Call for Proposals- Emerging Curator Fellowship

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts (AFA) has created a new initiative; the AFA Fellowship for Emerging Curators, to support the growth and development of Curatorial talent. The AFA invites individuals and groups of individuals to submit a proposal for an online exhibition of Albertan visual art. The exhibition will be posted on the AFA’s Art House website and is intended to create exposure for the AFA collection, especially for artworks that cannot be used in regular AFA programming. The project is intended to bring a new perspective to the artworks and artists featured in the AFA collection. The AFA will ensure the successful projects are formatted and made available online, through the eMuseum platform.

Funding of up to $10,000 per proposal is available for this project. A maximum of three (3) Fellowships will be awarded.  Please see attached document for full proposal details. 

Timeline: 
Application Deadline: December 22, 2014 at 4:00 PM Alberta Time 
Projected Start Date: January 1, 2015 
Project Completion Deadline: March 20, 2015 


Eligibility Requirements: 
Proposals may be submitted by: 

• Emerging curators; persons with less than 10 years of professional artistic practice or less than 10 years of experience curating exhibitions in Alberta, Canada or abroad (equivalencies and combinations of experience will be considered);
•  Individuals, sole proprietors’, or groups of individuals working in professional partnerships or curatorial collectives as long as all members can be classified as “emerging curators”;
• Individuals enrolled in graduate level, post-secondary education; individuals in undergraduate programs are not eligible to apply; 
• Canadian citizens or permanent residents; Individuals residing outside of Alberta are eligible to apply. 

The following projects and applicants are ineligible: 

• Exhibitions already completed, or due to be completed, before the commencement of the funding period; funding will not be provided retroactively;
• Exhibitions prepared as part of post-secondary programs or where academic credits are given;
• Exhibitions that have been previously published, produced or exhibited; 
• Costs for business start-up and the purchase of basic equipment (e.g. personal computer and software); 
• Proposals submitted by commercial firms or corporations. 

Proposal Requirements: 
Applicants must include the following in their application: 
A curatorial statement outlining the exhibition theme/idea/concept they want to develop; 
The target audience of the exhibition; Suggested artworks from the AFA collection[1] ; 
The suggested timeline for the project; Resumes of all curators involved in the submission; Sample curatorial statements, educational packages and/or interpretive guides to demonstrate the applicants’ experience or to support the proposal; 
A statement outlining their approach to preparing educational or interpretive packages to accompany the exhibition; 
Applicant proposals may also include a maximum of one (1) recommended acquisition for the AFA Collection (note, recommendations should meet AFA Collection Development Plan criteria); 
A suggested minimum of one (1) on-site visit to the AFA collection in Edmonton, AB; 
A proposed budget for the project, including travel costs to view the Collection. 

Application Requirements: 
Curators can include themselves as artists in the proposals;
All artworks included in the exhibition must be from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Collection; 
Late applications will not be considered; Incomplete applications will not be accepted. 

Applications and inquiries can be mailed or e-mailed to: 
Erin McDonald, Manager, 
Art Collections The Alberta Foundation for the Arts 
10708 105 Avenue Edmonton, AB    T5H 0A1  
erin.mcdonald@gov.ab.ca  

Read more at http://www.affta.ab.ca/Arts-In-Alberta/Arts-Opportunities/AFA-Emerging-Curator-Fellowship---Call-for-Proposals