OuR 2023 Call Has endED…
but portions of each of our bimonthly (twice per month) workshop sessions are open to the public, so please join us! See what we’re all about, and think about applying in August 2024. See Events for the workshop schedule, (as well as other events) and we hope to see you soon.
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Call for Participants Round 1, October 2023 - May 2024
Outer Voice is a time-based arts alliance started by Portland video artist and writer Sarah Rushford. This is an open call for time-based artist participants to ally with Rushford in the first session from September 2023 through May 2024. It will be based in the 250 sq foot studio #4 at the Oregon Contemporary complex in the Kenton neighborhood of Portland, OR.
Outer Voice's mission is to provide space, community, support, and opportunity to local time-based artists and to foster community dialog around time-based art. Outer Voice will foster relationships that rely on a grounded, informed, and supportive critical dialogue among local time-based artists. They will have the opportunity to practice, exhibit, celebrate, and program in community, sharing resources, forming artistic and personal bonds, and linking with a broader network of artists, art organizations, and community members.
The small group will share an open-plan studio space with individual workspaces within a larger room (see more about the space below). Artists can work at any time in the studio. The alliance will meet for an in-person workshop once every two weeks. The studio and alliance are free, and participants will be paid a $1500 stipend.
A portion of the group workshop will be open to the public for anyone to watch and join in the dialog about the Outer Voice artists' work. This recurring open event aims to support dialog and belonging through time-based art. In addition, a group exhibition featuring each participant's work will be held in November 2023. The alliance will also be free to program more screenings, exhibitions, and workshops. As this is the first round of the alliance, more specifics regarding events will need to be established as we go.
Who Should Apply
•Applicants' contemporary art practices might resonate with the following conditions, yet if you cannot meet all of the conditions, you are still encouraged to apply. Please reach out with any questions or concerns to sarahannrushford@gmail.com
•You live in the Portland OR Metro Area or you are able to travel to it at least once every two weeks. The alliance workshops will take place in person.
•You engage in contemporary art practice in any realm of time-based art. (Outer Voice defines time-based art as art that relies on the passage of time. It can include conceptual, research, or craft-driven, video, film, audio, writing and spoken text art, performance, theater, music, action, movement, social practice, digital arts, photographic arts, animation, and more. The work should be intended as contemporary art. That is, the work should be intended to raise questions about itself, the world, and the self. If your practice is based in painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, or other media, yet it is conceptually linked to time-based contemporary art, you are also encouraged to apply, please tell us about it in the artist statement or request a phone call by emailing sarahannrushford@gmail.com to talk more about your practice. )
•All artists are encouraged to apply, and artists who are BIPOC and LGBTQ people, people with illness or disability, elderly people, parents of young children, and people who are marginalized for other reasons are encouraged to apply. The alliance seeks diversity in order to support a broad time-based arts community and to support the individuality of each artist.
•You are willing to participate in supportive, critical discussions of yours and others' work among the Outer Voice artists and in workshops open to the public.
•You are willing to lead or help organize at least one event and to attend yours and others’ events as you are able.
•You are able to participate in a group exhibition in Nov 2023.
•While collaboration among the alliance is not discouraged, it's not the mission of the alliance for the group to work collaboratively. Of course alliance members can and should help one another with elements of our work and in planning public events.
•If two artists with a joint practice wish to apply they should submit one application to represent their joint practice. They would receive one spot in the alliance.
What Artists Will Receive
•Each artist will be paid a stipend of $1500 and should use this toward funding their life and practice. No documentation of how the stipend is spent will be required.
•Each artist will be featured on a participants page in the Outer Voice website (forthcoming) and on Instagram (forthcoming).
•Each artist will receive workspace in a shared 250 sq ft open plan studio. Each artist will get an approx 50 sq ft area with table, seating, and storage cabinet within the 24-hour accessible space. The studio includes wifi, lighting, heat and ac, kitchen, and bathrooms (in the building). The grounds, building, and studio are ADA-accessible. Please note that studio items, and furniture may be required to be moved or stored during workshops and public events. Also, note that this small shared studio space isn't appropriate for practices that produce fumes or require very loud sounds or equipment. If the artists' practice requires these, they must have a space to do this kind of work offsite.
•Access to a video projector, camera, tripods, lighting, tv monitor, speakers, large format inkjet printer with ink, scanner, limited paper, other media arts equipment, and wifi.
•Limited access to "Platform" a large screening, performance, and rehearsal venue within Oregon Contemporary.
•Limited access to Oregon Contemporary's landscaped outdoor theater and hang-out areas.
•The opportunity to schedule an event that co-occurs with events and openings at Oregon Contemporary, as well as several other adjoining arts organizations. The placement within the Oregon Contemporary complex allows artists the possibility to exhibit work and form relationships with a broad contemporary art viewership.
•Participation in a group exhibition in November 2023.
What is Required of Artists
•Work on your time-based art practice. Show and discuss your current work and process.
•Participate in a two-hour partially public workshop every other week, we will meet approximately ten times and we will establish a convenient meeting time together. Each artist will lead/facilitate this workshop in an alternating fashion. The workshop will include such activities as showing work-in-progress, participating in other creative activities, discussion related to media arts, and discussing event planning.
•Assist or lead with organizing an event, and attend yours and others' events as you are able.
•Sign an agreement that states the terms of your participation in Outer Voice.
How to Apply
Send the following to sarahannrushford@gmail.com by midnight on August 22, 2023.
•A direct email, (not simply a shared google folder notification, though sending this in addition is fine) with the subject NAME OUTER VOICE APPLICATION. The email should include a link to a shared google folder that grants access to sarahannrushford@gmail.com. The folder should include:
1. Your name, email address, and website url and/or instagram name (if applicable)
2. Up to ten images of your work (the kind of work you would do if chosen as a participant) as jpgs with the naming convention LASTNAME_PART OF TITLE_01. jpg
OR
Up to ten links to online video, audio, writing, performance, or documentation of time-based works.
•Please note if you would like to include one or more works-in-progress in your application, this is fine, please indicate this in the list of works and be sure the work includes at least an image or even a sketch, and a clear description of the work’s direction in the list of works document.
3. A list of works that includes title, medium, date, duration, and short description or context for each work.
4. An artist statement that describes your work and process, your influences, and the artistic and cultural context of your work.
5. A short bio
6. A cv/resume that includes education, art and exhibition experience, and employment.
If your application is selected as a finalist Sarah will schedule a phone interview. If any of these items feel out of reach or they don’t represent your process well, you are still encouraged to apply with materials that you feel represent your work and practice, and if you would like to have a phone call in addition to your application to give more information about your practice, please let me know!