18th Street Arts Center - Creative Corps Program

8th Street Arts Center in Santa Monica, CA has been fueling the impact of artists on society since 1988. Conceived as a radical think tank in the shape of an artist community, we are a globally recognized catalyst for deploying artistic imagination to meet society’s needs. We curate projects where artists and the public directly engage in creating experiences and partnerships that foster positive social change.

18TH STREET ARTS CENTER CALIFORNIA CREATIVE CORPS PROJECT

18th Street Arts Center is seeking 40 California artists and culture bearers (collectively known as ‘artists’) to develop impactful arts and culture projects that foster community wellbeing in regions throughout the state that are located in California Healthy Places Index (HPI) Quartile 1 ZIP codes. If you are an artist or culture bearer already working to strengthen community wellbeing in California, or if you would like to become an artist doing this kind of work, we strongly encourage you to pitch your idea. 

If selected to be one of the 40 artists in the first-round cohort, you will receive professional coaching to compose your full project and budget, along with a $1,000 stipend. Coaching will be provided at no cost, by public art and community engagement specialists, between February and March 2023.  

All 40 first-round proposals will be reviewed, and of those 40, 18 will be chosen to be fully realized and funded community engagement art projects. Each of the final 18 artists will receive a year-long salary of $65,000, one year of medical and dental insurance (at no cost to the artist), the option to join 18th Street Art Center's SIMPLE IRA plan with employer match for one year, and production costs for their community art project from July 2023 - July 2024.

The 18 funded Community Engagement Art Project artists will form a year-long cohort whose projects will contribute to a statewide California Culture Map. 18th Street Arts Center believes culture mapping is essential infrastructure for successful collaboration between arts and culture producers and community leaders seeking to foster well-being among neighbors at the local level.  

ELIGIBILITY

Research shows that women and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds often apply only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If much of this RFQ describes the work you do, then you are highly encouraged to apply.

This project is open to working artists and/or culture bearers/makers living or working within California in a Quartile 1 ZIP code, located on the California Healthy Places Index (HPI). Please reference the eligible HPI ZIP codes here. Using the “search function” (macOS: ⌘+f / windowsOS: ctrl+shift+f) you can search for a county, city, or zip code. 

Projects must address one of the four state-mandated “Impact” areas:

1. Public health awareness messages to stop the spread of COVID-19

2. Public awareness related to water and energy conservation, climate mitigation, and emergency preparedness, relief, and recovery

3. Civic engagement, including election participation

4. Social justice and community engagement

An artist, culture bearer/maker (‘artist’) is someone who regularly engages in artistic or cultural practice to: express themselves with the intention of communicating richly to or sharing with others; pass on traditional knowledge and cultural practices; offer cultural resources to their communities; and/or co-organize and co-create within communities toward social impacts. 

Artistic and cultural practices include but are not limited to: craft, dance, design, film, literary arts, media arts, music, oral traditions, social practice, theater, performance art, traditional arts, visual arts, and interdisciplinary arts.

PROJECT SCORING

All qualified RFQ submissions will be reviewed based on the weighted criteria listed below, which corresponds to information requested in various sections of the proposal: 

Note: Only applications that are complete, and proposed to take place in a Quartile 1 ZIP code on the California Healthy Places Index will be reviewed. 

• Evidence of desired qualifications, competence, and direct experience - 30 points

  • The artist’s CV and work samples demonstrate full understanding of their practice – the tools, materials, and processes.

• Community engagement experience/plans - 10 points 

  • The artist’s CV demonstrates prior community engagement or organizing practices. 

• Experience completing public art projects of this scale - 10 points

  • Has the artist led other projects at this scale? If not, will they be able to scale up from past works?

• Evidence of working relationship with the community the artist proposes to engage -  20 points

  • The project idea addresses something the artist’s chosen community has been seeking. How will their project support a need for the community, and will the community be willing to participate? 

• Strength of proposed programming plan - 30 points

  • Has this project been executed before in other communities and is there a precedence of the project from others in the field?

Projects that do not take place in a Quartile 1 community on the California Healthy Places Index or do not select 1 of 4 ‘Impact’ areas will be disqualified.

VIST 18th Street Art Center website to apply.