James Payne, Isolation, 2020. Wood and metal pipe, 10’ x 10’ x 30’. Installed at Shoreby Hill for the 2020 Outdoor Arts Experience. Photo copyright: John Reposa.

The Jamestown Arts Center announces a request for artwork proposals for the Outdoor Arts Experience 2022 Biennial: Passages, an island-wide exhibition in Jamestown, RI. 

Emerging and established artists have until November 30, 2021, to submit proposals to display their artwork in twelve varying locations throughout Jamestown during the summer of 2022.

JAC says that the Outdoor Arts Experience Biennial responds to the overwhelmingly positive community feedback after the JAC’s inaugural island-wide outdoor exhibition in 2020 and a smaller scale exhibition Spacing Out(side), currently on view.

The concept for Passages was inspired by the Town of Jamestown on Conanicut Island, itself literally and physically defined by Narragansett Bay: the East Passage featuring the Newport Bridge leading to Aquidneck Island, and the West Passage with the Jamestown Bridge spanning towards Plum Point and the Rhode Island mainland. Metaphorically, Jamestown’s passages refer to its evolving communities: first by native Americans, next by European settlers and colonial farmers, followed by immigrants from diverse backgrounds, families with vacation homes, and now, year-round residents. 

The exhibition asks submitting artists to mark the recent passing of time and losses during the pandemic and our passage through this period to a new future. What might we memorialize, commemorate, and remember? What are our hopes and dreams as we re-emerge and re-connect?

Artworks can be pre-existing, or yet to be made. Application details and artwork site locations are available at www.outdoorartsexperience.org. Proposals specifically for the Jamestown Community Farm are of particular interest, as are artworks that create connections across the East Passage between the state parks of Wetherill, Beavertail, and Fort Adams. 

Applications will be selected by a committee of public art leaders, community members, and JAC staff. Nick Capasso, Director at the Fitchburg Art Museum and former Deputy Director for Curatorial Affairs at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, will serve as a member of the selection committee. Questions regarding applications can be addressed to the project manager, oae@jamestownartcenter.org.

“We can’t wait to see the artists’ proposals!” said Maureen Coleman, Executive Director of the Jamestown Arts Center. “More than 100 artists from across the country submitted proposals for our 2020 Outdoor Arts Experience, and the level of talent and creativity is incredibly inspiring.” 

In crafting this island-wide exhibition, the JAC has partnered with the Town of Jamestown, RI DEM State Parks, BankNewport, the Jamestown Historical Society, the Conanicut Island Land Trust, Lower Shoreby Hill Association and others to host artworks at their sites. A suite of dynamic public programs and community events to support the exhibition will be planned by the JAC’s Curator of Engagement, Danielle Ogden. To support the Outdoor Arts Experience or sponsor a location, please contact Maureen Coleman, maureen@jamestownartcenter.org.

About the Outdoor Arts Experience Biennial:

Every two years the Jamestown Arts Center’s Biennial Outdoor Arts Experience brings to our community publicly accessible extraordinary arts through outdoor installations and related arts experiences. From July through October, the Biennial showcases a diverse range of artwork while providing an incubator for artists’ ideas and processes. The Biennial seeks to create, by displaying artwork throughout the island, unique avenues to actively engage our community and Jamestown’s many visitors with the artists and their work.

About the Jamestown Arts Center: 

The Jamestown Arts Center is a multi-disciplinary visual and performing arts space that hosts art exhibits, theatre, dance and musical performances, film screenings, and educational programming including artist talks and hands-on art classes for all ages. The JAC opened in 2010 in a former boat repair shop redesigned by award winning architects Estes/Twombly. Since 2014, it’s won 5 of Rhode Island Monthly’s ‘Best of Rhode Island’ awards, including the Editor’s Pick for Outdoor Art in 2021.

Programming partners include: Heifetz International Music Institute, FirstWorks, RISCA, FabNewport, RISD, Manhattan Short Film Festival, SENE Film Festival, Spectrum Theatre, Providence Art and Design Film Festival, Island Moving Company, the Jamestown Schools, Social Enterprise Greenhouse, The Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. in Acting & Directing Program and many individual artists and local organizations. The Jamestown Arts Center has quickly become a leading arts and cultural hub for Rhode Island and beyond, where creativity, ideas, and innovation flourish. For more information visit: jamestownartcenter.org

Read more from What's Up Newp

Loading...

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.