7th Creative City Challenge Open Call
Friday, October 12, 2018 at 7:19AMVia an October 12 News Release:
Creative City Challenge seeks proposals
2018 Creative City Challenge Winner, Carry On Homes, at the Opening Ceremony of Northern Spark 2018. Photo: Sean Smuda.
The annual City of Minneapolis Creative City Challenge competition will be sited at The Commons, the 4.2 acre public green space and an anchor in the Downtown East area transformation for the third year. The Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy Program of the City of Minneapolis in collaboration with Green Minneapolis and Northern Lights.mn and the Northern Spark festival, announce the seventh annual Creative City Challenge based on the theme of We Are Here.
Entries are being accepted now through November 26, 2018
The Creative City Challenge is conceived as a showcase for local creative talent: Minnesota-resident architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, engineers, scientists, artists, students and individuals of all backgrounds to create and install a temporary, destination artwork, which acts as a sociable and participatory platform for 4 months.
Three finalists will receive $2,500 to create full proposals. The winning Creative City Challenge proposal will receive a $50,000 commission to execute the project.
Theme
We Are Here with the subthemes Resilience, Renewal & Regeneration was generated through responses from community members in the places where Northern Spark 2019 is taking place –Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul and the American Indian Cultural Corridor in Minneapolis in addition to the Commons in downtown Minneapolis. The responses were molded into this theme by the collective voices of the Program Council, a group of nine artists of color working with Northern Lights to think differently and more rigorously about how to address tough challenges of access and opportunities in all aspects of the organization.
Eligibility
The Creative City Challenge is open to any artist living in Minnesota. For teams, the lead artist and at least 50% of the team must live in Minnesota.
Timeline
Entries are accepted until 9:00 p.m. CST, November 26, 2018. A committee of stakeholders will select three finalists by December 5. A separate jury will select the winner based on in-person presentations by the finalists on or around January 28.
The winning Creative City Challenge project will be unveiled and featured at the opening of Northern Spark, an annual late-night festival with tens of thousands of participants, taking place in Minneapolis and St. Paul on June 14 and 15, 2019, and will remain in The Commons through October 15.
Submissions
For much more information on how to apply and site specific considerations, view the full open call here.
Email creativecitychallenge@northern.lights.mn with questions.
Inspiration
Get ideas and inspiration from Creative City Challenge installations of the past!
2018: Carry On Homes
2017: Orbacles
2016: Wolf and Moose
The Creative City Challenge is produced by Northern Lights.mn in partnership with the Art, Culture and Creative Economy program of the City of Minneapolis, Green Minneapolis and The Commons.
2018 Creative City Challenge Winner, Carry On Homes, at a Poetry in the Park event, summer 2018. Photo courtesy The Commons. the Opening Ceremony of Northern Spark 2018. Photo: Christopher Sticha Photography
2016 Creative City Challenge Winner, Wolf and Moose by Christopher Lutter, Heid E. Erdrich, Kim Ford, Karl Stoerzinger, Coal Dorius and Missy Adzick. Photo by Jayme Halbritter.
2014 Creative City Challenge winner, Balancing Ground, by Amanda Lovelee, Christopher Field, Kyle Waites, and Sarah West. Convention Center Plaza, Northern Spark 2014. Photo: Kory Lidstrom.
