ARTINA 2017

An Exhibition Presented by the Washington Sculptors Group and Sandy Spring Museum (SSM)

*click here to download the full call (PDF)

LOCATION:
17901 Bentley Rd, Sandy Spring, MD 20860
(301) 774-0022
Website: www.sandyspringmuseum.org
Phone: 301-774-0022
Contact: Allison Weiss, aweiss@sandyspringmuseum.org
Open: Wednesdays–Saturdays from 10 am–5 pm. Open after hours for programming.
Grounds are accessible any time.

EXHIBITION DATES: June 20, 2017–September 30, 2017

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Entries must be posted on the EntryThingy website byApril 1, 2017 (midnight).

ENTRY FEE: $5 + current WSG membership

JUROR: Ursula Achternkamp
German born curator and artist Ursula Achternkamp currently lives and works in an international artist-in-residence program in Stuttgart at the Akademy Schloß Solitude, a joint project between Robert Bosch GmbH, Akademie Schloss Solitude and Wimmelforschung. The purpose of the Fellowship is to support encounters as well as interdisciplinary exchange in the context of science, economy, and art. The collaboration’s aim is not the production of a specific artistic work, but the encounter and the process of intercommunication itself.

Achternkamp studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Münster (D) and the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Genève (CH). Beside her own artistic works she freelanced at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and was part of several Exhibition-Projects such as: curating the Permanent Exhibition of the Bauhaus-Settlement Dessau-Törten in the Konsumbuilding of Walter Gropius; being part of the curatorial team of Archilab Europe–Strategic Architecture (Cooperation of the Bauhaus Dessau with the FRAC Centre, Orléans, France 2008); as well as contributing to Projectwork at the International Building Exhibition IBA Urban Redevelopment Saxony-Anhalt Less is Future. She has shown her own artistic works in several group and solo exhibitions such as in the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Germany, Latvia, and Switzerland.

Participating in an international and interdisciplinary Bauhaus-Kolleg EU-Urbanism (2006-07) she investigated “After-Effects for a City” by taking part at the European Capital of Culture program (research in Luxembourg (LU) and Sibiu (RU) 2007). She was artist in Residence at the Nomadic Village organized by Klaus Mähring with ISIS Arts/ County Durham (GB) and AIR in Havelberg (D) and in Roja (LV). She was awarded residencies in 2011/12 at the Akademie Schloß Solitude in Stuttgart (D) Fellow Section Architecture, guest of the International Summer Program of the Raketenstation Hombroich (D) in 2012 and 2013, where she was invited as curator for the program in 2015.

Achternkamp also collaborated with The Philosophical Farmers (Die Philosophischen Bauern), participated in the development and landing of UFO with Niklas Nitzschke in the frame of CULBURB (Cultural Acupuncture Treatment for Suburb) of the Centre for Central European Architecture in Prague. With Stefan Gruber, Klaus Fischedick, Chloé Zimmermann and Tina Wintersteiger active as “C’mon C’mmons.”

She gained the Prix 2006 de la Fondation Gertrude Hirzel, Prix Neumann de la Ville de Genève in 2004, and in 2001 the Förderpreis of the Art Academy Münster.

ABOUT ARTINA 2017:
ART IN NATURE marks the second call for a cooperation between the Washington Sculptors Group and the Sandy Spring Museum within a cross-Atlantic partnership of internationally acclaimed curators. Sandy Spring Museum is a special place, away from the bustle of daily routine and fashionable trends from the city. It is an invitation to enter into the adventure of a direct encounter with art and nature and its rural historically grown landscape. Visitors are free to walk their own way around the museum and its park and adjacent woods and make their own discoveries of art and nature alike. This freedom of the spirit is at the heart of the Museum’s particular charm. A day at the Sandy Spring Museum awakens the senses.

The aim is to create awareness among visitors and communities to reconnect with nature today as well as in the future. Art functions as a mediator between nature and the people to generate public attention and awareness by promoting a healthier and environmentally more meaningful and sustainable life. Life in and with nature can be experienced as living systems and can be experienced as nature’s regenerative power and the capability to recover from damage. A diverse layered concept of ART IN NATURE helps to understand, appreciate, and value the ecosystem offered by nature and its natural systems and cycles. Art functions not only as an esthetic stimulator to design a creative and sustainable environment, but helps to understand the connection between man and nature. One can find its beauty in materials, forms and living systems, and fields of science that artists can convey, in which the arts create the trans-disciplinary realm outside a world of utilitarianism.

