

performances, professional competitions and

nightly social dances. Dance Camp @ Artscape

is open 11am–11pm on Friday and Saturday

(part of Artscape After Hours), and 11am–7pm

on Sunday.

3. Lyric park — Mt. royal avenue at Oliver street:

This area of the festival is open 11am–9pm on

Friday and Saturday, and 11am–7pm on Sunday.

4. non-site specific locations will also be

considered based on logistical factors and

festival’s approval.

5. the 1500–1700 blocks of Charles street

will be treated as an experiment in culturally

complete streets. Artists and residents are

invited to collaborate within the realms of

tactical urbanism and creative placemaking to

create a walkable creative coordidor adorned

with diverse artwork, public furniture, parklets

and play sculpture and more. Collaborations

and experimentation is encouraged.

As planning for the festival progresses, additional

site locations may become available, as well as

may become inaccessible.

respOnsibiLitiesartscape/bOpa

• Provides funding to the artists; funding ranging

from approximately $5,000 to $25,000 based

on impact level of work

• Assigns a festival-appointed project

coordinator to serve as your festival-liaison and

on-site contact

• Provide volunteers (requested in advance;

based on availability)

• Provides generators, fuel and power

distribution

• Provides a safe and secure festival and

atmosphere

• Marketing and promotional opportunities

artists

• Creates, installs and de-installs the artwork

projects

• Ensures artwork projects are fully operational

for entire festival weekend

• Has existing insurance, with BOPA and the City

of Baltimore listed as insured

appLyApply for an Artwork Project(s) here.

Apply for a Charles Street Creative Projects(s) here.