Artisans of the Fargo community are invited to submit artwork for “Public Art Possibilities,” a project dedicated to enlivening Fargo with art installations.
Painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, poets, filmmakers and any and all artists may submit their artwork to the city of Fargo for evaluation and potentially be selected to have their artwork on display in the city. Of all submissions, 10 will be selected.
Selection will be based mostly on the uniqueness and innovation involved in the piece, and what it could offer Fargo as public art.
Those chosen will receive a stipend of $500.
Funded by the city with assistance from Forecast Public Art, “Public Art Possibilities” allows Fargo residents to “reimagine Fargo’s public realm and civic life.”
The project aims to add interest and imagination to the city. It also wants to facilitate creatives within the community to identify and interact with the city via public art.
Currently, visitors to Fargo can see local art represented in the state’s icon: bison scattered throughout the Fargo-Moorhead area.
These pieces, collectively named “Herd About the Prairie: A Visual Stampede,” premiered in 2006 as a community art project headed by North Dakotan governor candidate, Doug Burgum.
Seventy-five artists added their own spin to the bison, causing creativity and imagination to take form in the classic bison and also adding color to everyday life in the Fargo-Moorhead area.
Like the “A Visual Stampede,” “Public Art Possibilities” wants FM artists to view their city in a new way.
Facilitating the discussion on their public art project, the city is asking potential artists these questions: what do you see as most important to the city and people of Fargo? How do you envision Fargo’s future? What would you like to add to it? Which sites and spaces in the city would you like to engage and evolve? How?
Each question allows artists to add their own perspectives to Fargo’s public spaces in their own imaginative way, encouraging variety in the submissions and ultimately the art chosen.
The date of when pieces will be selected and installed is yet to be announced.
To learn more, an information session will be held at the Sons of Norway in Fargo at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 15.
Those interested must submit responses to the following questions (150 words or less) to Kirstin Wiegmann at kirstin@forecastpublicart.org:
- Name, residential address and other contact information.
- Introduction of idea and its location.
- Explanation of how and why this site was selected.
Finally, submissions are encouraged to attach a sketch, photograph or draft of their idea.