WSG and SSM seek a collaboration to enhance communities’ social engagement with nature, and the environment through concepts of participation and collaboration and contemporary concepts. A diverse and multilayered program creates a broader platform for today’s highly diverse audience that needs to be approached through diverse artistic relationships to nature that can be natural, environmentally friendly, architectural, conceptual, narrative, representational, time-based, and interdisciplinary to regenerate our deep connection with nature.

CALL DESCRIPTION:
ARTINA 2017 – (Re)Use and Abuse of the Land
In collaboration with the Sandy Spring Museum, the Washington Sculptors Group seeks to realize a Land Use Project that addresses issues of how we use our land today and in the future. Artists are invited to look into matters of deep time, the history or the current condition of local and regional observations (or through research) that will raise public awareness of environmental issues for the future.

In continuation of ARTINA 2016, WSG and the Sandy Spring Museum will proceed with their shared philosophy of connections between nature and humankind, including nature as a living system for a more environmentally meaningful and sustainable life, as well as key issues involving our ecosystem and its regeneration and recovery through the arts as a mediator.

With emphasis on the use, reuse and abuse of the land, artists will be encouraged to focus on local or regional findings or research that generate discoveries on a global level. Artists will emphasize their main focus with concepts of mapping and meaning, identification of places, or exploring geographies. Artists will also be inspired and motivated by the actual condition of the land, its surroundings, its history and deep time discoveries, or by suburban developments and their impact on the environment.

Artists will raise questions about their findings (such as with sticks, trees, mud, bricks, rocks etc.) and insights that create a preview of the work on site at the Sandy Spring Museum. WSG and the Sandy Spring Museum will seek outdoor artwork that engages concepts of the land we use, occupy, exploit, reuse or abuse within the given context of “Art in Nature” as a metaphor for an environmentally meaningful and sustainable life.

The Sandy Spring Museum will help to provide maps and to connect with schools or youth groups such as the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, or with the general public in order to link the artists’ concepts with their work and with visitors. The exhibition will engage artists on site that involves collecting materials on site or from home and connect with the artwork; include developing and gaining space-digital presentation or projection; incorporate a participatory artist project at the opening reception; and introduce a performance artist or dancer who interacts with the various art sites during the opening reception.

The Sandy Spring Museum and WSG intend to provide a program that relates to the exhibition between June and mid October 2017. We encourage artists to seek a relationship with its audience through socially engaged art through collaboration, participation, dialogue, provocation, and immersive experiences. The SSM and WSG focus on process and seek to embed themselves within the communities.

ABOUT THE SANDY SPRING MUSEUM:
The Sandy Spring Museum is a place where people make meaningful connections to community history through the cultural arts. The museum is a gathering place with interactive projects, artist studios, changing exhibits, evening programming, live music, and opportunities for the public to use the museum facility in order to build community.

ABOUT THE SITE:
The Sandy Spring Museum is located on 7+ acres of land, 3 acres of which are heavily forested. The remainder is naturally landscaped with mature trees. Sculptures can be exhibited throughout the property, including upon two 12’x 12’ concrete pads. Artists can also use a wooden trellis that blooms with wisteria in the spring and extends the entire length of the property.

ELIGIBILITY:
The exhibition is open to current members of the Washington Sculptors Group only. Artists may join WSG by paying annual dues of $45 ($15 for full-time students). Prospective members may download a membership form from the WSG website, www.washingtonsculptors.org and send in a check, or may join online with your submission to the exhibition.

WSG members must have paid their dues for 2017 by the entry deadline to be eligible for this exhibition. The address label is on this Call or the most recent copy of the WSG newsletter, The Washington Sculptor, will show your membership status (example: MEMBER THROUGH 2017). Notices for 2017 dues were mailed Dec. 2016.

HONRARIUM
The Sandy Spring Museum will award an honorarium specifically for those artists who develop concepts that are either socially engaged or include participatory, collaborative, or time-based projects with local communities or neighborhoods. The award of the honorarium is at the discretion of Sandy Spring Museum.

WORK TO BE CONSIDERED:
– Artist or artist teams are welcome to submit pre-existing artwork or a proposed artwork that reflects on the theme ART IN NATURE. Artists who apply will install their work in accordance with either the provided artist proposal or in collaboration with the exhibition team and Sandy Spring Museum.
– A maximum of 5 images per artist or team will be considered.

