Franklin Street Works / 45 Franklin St. Stamford, CT 06901 http://www.franklinstreetworks.org

Curatorial Call for Exhibition Proposals: 2017

Franklin Street Works is a not-for-profit contemporary art space located 45 minutes from New York City in Stamford, Connecticut. Franklin Street Works’ mission is to manifest what is happening in contemporary art in an inclusive, professional setting. To date we have exhibited the work of more than 275 artists, curated 22 original exhibitions, and have organized over 100 programs. Franklin Street Works exhibitions have received accolades, including a two-year grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and positive reviews in publications such as Bomb blog, Artforum online, Art Papers, Modern Painters, Daily Serving, artcritical.com, and Hyperallergic.

Each year Franklin Street Works invites guest curator(s) or curatorial team(s) to create one to two group, thematic exhibitions. We are accepting proposals for the May 13 – August 17, 2017, slot. If we receive several submissions that work with our mission, we will consider them for later time slots. Exhibitions should be group shows around a theme. We encourage you to check out past shows here:

http://www.franklinstreetworks.org/blog/

Three exhibitions over a two-year period resulted from our last open call and included: “It Narratives: The Movement of Objects as Information” curated by Brian Droitcour and Zanna Gilbert; “It’s gonna take a lotta love,” curated by Liza Statton; and “Acting on Dreams: the state of immigrant rights, conditions, and advocacy in the United States,” curated by Yaelle Amir. Invited guest curators and co-curators have included: Claire Barliant, Rebecca Cleman, Taliesin Gilkes-Bower, Amy Lipton, Katie Vida, Jess Wilcox, and Stephen Zacks.

To propose a group, thematic exhibition, please send a written overview, including a 200 – 500 word description and a list of proposed artists. The artist list does not need to be finalized, but should include the names of 4 -10 artists you are considering with any relevant images or links to their work. Guest curators are asked to brainstorm exhibition programming for their shows as well, consequently, any notes about possible public programs are welcome as part of the proposal. People from any field are welcome to propose exhibitions, but folks who have a working understanding of what is involved in putting an exhibition together will be given priority. Exhibitions that do not include the curator’s own artwork (if the curator is also an artist) will also be given priority.

Franklin Street Works will provide an $11,000 exhibition budget, which needs to cover all aspects of the show. In addition to the exhibition budget, there is a $1000 budget for programs (ideally at least two programs, such as talk, tour or performance, will accompany show). In addition to the above, guest curators receive a $1,000 honorarium for curating, $200 for a program (such as exhibition walkthrough), and $300 for writing the exhibition essay. The Franklin Street Works team assists with administrative tasks such as loan forms, shipping arrangements and gallery handouts. We also assist with installation support. The space owns a good deal of A/V equipment, including 5 projectors, media players, DVD players, speakers, seven flat screens, a mac mini, and several CRT televisions – a full list is available upon request.

Proposals are Due on September 30 by 5:00 pm.

Please send proposals, images and/or artist links as well as a current CV to creative director Terri C Smith at terri@franklinstreetworks.org

SUBJECT LINE SHOULD READ “2017 Exhibition Submission”

Questions or want more information on the space, existing A/V or supports? Email Terri at terri@franklinstreetworks.org.

ADDENDUM: Guest Curator Guide

This document gives a rough outline of the professional and financial support Franklin Street Works provides guest curators and articulates the responsibility of guest curators with approximate lead times.

Franklin Street Works Provides

MONETARY SUPPORT

Exhibition Budget: $11,000

Program Budget: $1000 (for 2-3 programs)

Curator Honoraria: $1000 for curating, $300 for essay, $200 to lead a talk or tour.

TOTAL BUDGET: $13,500

REGISTRARIAL SUPPORT

– Write and send loan forms

– Arrange shipping (shipping costs come out of $13,000 budget) — usually a combination of NYC art truck and FedEx, note budget does not allow for art trucks from other locations, in most cases, fedex must be used for shipments from other cities.

– Create Checklist (with information provided by curator, artists and galleries)

– Format and produce labels for individual works

– Format and produce vinyl wall signage

– Create Google doc where confirmed artists and works are entered. This document is filled in by the curator and FSW team as artists and works are confirmed. It serves as the information source for loan forms, checklist and labels.

– Gather artist biographies

PRINTED DOCUMENTS

Work with graphic designer to brand show in collaboration with curator

Design and print gallery program

Create, print and mail printed card

MARKETING

Create press release (in concert with curator)

Send press releases to FSW press list

Create digital invitation (send to list of 1600 via mailchimp)

Social media outreach: FB,Instagram

Create flyer for local colleges and universities

PROGRAMMING

Organize dates for programs with artists/presenters

Market programs: write press releases (to be approved by artist(s) and curator), FB event, post on social media, send press release out, post to website

Setup and teardown

INSTALL: Franklin Street Works arranges and facilitates install with the help of professional art handlers. Curators are responsible for proposing locations for artworks, but artists and curators are NOT responsible for hanging work, painting walls etc. unless the artist requests to install work or requests their assistant and/or gallery person to install.

CURATOR TASKS

INITIAL EXHIBITION PROPOSAL: Due 10 months prior to exhibition

This is a largely in-house document, but information will be used to communicate with possible partners/funders. Artist list does not need to be final at this point, but example artists are helpful.

UPDATED EXHIBITION PROPOSAL and TITLE: Due 4-6 months prior to exhibition

The exhibition description can change some/be tweaked and artists can be added after this. For use in creating description for website, fundraising, and calendar listings.

BRAINSTORM EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING WITH STAFF: 3 – 4 months prior

TWO – FOUR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS CONFIRMED: 3 months prior

DRAFT OF TEXT TO REFERENCE FOR PRESS RELEASE and TO UPDATE WEBSITE DESCRIPTION: 3 months prior

This should have final description and full artist list if possible.

FINAL CHECKLIST: 2 months prior

This does not need to be formatted (FSW will do this), as a team we need to make sure all of pertinent information (artist, title, date, medium, dimensions, and courtesy line) is entered in the google doc sheet by this time.

ESSAY(s) DRAFT AND INTRO FOR GALLERY PROGRAM: 1 month prior, sometimes creative director writes intro, this is up to the curator.

FINAL ESSAY(s), INTRO GALLERY PROGRAM, INTRO WALL TEXT (VINYL): 3 weeks prior

ALL PROGRAMMING CONFIRMED: 6 weeks prior (in concert with FSW)

INSTALLATION: 1.5 weeks prior to opening

Ideally the curator can come for the first couple of days of install, but if budget or schedule doesn’t allow, we have successfully arranged show virtually via floor plans, photos, skyping, etc.

RECEPTION:

Ideally the curator attends the reception and gives a tour at the opening.