ArtWorks Call for Climate Resiliency Photography and Storytelling

Entry Deadline: June 30, 2023

Call Type: Competition

Eligibility

Residents of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and the 29 Tribal Nations within FEMA Region 8

Description

Artists, have you been affected by climate change or other environmental events? Have you ever channeled that experience into your artwork? If so, we invite you to submit your work to us. We are looking for artwork that focuses on climate resilience. 

ArtWorks is interested in art that highlights the challenges of adapting to a changing climate. We would like to see work that also captures the real ways natural hazards affect our lives and communities. We also recognize that resilience comes from confronting the challenges we face. We are seeking images of climate resilience (plus the stories that go with them). 

FEMA knows that socially vulnerable communities bear the brunt of effects from climate change and are more likely to be impacted by the associated extreme weather events. For this reason, we are particularly interested in submissions that reflect the resilience in socially vulnerable communities. 

All established and emerging artists or artist collectives are encouraged to participate in this call for art. Please submit your artwork to help raise awareness, inspire a dialogue, and encourage action to build a more sustainable and resilient future. 

More about ArtWorks and this Call for Art

FEMA Region 8 ArtWorks is extending this call for art. ArtWorks is a FEMA program that connects the arts with hazard mitigation. This is part of FEMA’s Region 8, which includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 29 Tribal Nations. The goal is to help communities grow more aware and able to protect themselves from natural risks, such as floods, wildfire, drought, and climate change. The program reframes conversations on how to reduce hazard risks before disasters. Its tools are creative, emotional, sensory and community-oriented interpretations through the arts. Climate resilience photography and storytelling is the focus. 

The ArtWorks team wants to highlight climate resilience across the diverse range of FEMA Region 8 communities, tribal nations, and individuals. A changing climate impacts us daily. We hope this call for art will help us see how people and communities adapt to and overcome these impacts. 

What to Submit

Please submit your images and stories that talk about them. Accompanying stories can be in text, audio, or video and may focus on your own approach to overcoming climate change. Some examples of image themes might be social strength, building community, occupations, cultural values and traditions. Other examples are improving infrastructure, protecting natural systems, or other areas of daily life. This is a chance to showcase what climate resilience looks like to you. 

We encourage all artists to use storytelling in their proposal. Feel free to share quotes, emotions, reflections, or experiences that depict how you responded to a climate challenge or how environmental changes have had an impact on your life, your work, or your community.

Details 

* Project Amount: $7,000

* Up to six awards will be made. 

* $7,000 per award for licensing and use rights. 

Medium

• Photography
• Stories (text, audio, or video)   

Audience

• The public, including children and adults of all ages.

Entry Requirements

• Artists should live in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, or Wyoming, or on the land of the 29 tribal nations served within those states. Artist collectives should be based there.
• The art may not include copyrighted materials or brands. 
• The art should connect to local communities, tribal nations, or individuals in the areas noted above. 
• The art must incorporate climate resilience in a meaningful way. 
• The artist or collective should agree with the terms and conditions in the licensing agreement.
• There is no entry fee. 

Jury Considerations

• Does the artwork compel the viewer to engage with climate resilience?
• Does the artwork invite a deeper engagement and understanding of the content within the communities they depict?
• How does the artwork encourage a response, action or adaptation to a changing climate and reality? 
• How does the artwork show the impact of disruption and disaster on historically underserved communities?

Informational Session Information

This session will provide more information on climate resilience topics. We will answer your questions about the content, process, or logistics of this call for art. If you are unable to attend, you can access the slide deck and the Q&A on the submittable page after this session. You do not need to attend, and attendance will not have an impact on your score. 

Session Date: May 25, 3:30 - 5:00 PM 

Register for Information Session: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pc-GgrT4jH91Jnn4KPpXq2uemDmTw7kwH

Please direct questions or comments to FEMA-ArtWorks@fema.dhs.gov

Application Checklist: 

1. Submission Title
2. Contact Information (lead contact’s name, email, and address, and any partners or collaborators)
3. Image (s) - applicants can submit 1 - 5 images to support a single story
4. Storytelling component (writing, audio, video, etc).

APPLY NOW

Make sure you have a free submittable login and password, and you can start your application now by scrolling to the bottom of this page to begin filling out your information. 

Key Terms Defined

Community resilience is a community’s ability to prepare for natural hazards like flooding, wildfires, drought, severe storms, etc. It includes how communities are able to adapt to changing conditions, and withstand and recover rapidly from disruptions. Activities such as disaster preparedness (such as prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery), and reducing community stressors (the underlying social, economic, and environmental conditions that can weaken a community) are key steps to resilience.

