Call to Hire Ceramics Consultant for Large-Scale Public Artwork
Project: Ceramic Water Vessel Consultant for Queen City (w/t) by Nekisha Durrett
About the project: Queen City (w/t) by Nekisha Durrett is a large-scale, permanent public artwork commission for an extensive development project in Arlington, VA. The project will invite the public to relearn a forgotten and erased history of an area that thrived before it became the headquarters of our country’s department of defense. Durrett pays homage to Queen City, the Black, self-sustaining neighborhood of 40 years before it fell victim to the Pentagon’s construction in 1941, by building a well-like tower structure that peers over trees and architecture in order to mark the site of what existed before. Also occupiable, Queen City (w/t) will invite park goers and visitors alike to enter its intimate, dark, and quiet reflection space that also memorializes 903 individuals of the community who were displaced during the demolition of the neighborhood. With this opportunity, Durrett will continue to invest in today’s Black industries by working with Black-owned construction companies and brick masons and by commissioning Black ceramists working in the area and beyond to make ceramic teardrop vessels that are the shape and color of a drop of water.
HIRED CERAMIC CONSULTANT SCOPE OF WORK
● Work closely with Artist and Public Art Manager to coordinate ceramic component of the artwork including:
○ to create commission guidelines for multiple ceramic artists ○ to select qualified ceramic artists and communicate with them what is needed
○ to set up a system for vessel production
○ to research and collect installation and attachment procedures for 903 vessels to be permanently affixed inside the structure
○ to design a maintenance packet and cleaning schedule for the site owners and operators
● Attend weekly meetings as needed with Design and Construction team
● Be available and communicative by email during the project schedule
PROJECT SCHEDULE
Feb-March 2022: Ceramic consultant on-boarded
Spring 2022: Artists selected and prompted
Summer 2022*: Vessels in production
Fall 2022*: Vessels shipped to staging area
Winter 2023*: Installation on site
* schedule subject to change
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
● Cover letter describing leadership experience, and/or diverse experience in various modes of ceramic production
● Artist Resume, Bio, and Website link
● Ten (10) digital images of most recent artwork, must include ceramics examples
● Contact information
● Preference given to African Diaspora artists
Timeline: Application questions by February 18, 2022; Application submissions due February 24, 2022; interviews February 28, and March 1, 2022; Ceramic Consultant start Date March 2/9, 2022.
Application Due: February 24, 2022 at 11:59pm
Submission Directions: Please condense all materials into a single PDF saved as “Your Name_Ceramic Consultant Application” and send to Public Art Manager, Sam Giarratani, sam@negativespace.rocks.
Attachments: Refer to the images in the forthcoming pages of this call.
Contact: Sam Giarratani, sam@negativespace.rocks
ABOUT
Nekisha Durrett (www.nekishadurrett.com): Nekisha Durrett is a mixed-media artist who employs the visual language of mass media to bring forward histories that objects, places, and words embody, but are not often celebrated. Her expansive practice includes public art, social practice, installation, murals, painting, sculpture and design. Durrett is invested in foregrounding issues of Black life while creating a space where fantasy, imagination, and history converge.
ABOUT NEGATIVE SPACE (www.negativespace.rocks):
Passionate about collaborating with socially-engaged artists, architects, organizers, communities, and organizations, Negative Space helps them to produce contemporary and multidisciplinary public art that advances their social justice missions. We unite a spectrum of disciplines under principles of inclusivity, empathy, transparency, and accessibility.
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