City of Salem Calls for Submissions to ArtBox 2013
Winners to Receive Significant Visibility & $500
Utility to Beauty
The City of Salem calls all artists to submit proposals to paint one out of six downtown utility boxes as part of ArtBox 2013. Winning artists will have their work in front of one million people annually and will receive $500.
With the recent announcement of the Peabody Essex Museum’s pending expansion and last year’s successful Rob Lorenson sculpture series, the city is on the rise as a regional, national and international arts destination.
In the hopes of promoting individual artists as well as the community’s burgeoning arts scene, ArtBox asks all interested to propose a piece of art that presents his or her visual interpretation of Salem’s cityscape, culture, community pride or art itself.
Project Background
Salem’s first art box, located on Essex Street in front of its sponsor’s popular café, has been received very positively. Inspired by its success and the city’s increased artistic momentum, a group of local art appreciators and community leaders came together at the end of 2011 to spearhead ArtBox, a program to transform these utilitarian eyesores into original works of art.
Beyond adding to Salem’s spirit of creativity, sense of place and cultural identify, these boxes are meant to beautify and inspire. If successful, ArtBox will be a perennial project. These first boxes will set the bar, generating the buzz and spurring future boxes in the coming years—just as painter Greg Orfanos’ vanguard box on Essex Street has done by adding a splash of creative genius to the street.
Nuts & Bolts
Open to all skilled and talented artists, the deadline for submission is before 4:00 PM Monday, April 8th. The work will be judged by an independent group of creative professionals, including Steven Zevitas, President and Publisher New American Painting and owner of the Boston-based Steven Zevitas Gallery. One box will be painted weekly starting in June.
A special thanks to local sponsors Waters & Brown Paint & Decorating for providing paint supplies and Gorilla Printing for providing a tent. Winners will be publically announced at the Salem Arts Festival on June 1.
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