Hazard mitigation is any sustainable action that reduces or eliminates the long-term risk to people and property from future disasters. Mitigation planning breaks the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Hazard mitigation includes long-term solutions that reduce the impact of disasters in the future. See some examples of hazard mitigation here: Mitigation Action Portfolio. 

Climate adaptation is actions by an individual, local, regional, or national entity to reduce the risks of today’s changed climate conditions and to prepare for the impacts of changes projected for the future. Examples include working with nature to reduce heat islands and to absorb water to reduce flooding impacts. 

Project Timeline

• May 1 – Call opens for 60 days 
• May 25, 3:30 to 5:00 pm - Informational Session on Zoom.
• June 30,  2023 - Call Closes 
• July - Evaluation and selection by committees
• August - Sept - Licensing and payment agreements awarded

Optional Opt-In to FEMA’s Stories of Resilience Database
FEMA’s Stories of Resilience: Voices that Inspire connects communities across the country through personal narratives. These stories have one goal: to build a more resilient nation. We want to learn more about your journey toward resilience. Sharing your wins and challenges can help others learn from your experience. Your story may be featured on FEMA.gov or used in other FEMA products. If your story is accepted, you will be contacted by the Stories of Resilience team for further information. Stories may be selected for Stories of Resilience, the ArtWorks call for Climate Resilience Photography and Storytelling, or both. The Stories of Resilience selection is optional and voluntary. It does not include a payment for licensing and use.

To Opt-In, please make sure to check the box that will appear at the end of the application to participate in the Stories of Resilience Database.

The INSITE Fund is a grant program administered by RedLine and made possible by the The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting program. This fund responds to the gap in funding support for artist-driven projects on Colorado’s Front Range. INSITE is a 2-year, $60,000.00 per year, grant program, adding to and reinforcing the importance of funding opportunities that are accessible directly to artists working in an expansive field of ideas, audiences and visual arts practices.

Visual Arts

INSITE Fund awards grants to public facing visual arts projects that take place beyond the studio, museum, art center or traditional gallery setting.

INSITE Fund specifically seeks to support projects that expand the public’s understanding of the visual arts. The intended outcome of the funding is to make visible often unseen and under-supported artistic activity, and to cultivate engaged communities around the work.

Location

Projects must take place within a 115 mile radius of Denver, within in the state of Colorado. Geographic boundaries for the grant funding area are Norfolk to the North, Pueblo to the South, Akron to the East, and Wolcott to the West.

Funding Amounts:

In 2023 INSITE Fund will award 6-12 grants of $5,000-$10,000 each for a total $60,000 in grant funding. We encourage applicants to consider all expenses related to their project, including production, marketing, reception, and documentation.

Eligibility requirements:

1. All projects must be anchored in a visual arts practice.

2. Grant funds are intended for individual artists and artist collectives.

3. The fund does not support 501(c)3 (non profit) organizations. The fund is meant to support short-term initiatives, events, and new collaborations.

4. Funded projects must take place within a 80 mile radius of Denver.

5. Lead artist/organizer must reside within a 80 mile radius of Denver.

6. Funded projects should take place outside of the traditional gallery, art center, studio, or museum location.

7. The fund does not support an individual’s ongoing studio practice, underwrite exhibitions in existing program schedules, or works of traditional theater.

8. Projects must be completed within a 12-month grant cycle.

9. Projects must be presented in publicly accessible spaces, with covid precautions taken into consideration as needed.

Jury Considerations:

● Location (Is the project within the geographic region?)

● Audience engagement (Does the project take place in a publicly accessible space?)

● Innovation / Authenticity (Does the project add to and expand definitions/understandings of the visual arts?)

● Collaboration (How does the project leverage collaboration in service of audience engagement?)

● Professional Presentation / Performance / Execution (Does the concept and presentation of the concept demonstrate artistic strength and merit?)

FOR CURRENT ARTS IN SOCIETY GRANTEES:

Arts in Society requires that final narrative and financial reports be submitted together within 60 days of the completion of the funded project and no later than the date stated in the grant award letter, or as modified in subsequent correspondence. Grant recipients who do not submit final reports are ineligible for further Arts in Society funding. If unusual circumstances arise that may create delays in reporting or significantly alter the progress of the funded project, please promptly inform the Arts in Society Program Manager.

FOR CURRENT ARTS IN SOCIETY GRANTEES:

An interim report is required for 2 year grants. Please submit your interim report at the midway point in your project completion. Upon receipt of your interim report any additional grant funds will be disbursed.