Request for Proposal_Draft 1

PORTRAITS OF NEW YORK

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

OPPORTUNITY

Living in New York City is fast, loud, and isolating. Rarely do we receive the opportunity to see beyond one another’s individual barriers. To break these barriers, society often turns to art as a force for bringing people together through its ability to expose and express our shared values, and as individuals, our sense of self. Within the artistic realm, portraits have a unique ability to simultaneously capture the essence of a specific individual, as well as the artist’s sensibility towards the zeitgeist in general. Yet often, there is a divide between art and the public, artist and subject, viewer and creator.  Portraits of New York (PONY) is a public art project that brings people and artists together in the public sphere, providing a unique interactive experience for artist and subject alike through shared conversation.

WHO WE ARE

PONY comprises a dedicated team of three designers who founded the organization during their senior year at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. We wanted to create a public art project that engaged the public, while also providing a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work. We are nice people who love art and public engagement. And we make up for our limited (wo)man power with efficiency and personality. 

All correspondence with participating or potential artists will be done through our artist coordinator, Patricia Casey: patricia@pony.org

WHAT EXACTLY WE DO

Working from a custom designed and built street cart, we move to various locations throughout the city capturing the essence of neighborhoods and the individuals who occupy them. The cart will work as a visual advertisement for passers-by, a display to advertise and increase awareness for each participating artist, an art board / table for the artist to create his or her work, a place for both the participant and artist to sit, and a physical object that helps to create a feeling of comfort and artistic inspiration. 

For each participant, the artist will begin with the same two questions: What makes New York, New York? What makes you, you? The artist is encouraged to engage the person in conversation, while they create that person’s portrait. Each session is expected to last between ten and fifteen minutes.

The people who sit down with our artists are passers by or perhaps people who follow us through social media and come to our location. We then share all the artwork created and each participant, via photography, through our website and social media platforms. To restate our goal, we want to capture the essence of everyday New Yorkers through art and share that with the world. 

WHAT EXACTLY YOU WOULD DO

Artists will:

1. Travel to the current location of our cart and spend a full day there—the location information will be provided by us. 

2. Engage participants in genuine conversation, beginning with the questions: What makes New York, New York? What makes you, you?

3. Create a portrait of each participant in whatever medium the artist choses.

4. That artwork will be thoroughly documented and then given to the individual at no charge.

To clarify some of the terms used above: The locations of our cart will change frequently as it is our goal to visit a multitude of New York locations. A full day is no longer than 6 hours total with guaranteed breaks whenever necessary for food and bathroom visits. 

It is important that the artists feel comfortable talking and being with people. It our goal at PONY to have each engagement with the public be as positive an experience as possible. We believe that honest, friendly conversation will not only help spread our message more rapidly, but it will also be a better testament to how our message of public art engagement will be reflected in each of the art works created. 

To reiterate, each location visit lasts no longer than a continuous 6 hours. PONY location visits are classified as either DAY or NIGHT:

DAY visits occur between the hours of 6am and 6pm. 

NIGHT visits occur between the hours of 6pm and 6am. 

The exact times are decided upon by both the artist and PONY staff. 

Once an artist has been welcomed into the PONY family, that artist may continue to be the active artist in future PONY locations. This is not a “one-time” deal. We hope that artists continue to come back and have a continuous relationship with us. 

PROJECT TIME LINE

PONY is an ongoing art project. It is our goal that this continue indefinitely, in our hope that it one day become an ingrained part in the fabric of this great city. 

COMPENSATION

PONY offers the perfect platform for artists to broadcast their work to the New York artist network and to the public in general. We go out of our way to ensure that we promote artists and their work to the maximum. Evidence of this can be seen on our website and other media. 

In addition to this great opportunity for exposure, we also provide a $500 compensation per day for every participating artist. We are a non-profit organization, so this money comes to us via donations and public art grants. 

EVALUATION PROCESS

All artistic proposals will first be evaluated by our artistic coordinator, Patricia Casey, and secondly by all the PONY staff. We all look through each proposal thoroughly and completely. It is our institution policy that all final decisions on artist selections must be unanimous among us. 

We encourage all experienced and skilled artists to apply to become part of the PONY family. Whether an established professional, up-and coming artist, or skilled student, we welcome all. All participants will be evaluated on the quality of their work and individual voice that they may offer to the PONY experience. 

To apply for consideration, please send via email a PDF document providing: 

Your contact information

A digital portfolio of most current work or web link to online portfolio

Details regarding your dates of availability (include either DAY or NIGHT visits as your preferred time)

Your current professional / artistic biography

An explanation of what you feel you can offer the PONY experience, maximum 1000 words

3 Reference Contacts: Include each persons name, organization, telephone, email, and description of relationship to artist

Information about what medium you plan to work in

A $15 Application Fee, payable via cash or check made out to Portraits of New York

These application materials are accepted at any time. They are reviewed at the first of each month.

AGREEMENT OF SERVICE

We use this document itself as the binding agreement between participating artists and PONY. Acts such as arriving late to a location site, leaving early, not participating, or acting inappropriately with a participating subject, would be a breech of the PONY rules stated above and may result in a forfeit of compensation and future PONY engagements.