In addition, please include:
– A description of where the project pieces are to be placed
– The background or narrative information about the artwork or proposal
– An explanation of how the project relates to the site
– Any maintenance that will be required during the course of the exhibition
– A list of materials, machinery, tools, or volunteer workforce you want to request from SSM
– And whether there is light, sound, or movement that may impact the ability of others to experience nearby artworks

NOTE:
If an artist is proposing a work that involves community participation, SSM may be able to recruit volunteers to assist with the creation or installation of an artist’s work. Requested assistance will need to be coordinated between SSM and the artist. To make arrangements with SSM and get support from volunteers, selected artists will be required to discuss specifics about the site, setting, and layout of the installation with SSM staff and exhibition coordinators. Artists may choose to install their work with public participation and involvement during the installation period, or if required, over the life of the artwork.

Artists will submit a proposal in .doc or .pdf format containing the project description, concept sketches or renderings, and any other information pertaining to the proposed project. In addition, artists will provide up to 5 images of existing work in .jpg format titled portfolio001”–‘portfolio005”.jpg.” Submit all images with a resolution of 300 dpi and a maximum of 2MB each. It is recommended that artists visit the Sandy Spring Museum to get a sense of the surroundings and possibilities prior to submitting an application. Artists can visit the site seven days a week, at any time. If you wish to meet with museum staff, please contact Allison Weiss ahead of time at (301) 774-0022 or aweiss@sandyspringmuseum.org.

The official opening reception will be held Thursday, June 29th from 6:30–9:30 pm. Selected artists are invited to the reception opening to the public to engage visitors with hands-on activities. SSM reserves the right to make photo documentation for promotional and archival purposes, both print and electronic.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTRYTHINGY

The EntryThingy website allows entering information about your entries and viewing by the juror.
1) Applicants should go to http://www.entrythingy.com/ and click on the tab (at top) “for artists”.
2) Click on “list of current calls”.
3) Scroll down and click on the ART IN NATURE listing.
4) Create a login account to http://www.entrythingy.com/ if you don’t have an account, or if you do, login to your existing account with the “Click here to login” button. After logging in, select theSculpture REMIX 2017: Craft/Technology/Artcall and complete the entry steps.
5) There is a $5 entry fee.
6) All applicants will receive ‘accepted’ or ‘not accepted’ notifications via email.
Assistance with submissions is available by email request: contact entries@washingtonsculptors.org.

NOTE REGARDING ENTRYTHINGY FILES
When uploading your images, you will be provided space for six uploads. That number is for 5 images and an artist statement. Do not send any more than five images as if there is a sixth image it will be discarded.

INSURANCE, COMMISSIONS, AND SALES
SSM will insure the work after the work is delivered and the exhibition loan agreement is signed. Insurance during transportation is the responsibility of the artist. There will be no commission taken by the venue of any work sold during the exhibition. Purchase inquiries will be directed to the artist.

CALENDAR

February 15, 2017 CFE open call Entrythingy.com
April1, 2017 Application deadline midnight (EST)
April 13, 2017 Juror’s artist selection

April 16, 2017 Artist Notification
June 15-19, 2017 Artwork Installation
June 20, 2017 Show Opening
June 29, 2017 Opening Reception
September, 30 2017 End of show
October 1-8, 2017 De-installation
CONTACT – WSG EXHIBITION MANAGERS:
Assistance with submissions is available by email at: entries@washingtonsculptors.org
The Exhibition Managers:
Tom Petzwinkler (703) 209-8786 – tpetzwin@gmail.com
Artemis Herber (216) 269-9983 – artemisherber@mac.com

HELPFUL LINKS
http://www.creativityworks.org.uk/our-impact/socially-engaged-art/
https://www.facebook.com/International.Visitors.Programme.NRW/posts/687967411338976
1 Moore, R. (2014). Nature Play & Learning Places. Creating and managing places where children engage with nature. Raleigh, NC: Natural Learning Initiative and Reston, VA: National Wildlife Federation
Version 1.6 ISBN 978-0-9907713-0-2
Watch this video on Vimeo:
https://vimeo.com/124093543
Watch “Nikolay Polissky in Nikola-Lenivets” on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/124093543
http://www.inselhombroich.de/en/museum-insel-hombroich/museum/
http://www.achternkamp-ursula.de/
http://www.omiartscenter.org/
http://stormking.org/sculpture-guide/
http://www.skulpturenparkkoeln.de/en/exhibition-koelnskulptur/koelnskulptur-8.html
http://taak.me/?post_type=nk_project&lang=en