How Can Your Community Commission Art? Do’s and Don’ts

Open Call for Artists

The Open Call for Artists aims to recruit artistic proposals to develop a community commissioned artwork. The call will be designed between project managers and art commissioners and drafted during the Art Commissioners Training. This call must include the project description, the eligibility and selection criteria, the benefits, and a calendar including all program dates.

Open Call for Artists Do’s

Follow most of the guidance provided for the Open Call for Art Commissioners
Support art commissioners in building the open call
Give extra context about the scope of the project
Prepare artists to work in a community-commissioned art environment
Decide the materials to be included in the application (i.e. work sample, video, etc.)
Circulate the call among non-traditional art spaces
Reach out to community members to expand the impact of the call
Take advantage of art commissioners’ role in the community to disseminate the call

Open Call for Artists Don’ts

Do not intervene but orient art commissioners in building the call
Do not limit prospective applications to “artistic” proposals but remain open to cultural work that might translate into original pieces

Open Call for Artists Tips

Follow previous examples such as ACP or DemArt calls to build your call
Host an info session for artists to express their questions and doubts beforehand
Consider using a language register and/or more than one language depending on the characteristics of the community you want to engage with
Partner with local people, centers, and/or business to get to prospective applicants who might not be in the radar of your organization
Be open to artistic projects that go beyond artistic disciplines but challenge traditional art forms

Selection of Finalists Artists

Once the Open Call for Artists is closed, art commissioners will choose a total of 3 artists to develop a proposal for the project. The aim of this preliminary selection is to see which proposal might work better for the purpose of the project, especially in terms of involving local communities through art.

Selection of Finalists Artists Do’s

Set up an evaluation and ranking methodology for art commissioners to make their selection based on the selection criteria listed in the open call
Orient art commissioner when necessary without interfering in their decisions
Decide if the selection process will include an interview or not
Leave at least two weeks for interviews if necessary and do not interview more than 5 artists per day to avoid burnout like in the selection of art commissioners
Consider incorporating the input and/or feedback from community members for the selection of artists during the selection or afterwards

Selection of Finalists Artists Don’ts

Do not interfere in art commissioners criteria and priorities
Do not trust your “expertise” when looking at artists proposals
Do not expect community-commissioned art to follow the same aesthetics and/or trends
Do not disregard applications just because they don’t meet the “quality” minimums you would require in a traditional open call for artists

Selection of Finalists Artists Tips

Develop an intuitive tool for art commissioners to evaluate and rank artists proposals (i.e. Submittable, Excel Sheet, etc.)
Decide beforehand the tie-breaker method you will use in case there is a conflict while ranking the artists proposals
Establish a conflict of interest protocol for art commissioners to sign before evaluating the proposals
Be open to consider artistic proposals that would fall in other definitions such as mediation, social work, or community engagement

Proposal Development

The three selected artists will develop a proposal during an artistic residency to be presented to art commissioners for them to decide the project that will be finally commissioned. The aim of this period of work is to allow artists to elaborate the submitted application to see how it fits within the project.

Proposal Development Do’s

Collect artists’ needs beforehand to make sure their workspace is prepared for their proposal development
Make artists sign an agreement including all necessary information about the proposal development (i.e. rules, stipend, schedule, deadline, etc.)
Provide support for artists to develop their project, specially from the art commissioners
Create opportunities for artists to interact with each other as well as with organization workers, art commissioners, and community members
Foster a sense of conviviality among the artists

Proposal Development Don’ts

Do not expect artists to understand how the project works
Do not keep the proposal development process closed to community members
Do not frame the proposal development process as a competition between the three preselected artists
Do not match each artist with one art commissioner to avoid conflict of interest and lack of agreement in the final selection

Proposal Development Tips

Read artists’ openness to receive feedback by art commissioners and community members and design your internal communication accordingly
Be prepared for artists to do not feel comfortable with the art commissioners role and input and develop a strategy to mediate in case there is a conflict
Make the space of the residency as open as possible from the very beginning so it doesn’t feel like a closed process but an open space for community members to drop by
Give art commissioners the freedom to perform their role, but remember them about the artistic freedom artists must have as well

Final Selection

After artists have worked on their proposals, these will be presented to the art commissioners for them to decide the piece that will end up being commissioned. Local organizations and art commissioners should decide the format in which these proposals will be presented and how they will be evaluated. This phase will conclude with the announcement of the awarded commission.

Final Selection Do’s

Follow the advice given in the Selection of Art Commissioners and Selection of Artists 1/2 phases.
Develop an evaluation and ranking methodology tool for art commissioners to objectively evaluate each proposal
Agree on the selection criteria for the selected commission which might or might not be the same as for the selection of the three finalists
Decide the format in which the proposals will be presented and consider including community members in this presentation

Final Selection Don’ts

Follow the advice given in the Selection of Artists 1/2 phase
Do not try to tackle all community needs just with one commission: each project will address specific issues

Final Selection Tips

Provide useful feedback for all three artists
Try to keep non-selected artists involved in the project through meaningful ways
Involve community members by inviting them to the proposal presentation and paying attention to their priorities when building the selection criteria

Artwork Presentations

After the artistic processes conclude, commissions will be presented to local audiences. These artwork presentations aim to be opportunities to honor artists’ work and celebrate art commissioners and community members’ engagement throughout the process.

Artwork Presentations Do’s

Partner with community members to let the community know about the premiere
Invite community members to attend the event considering providing a limited amount of free tickets for interested people
Credit everyone involved in the process including international partners as well as non-selected artists
Provide context before and after the piece is premiered and do not limit its presence in the festival to just the performance

Artwork Presentations Don’ts

Do not expect art commissioners to engage in project management roles when planning for the production of the artwork presentation
Do not put additional financial burdens to the production because of the premiere

Artwork Presentations Tips

Think about an original format for the artwork to be presented where community members’, art commissioners’, and artists’ work is honored
Elaborate a list of guests before the presentation takes place and reach out to them beforehand
Coordinate the presentation with international partners to make the most of the experience