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CALL FOR PROPOSALS

If you had five hours to present a work of sculpture in a public park, what would you create?
 
Montalvo Arts Center is reaching out to artists of all disciplines and interdisciplinary collaborative teams interested in experimenting with public practice and exploring the creative possibilities of  temporary “sculpture” in our 175 acre public park. We are looking for innovative proposals for events, temporary installations, interventions, gestures, actions, participatory engagements, and spectacular intrusions, all of which would occur during a five hour period from 5-10pm on Friday, July 22, 2016.

Special consideration will be given to proposals that address at least one of these curatorial areas of focus:

  • Creatively reimagine what a public park can be, how it can be used, and who it is for
  • Respond to the specificity of Montalvo as a hybrid site where history, nature, and culture intersect
  • Embrace our publics as collaborators
  • Use our grounds in innovative and unexpected ways
 
Priority will be given to artists who have not publicly shown their work at Montalvo before. Limited live/work studio space is available at Montalvo’s Lucas Artists Residency Program for selected artists not based locally in the Bay Area.
 
Projects will be reviewed and selected by Montalvo Arts Center’s curatorial team in collaboration with a leading international curator/critic. Participants will receive a modest budget to assist in the realization of their project. The selected projects will be documented in an online publication. In some instances, depending on the nature of the project and location, select works may remain on view through the summer.
 
We will be holding tours of Montalvo’s grounds with the opportunity to ask questions and find out more on Saturday, April 9 and Wednesday, April 20 from 11am-1pm.
  
Please note that the deadline for receipt of applications is 5pm Pacific Standard Time on Monday, May 2, 2016. Please see the guidelines below for further information about the application process.
ABOUT MONTALVO ARTS CENTER & ITS GROUNDS
Located in Saratoga, California in the heart of Silicon Valley, Montalvo Arts Center is situated on a 175 acre public park that includes hiking trails through redwood and live oak forests, cultivated gardens featuring native and non-native plant and tree species, and expansive lawn areas.
 
A former private estate, Montalvo was left to the people of California in 1930 by former Mayor of San Francisco and California Senator James Duval Phelan. The property includes a Mediterranean-style villa built in 1912, and a collection of historical statuary and architectural structures from this period. More recent additions to the property include indoor and outdoor theatres, a 1000-square-foot gallery, and the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Residency Program Commons Building and Artists’ Studios.
 
Montalvo Arts Center’s mission is to create and present arts of all types, nurture artists, and use our historic Villa, buildings, and grounds in innovative ways that engage people in the creative process. The heart of the Center is the Sally and Don Lucas Artists Program (LAP), which serves as a creative incubator supporting artists from all disciplines and geographical areas as they create and present new and adventurous work, take risks, and explore collaborative and cross-disciplinary investigations of contemporary issues.
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ABOUT MONTALVO’S ART ON THE GROUNDS PROGRAM 
Montalvo Arts Center’s Art on the Grounds commissioning and exhibition program provides artists with opportunities to develop and present new works of art in the context of a 175-acre public park. Artists are encouraged to experiment with innovative models of art-making in the public sphere and consider novel ways of engaging with Montalvo’s varied grounds and publics. New works produced through this program include:
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  • Durational projects developing out of community engagement activities and workshops such as Andrea Blum’s community picnic and photo shoot, My American Pantry Montalvo and Ana Gallardo’s A Place to Live When We Are Old, which brought together people of all ages together through dance, and created a community gathering space modeled after the traditional Mexican plaza.

  • Sculptural objects, site conditioned interventions, and functional design, including Christopher Loomis’s Twisted Heart and the Eucalyptus Muse, a semi-permanent seating element for Montalvo’s historic Italianate Garden constructed from reclaimed Blue-Gum Eucalyptus; and Jeffrey Miller and Amy Trachtenberg’s Creekside Studio, an art-making studio and education classroom in the woods.

  • Time-based events and experiences, and sound works such as Rock the Garden: Performance in the Park, which featured new performance works sited around Montalvo’s property by such artists as Pamela Z and Joanna Haigood, and Kianga Ford’s You are here. man. mountain. valley. sky, a site-specific audio experience with a four-channel musical intervention by Mamoru Okuno.

Montalvo’s annual Art on the Grounds summer celebration routinely draws upwards of 2,000 visitors.
HOW TO APPLY

All applications are due by 5pm Pacific Standard Time on Monday, May 2, 2016.
 
We appreciate the time it takes to submit a project proposal and look forward to reading your submission! 
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You will be prompted via Wufoo to answer a series of questions. Each question must be answered for your application to be considered:
 
1. General Contact Information 

2. Details About Your Artistic Practice
  • Please provide a brief bio and artist statement (limit 1000 words)
  • Please include your current resume or curriculum vitae
  • Please include one letter of recommendation from a colleague, professor, or peer who can speak to your practice and level of experience
 
3. Media
  • Please upload 1-5 examples of your work to Wufoo (Total MB not to exceed 6MB)
  • You may also link to media, YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud
  • Please ensure that all your materials are adequately labelled (title, dimensions, materials, year, project description where applicable)
 
4. Proposal
  • ​Please provide a proposal description, including your preferred location(s) at Montalvo (limit 1000 words)
  • Where applicable, please upload 1-3 proposal related images or sketches to Wufoo (total MB not to exceed 3MB)
  • Please provide any additional information regarding production timeline and specific support needs and questions
  • Please provide an estimated budget including your artist fee (awards are not likely to exceed $1,000)
  • Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns
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IMAGE CAPTIONS: 
In header bar: Christine Wong Yap, Irrational Exuberance Flags, 2013. 
Image 2: Montalvo's Great Lawn and O California, best beloved land, a 2011 work by artist Ann Weber. Photo by Tina Case.
Image 3: Historic statue on Montalvo's grounds, with scarf by Modesto Covarrubias, 2015.
​Image 4: Andrea Blum, My American Pantry Montalvo, 2013.
Image 5: Montalvo's Mermaid Pond and Fountain of Life, a 2000 work by Kenny Scharf. Photo by Tina Case.
Image 6: Participants in Montalvo's 2015 Pop Up Plein Air event. Photo by Airyka Rockefeller.
​Image 7: Ana Gallardo, A Place to Live When We Are Old, 2014.
APPLICANT
RESOURCES
Image gallery:
Click here to view a sampling of images of sites on Montalvo's property available to stage your project.
Click here to view a map of Montalvo's grounds.
Need help?
Should you have any questions, please feel free to send us an email.

​For general information on Montalvo and our programs, visit
montalovarts.org.