Opportunity: The Palo Alto Public Art Program is inviting individual artists, collectives, and keystone community leaders/artist partnerships experienced in creative community engagement and outreach, to apply to be part of the first two rounds of King Artist Residencies for the Palo Alto Public Art Program. The selected artist or team will be asked to engage the community in conversations about equity, inclusion, and belonging in Palo Alto, resulting in a final artwork that will be displayed on Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King Plaza in front of City Hall for a period of 6 months to one year.

Eligibility: This opportunity is open to individuals over the age of 18 and residing in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz and San Francisco counties. We strongly encourage artists who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to apply. An ideal candidate would be an individual or collective, whose artistic practice is rooted in empathetic collaboration, civic engagement, and critical discourse. They would be open to meaningful community outreach and partnerships, aware of their own biases, able and willing to recognize and address shared challenges in the Palo Alto community, and able to amplify the voices of diverse community members.

Scope: The selected artist/team will be tasked with virtually and physically (if allowed) engaging with the Palo Alto community in creative ways – which may include art making, creative storytelling, music, movement, or other methods to gather feedback and stories about equity, inclusion, and belonging in Palo Alto. It is anticipated that the selected artist will take up to six months to do this outreach and research, and they may be provided with a temporary studio/work space in Palo Alto. At the conclusion of the residency, the artist will create an artwork based on the interactions with the community centering on a particular equity topic. The temporary artwork may be two dimensional and recreated on a banner format on the front of City Hall, or may have a more sculptural form on King Plaza. (Public Art Program staff is open to various ideas about methodologies and manifestation of final artwork). The artwork must be suitable for all ages viewing. The Public Art Program staff will provide final approval as the final artwork is developed.

View the FULL CALL and APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Contact us at nadya.chuprina@cityofpaloalto.org with any requests for additional information.