10/27/2022
2023 Call for Art
FenceART: A Rotating Public Art Project
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2023
Submission Fee: $0
Read Full Call for Artists Below
What is FenceART
FenceART is a year-round outdoor public art project committed to showcasing juried work by local artists, in a broad range of styles and media. Our installations are purposefully temporary, informal and accessible.
About the project
Each year a jury-chosen group of 20 images are printed on high quality vinyl banners. This format allows artists of all media to participate, and no artist fees are charged.
The banners rotate in small groups to 5 public fence locations in Newton for approximately 8-10 weeks at a time. Over the course of a year, all 20 works are shown at all 5 locations. The locations are chosen to engage varied demographics, in a range of neighborhoods. Each banner group contains diverse media and styles, to interest viewers with widely varied artistic preferences.
Artist volunteers help run the project. Our budget is funded by local grants, and our locations are permitted. In 2022, FenceART is funded in part by a grant from the Newton Cultural Council. Newton Community Pride acts as our Fiscal Agent.
Artist Eligibility
All artists who currently reside, work, volunteer, worship, or participate in art classes in the City of Newton are invited to submit work for this public art project. Artists may submit 3 jpegs of work in any media, including but not limited to photography, painting, quilting, collage, and photos of 3D work. Exception: Artists accepted in any year must skip a year before applying again. (i.e., artists who’s work is currently on view as part of FenceART may not apply in this round).
Attribution
Artist name, image title, and artist website will be included on the banner by the signage team. Other than a signature that may already be included on the original artwork, please leave attribution to the signage team. Continued
Timeline
-- Deadline for submission is Wednesday December 1, 2022.
-- Accepted artists will be contacted by Friday, December 10, 2022.
-- Accepted artist list will be published on the FenceART page by Friday, December 10, 2022.
-- Banners go into rotation in February 2023 and remain in rotation for approximately one year.
IMAGE REQUIREMENTS
-- Please do not enlarge images before submitting.
-- Do submit the largest version of the image that you have. Our team will enlarge as needed.
-- Image files must be Jpegs, and may be up to 10 meg.
-- Submit images that are crisply in-focus. The better the details look, the better it will work as an enlarged banner.
-- While our optimal size for printing is 4000 to 7200 pixels in the wider direction, we have had good results with smaller images — we will tell you if we have a problem with the size of your file.
-- Do not submit images with digital watermarks.
-- How to Photograph Your Artwork For Best Results,* see below
If you have any questions about images sizes or photographing work, please contact Ellen Fisher at [email protected].
SUBMITTING
When submitting, please tell us how you learned about this call for artists.
-- Submit up to 3 images. Each image may be up to 10 meg in file size.
-- Submit images by email with a subject line of “Newton FenceArt Submission” to [email protected]
-- To prevent your email program from shrinking the image files, attach images as “actual size” or in a zip file. If your email program suggests sending via icloud, that’s a fine option.
-- Submissions will receive an acknowledgement email reply within 24 hours on business days (it’s not automated). If you do not receive an acknowledgement email, please send an inquiry email without jpegs attached, so we can diagnose why the email failed to reach us.
-- Artists who’s work is chosen give FenceART permission to use the image in promotional materials.
-- Questions?
Contact FenceART Curator Ellen Fisher, [email protected]
*How to Photograph Your Artwork For Best Results:
-- Cloudy outdoor lighting is your best/easiest option. A covered porch or positioning near a large window can work well.
-- Photograph 2D work with the camera (or phone) at the same angle as the artwork:
if the work is leaning against a wall, lean the camera to the same angle. In the viewfinder, if the work looks larger on one side, or at the top or bottom, your camera is not at the correct angle. The work should look “square” to all four edges of the viewfinder.
-- When using a phone to photograph, always check the image on a computer or other larger screen, to make sure it really is crisp. Using a good camera is your best bet, but we do understand that many people depend on their phones now to take photos of their artwork.
-- See these websites for tips. If you are using your phone, don’t worry about the references to camera settings. The rest of the info about lighting, turning off your flash, camera angle etc, are still very relevant.
-- vimeo.com/20503333
-- theartleague.org/blog/2015/08/13/the-zero-budget-guide-to-photographing-artwork/
