Call for Artists: City Hall Gallery Sparks, Nevada

The City of Sparks Arts and Culture Advisory Committee is accepting submissions for works to be considered for a new gallery space in Sparks City Hall.

BACKGROUND

The Sparks City Hall Gallery is a new program in Sparks featuring a gallery of quarterly rotating artists inside the foyer of Sparks City Hall. The City of Sparks Arts and Culture Advisory Committee is now accepting submissions for works to be considered for their recommendation in this new gallery space. This call is restricted to Sparks residents only in order to show our pride and appreciation for the artists living in our community.

The Gallery space is a 12 foot X 7 foot wall inside of the main doors of City Hall, which sees an average foot traffic of 2,000 people per month. This program will allow Sparks resident artists an opportunity to reach new audiences and art buyers, while City of Sparks employees are inspired by local artists’ work. Selected artists’ work will be featured on the City of Sparks social media pages, highlighted in a media release and may be featured at a future City Council meeting.

DETAILS

The Sparks City Hall Gallery features a 12foot X 7foot linear space that can accommodate four-10 pieces depending on size. Each installation will feature a QR code directed to the artist’s contact information/website and prices of the work if the artist chooses. All gallery pieces will be for sale directly through the artist. Transactions cannot be completed at Sparks City Hall. Artists who create wall-hanging work including paintings, photography, or other frameable art and are eager to have their work on display are highly encouraged to apply.

Interested artists should apply here. The deadline to apply is Jan. 24, 2025. Please only submit four to 10 pieces that are completed and available to hang until May 2025. The pieces submitted to this call must be the pieces you would like to hang in the gallery space. Should an art piece be sold by the date of selection by the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, artist must provide for display a piece of similar content in its place, subject to the Parks and Recreation Director’s approval. The Sparks Arts and Culture Advisory Committee will review submissions and recommend that the Director of Parks and Recreation choose a single artist/body of work to be on display for three months. There is no fee to submit.

All questions and inquiries can be directed to Raquel Monserrat at rmonserrat@cityofsparks.us.

ARTIST ELIGIBILITY

1.  Artists or artist teams must live and/Or work within the City of Sparks.

2. Please only submit ONE body of work that includes 4-10 pieces.

3. Works must be professionally presentable and easily hung from the center of the piece on a cable-hanging system in a quality frame.

SELECTION PROCESS AND CRITERIA

This solicitation process is being undertaken to identify the most highly qualified artist(s) for the opportunity. The City of Sparks Arts and Culture Advisory Committee members will select one artist/body of work for a quarterly instillation.

This solicitation does not imply an obligation on the part of the City of Sparks to enter into a contract. If no viable artist(s) is identified, a new request for entries may be released until the criteria is satisfied.

The artist will be selected based on the following criteria, as evidenced in application materials:

• Quality of work samples
• Artistic merit in design and execution

TIMELINE (Subject to change)

12/17: Open Call for Artists
1/24:  Deadline for Submissions
2/4:  Artist selected by Arts and Culture Advisory Committee
February 2025: Artwork displayed until May 2025

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Note: prepare all your responses in PDF or documents and gather work samples before you begin and submit all at once. THE ONLINE PORTAL DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO SAVE YOUR WORK.

A.      Artist statement: Briefly describe in one paragraph your art practice, including details on the medium or media you work in and conceptual meanings/themes for the body of work.

B.      Artist Bio: Briefly introduce yourself and describe in one paragraph your trajectory as an artist.

C.     Body of Work Samples: Limit 10

Contact

Raquel Monserrat
City of Sparks, Nevada
775-353-7856 | rmonserrat@cityofsparks.us