Call for artwork submissions

the Urban Imaginaries Ottawa Project is soliciting artwork from local artists exploring the theme of Urban Imaginaries. Submissions should engage audiences by catalyzing reflection and the imagination of participants.

the artworks will be exhibited on May 7 and 8, 2022, at the ‘Urban Imaginaries Ottawa Festival’ that will be held @Arlington5.

with the exhibition we want to engage the audience in an exploration of the different meanings our city has and could have for its inhabitants. How is it perceived, experienced, and sensed, and how might we imagine it in turn? Urban Imaginaries as a concept is a platform for discovering and understanding the spaces in which we live, and to explore and communicate what we might want them to become in the future.

if you are interested in participating, you can choose between 2 streams:

  • Sketchbook Stream

  • Independent Artwork Stream

download the call here.

Sketchbook Stream (S1) - Urban Imaginaries Ottawa: Decolonizing

 

Arlington 5 in collaboration with the Urban Imaginaries Lab is making handmade sketchbooks available for you to express your ideas and visions on Urban

Imaginaries in Ottawa.

In the case of this Stream, the exploration of current and future Urban Imaginaries will critically address coloniality, and the exclusionary processes embedded in our urban context. In doing so, artworks will explore decolonizing possibilities and offer alternatives for inhabiting the urban geography.

The idea is to borrow a sketchbook (housed at A5) and to represent (visually or in writing) an idea related to Urban Imaginaries in Ottawa and coloniality.

15 Sketchbooks will be available starting from Monday February 28, 2022 at @A5 and will need to be returned to A5 by Monday May 2, 2022 (ask the staff to learn more).

Since there are a limited number of sketchbooks available, obtaining one implies a commitment to engage with the activity, and to return the sketchbook at @A5 with your reflections (words, drawings, collages, etc.) by the deadline (May 2, 2022).

You do not need to be a professional artist to borrow a sketchbook, but just someone interested in this exploration and engaged in sharing their own reflections on it.

The results of this exercise will be exhibited on May 7 and 8 and then become part of Arlington 5’s library on Urban Imaginaries. This means that after the exhibition, the sketchbooks will be available at the coffee house for everybody to consult them.

On May 7 and 8, participants will be invited to share the work developed in their sketchbook during the Urban Imaginaries Festival that will be held at A5 that same weekend.

Your work must be accompanied by the following information (be sure to include it):

  • Your full name

  • Your email or phone number (where we can best reach you)

  • A short description of how your artwork relates to you. (300 words or less)

Independent Art Work Stream (S2) - Urban Imaginaries Ottawa

 

If you choose this stream, you will submit one of the following types of work*:

  • Design

  • Illustration

  • Photography

  • Visual arts

  • Short stories

  • Folk (Pottery, Wood, Glass, etc.)

  • Poetry (written)

  • Music**

  • Video**

The work submitted, if selected, will be exhibited @Arlington 5 on May 7 and 8, during the ‘Urban Imaginaries Ottawa Festival’. On that occasion, you will also be invited to share the reflections that guided your artistic process.

After that, with your approval, your work will be showcased at @A5 for the subsequent 2 months. For practicing artists, there is the option for the artwork to be on sale during this time, which is in line with what A5 typically does with artwork created by local artists and members of the community. The return from the sale (if any) will go directly to the artist.

If you are interested in submitting to this stream, please consider:

  • for selection purposes, all the artworks should be submitted first as digital image(s): you will have to submit 1 or 2 image files of work (PNG, RGB).

  • when selected, if your artwork is not a digital image, we will ask you to bring it to A5 and leave it with A5’s crew. They will take good care of it.

  • if submitting digital image(s): you will have to submit 1 or 2 image files of work (PDF or PNG, both CMYK and RGB). The size of the image should be: 8.5” x 5.5”, or 8.5” x 11”, or 8.5” x 14” (portrait or landscape), including bleed of 0.125” at 300 ppi. It should have a 0.5” margin all around.

  • if submitting text, please provide a Word (or *.doc) document;

  • all files must follow this naming convention: author name, title, category, size, date;

your work must be accompanied by the following information (be sure to include it):

  • Your full name

  • Your email or phone number (where we can best reach you)

  • A short description of how your artwork relates to you. (300 words or less)

  • send your files, required information included, as a compressed.zip folder or via DropBox or Google Drive to urbanimaginarieslab@gmail.com

Finally, for handmade illustration: the size should be 8.5” x 5.5” or 8.5” x 11” or 8.5” x 14” (portrait or landscape).

DEADLINE for submitting application: April 24th, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. (EST)

Selected designers/artists will be advised of their inclusion by May 1, 2022. As mentioned, if your artwork is selected, it will be exhibited at Arlington 5 during the Urban Imaginaries Ottawa Festival; you will also have the possibility to show your work at A5 over the subsequent 2 months; and it will also be featured on our social media channels.