open calls to artists
downtown Light Box Wraps
Artwork Location: Downtown Jackson’s Arts District
Artist Budget: $1,500 per artist
Application Deadline: October 15th by 11:59 p.m.
Artist Eligibility: Graphic designers living anywhere in West Tennessee
Overview:
Our Jackson Home and the City of Jackson are seeking 3 individual graphic designers from West Tennessee to create artwork for vinyl wraps on light boxes throughout Downtown Jackson’s Arts District.
Each artist chosen will be assigned three light box locations and will create one original design for each location, for a total of three coordinating designs per artist. Between all artists, nine light boxes will be wrapped in total.
The three designs created by each artist should work together as a cohesive visual series while allowing each individual light box to have its own distinct artwork. Artists will be provided with the exact locations, dimensions, and specifications of their assigned light boxes before beginning the design process.
The completed artwork will be professionally printed and installed as vinyl wraps on the designated light boxes separate from the artist budget for this project.
Design:
Designs from each of the 3 chosen artists must:
Be reflective and/or relevant to the downtown Jackson community
Be family friendly
Not include text
Avoid shapes or colors that could be mistaken for traffic signals or signage
Exclude large areas of black or dark colors to avoid overheating
Use colors within the multiple historic color palettes of Sherwin Williams to correspond with current downtown Jackson design (used by Jackson Downtown Development Corporation for choosing all paint colors downtown)
Recycling Public Art Artist Residency in Jackson, Tennessee
Location: theCO, Jackson, Tennessee
Artwork Location: Downtown Jackson Arts District
Artist Budget: $4,000 artist fee + $500 supply budget
Application Deadline: October 15th by 11:59 p.m.
Artist Eligibility: Any artist or artist teams whose primary residence is in Madison, Gibson, Carroll, Henderson, Chester, Hardeman, Haywood, or Crockett counties
Overview:
Our Jackson Home, in partnership with the City of Jackson Recycling Center, is seeking qualifications from artists or artist teams for an Artist Residency focused on creating a temporary public art installation from recycled and/or reclaimed materials.
The selected artist will have access to theCO’s Makerspace for planning and fabrication and will work with the City of Jackson Recycling Center to identify and utilize appropriate materials for the project.
Community participation is an important component of the residency. The artist will develop opportunities for Jackson residents to participate in the creation of the artwork and/or learn about recycling and creative reuse through workshops, demonstrations, fabrication activities, or other activities developed in partnership with Our Jackson Home and the Recycling Center.
The completed artwork will be installed in Downtown Jackson’s Arts District.
Project Goals:
Creative Reuse: Transform discarded, recyclable, and/or reclaimed materials into a compelling work of public art while demonstrating the creative potential of reuse.
Community Engagement and Education: Provide meaningful opportunities for Jackson residents to participate in the artwork and learn about recycling and creative reuse.
Environmental Awareness: Encourage the community to think differently about waste, recycling, and the potential for materials to have a second life.
Beautification: Add visual interest and creativity to Downtown Jackson’s Arts District.
Connection to Jackson: Create a piece or pieces that represents Jackson, its people, history, and/or identity (final design must be relevant to Jackson in some way).
Our Jackson Home facilitates ArtWorks public art workshops throughout the year for local artists, design professionals, and creatives who are interested in transforming our shared spaces through art.
Virtual Q&A SessionS | October 2 | 11a & 12p
Local artists - we invite you to attend a Virtual Q&A if you are interested in being our new Recycling Artist in Residence or Light Box Design project.
This Virtual Q&A sessions are optional for interested applicants to ask any questions they may have about the residency before applying.
Light Box Q&A is at 11am and Recycling Artist in Residence is at 12pm.
about the process
HOW ART PROJECTS ARE CHOSEN
We partner with the City of Jackson on all public art projects. We use the following steps outlined in their Public Art Strategic Plan to commission new public art:
Projects are chosen by City of Jackson’s Public Art Commission
Selection Committees are formed for each project (made up of public art commissioners, artists & community members)
Artist call is released
Artists submit applications in response to open call
Selection Committees review & recommend artists
Public Art Commission approves artists and designs
Artwork created & installed
Public unveiling
If you’d like to be part of choosing public art, sign up to be on a selection committee via the link below:
Selection of artists
To ensure the fair and equitable distribution of public art projects each fiscal year, an artists is not allowed to be awarded more than one public art project each year. To read the full policy adopted by the City of Jackson’s Public Art Commission, click the dropdown selection below.
-
Eligible artists may apply to and be considered as finalists for multiple public art projects administered by the City of Jackson’s Public Art Commission within the same fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).
To ensure equitable distribution of opportunities and timely project delivery, an artist or artist team may be awarded only one commissioned public art project per fiscal year through the Public Art Commission.
If an applying artist or artist team is named a finalist for more than one project in the same year, both of the following apply:
The artist(s) may remain under consideration as a finalist for each project they apply for.
Should that artist(s) be awarded a project, they must withdraw from finalist consideration for any additional projects that fiscal year.
All selected artists are welcome and encouraged to continue applying for open calls in subsequent years.
To accommodate this policy, the Public Art Commission reserves the right to expand the number of finalists for a project (up to four finalists) when necessary, including in instances where finalist overlap occurs between projects.
This approach allows artists the ability to apply for multiple projects, be considered as finalists for multiple projects, and ensures fairness and equitable project distribution amongst selected artists within one year. In addition, this approach allows the Public Art Commission to maintain flexibility in the selection process while ensuring fairness, transparency, and the successful completion of each public art project.
past projects
Artist in Residence
The purpose of Our Jackson Home’s Artist in Residence program was to provide these artists and storytellers with opportunities to practice their craft and improve our community, connecting them to funding, resources, and a platform to create their work right here in Jackson, Tennessee.
featured films
Our Jackson Home desires to tell the stories of our community, and one way that has been done is through films. We have created several featured films over the years by local videographers. These films range from documentary to a film version of Porchfest.
Our projects
Our Jackson Home is partnered with the City of Jackson to install new artwork. Check out some of the cool projects we’ve worked on so far.