REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS AND PROPOSALS

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) - Plains States Region, in cooperation with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, invites artists living within a 250-mile radius of Omaha, Nebraska to submit qualifications and preliminary proposals to be considered for the 2013-2014 Typecast | Recast public art exhibition. This is the inaugural year for what the ADL hopes will become a recurring project for Omaha. The deadline for submission of entries is Saturday, March 2, 2013.

The Plains States Anti-Defamation League is now accepting qualifications and preliminary proposals from artists to participate in the inaugural Typecast | Recast exhibit. Typecast | Recast will be a recurring public art exhibit that seeks to activate and amplify the urban conditions of a seven-block stretch of downtown Omaha, Nebraska through innovative and adventurous temporary public artworks. ADL is seeking qualifications from artists who have experience working in the public realm, as well as from artists for whom the project would represent an expansion of their practice. ADL and its partners believe this temporary public exhibition will animate a specific urban corridor, promote nuanced cultural dialogue and communicate the transformative power of public art.

The ADL will commission up to 10 artists to produce temporary site-specific art installations for North 12th Street in Downtown Omaha between Mike Fahey and Douglas streets with a total budget of $50,000 to be divided among the artists for creation and installation of their artworks. The art will be installed mid-August, 2013 and remain on view until July, 2014. Artists should consider the outdoor elements when selecting materials and structure of their piece.

Proposals are not required to adhere to thematic parameters. However, the selection process, led by the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, will include sensitivity to ADL's mission to secure justice and fair treatment for all. It should be noted that this call is intentionally broad so as not to limit artistic vision. The review committee and jury will consider any medium - for this exhibition, public art will be interpreted broadly. The selection team would like to encourage unconventional public works, ranging from public sculpture and two-dimensional works to other media, such as window vinyl, video installation, sound works, event-based projects, placemaking initiatives, billboards, signage or surely many other forms we haven't yet considered. Please be adventurous with your proposal.

The ADL, in collaboration with the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, will make their best efforts to work with the City of Omaha and any private property owners impacted by a proposal in order to negotiate necessary approvals, permissions, and permits for installing a selected piece.

Artists may be asked to work collaboratively with members of the Artist Selection Panel and project consultants in determining unique design opportunities. In some circumstances, proposals may need modifications in order to gain feasibility.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Selected artists will be expected to fabricate and install their works by August 16, 2013. Please consider this schedule before submitting your materials.

The ADL will also help to facilitate and coordinate installation of the art, although costs associated with installation will be the responsibility of the artists.

In some circumstances, selected artists may need space for fabrication. The ADL and Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts may be able to help artists find this space if artists notify the organizations of their needs.

ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE MISSION

The Anti-Defamation League is keen to improve the culture of our community so that all people - no matter who they are - can strive to live in a respectful and hate-free world. ADL seeks to challenge perceptions, break down stereotypes, and generate understanding. We have all felt typecasted at times and we all hold our own typecasts or biases of others.  Typecast | Recast offers each one of us the opportunity to recognize and examine typecasts, perceptions, and personal biases and through art, to consider a world free of them. By using art to initiate crucial conversations, people are drawn to understand one another on a more human level. In consideration of this underpinning, proposals may embody ADL's mission to secure justice and fair treatment for all, and the pursuit to make Omaha a No Place for Hate community. The exhibition is anticipated to serve as a public illustration of respect, diversity, and mutual understanding. For more information on the ADL's work to secure justice and fair treatment for all, visit www.adl.org.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

This call seeks artists wishing to be considered by a professional Artist Selection Panel for this project. Applicants will utilize ADL's online Call for Artists Submission Portal: http://typecastrecast.org/call-for-artists/.

The selection process will consist of two phases. To be considered in the first phase, artists are invited to complete the online form and upload the following: 1. a current resume (maximum of three pages); 2. Up to 10 documents of related past work; 3. A general statement of interest and brief description outlining the proposed project consisting of a maximum of 150 words.  The deadline for submissions is March 2, 2013.

A shortlist of candidates will receive an invitation to participate in Phase 2 of the Artist Selection Process no later than March 15, 2013. Artists selected to participate in Phase 2 will submit a site-specific proposal of their project. Candidates will be asked to interview with the artist selection panel and will be invited to publicly present proposals at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. Finalists will be invited to participate in a public Typecast | Recast selection and fundraising event on April 11.

Incomplete submissions will not be considered.  For inquiries regarding the application and selection process contact Alex Priest at 402.341.7130 x 21 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

If you wish to mail hard copies, they must be received no later than March 1, 2013.  Send them to Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, 724 S 12th St, Omaha Nebraska, 68102.

For more information about this exhibition and to submit your qualifications, see typecastrecast.org

Muscatine Art Center’s collections were significantly enriched by a gift of twenty-seven works of art by Toulouse-Lautrec, Matisse, Degas, Boudin, Chagall, Renoir, and other European artists. The collection was a gift in 1992 from the estate of Mary Musser Gilmore in honor of her parents, Richard Drew Musser and Sarah Walker Musser.

This spring, the Muscatine Art Center welcomes Carol Ehlers, art history speaker, to present lectures on featured artists from the Mary Musser Gilmore Collection. The series is called “Artists Inspirations” and features artists Pablo Picasso, Paul Signac, and Raoul Dufy, and the artists that influenced each of them. The lectures will be held on the fourth Thursdays of the month beginning in March, and will be begin promptly at 5:30 pm. These lectures are FREE and open to the public.

Thursday, March 28: Pablo Picasso Looks at Edgar Degas

Pablo Picasso is said to have remarked that "good artists copy; great artists steal." Throughout his long and prolific career, Picasso often made works of art in response to his predecessors, quoting famous compositions by other artists. The subjects that had come to define Degas’ works- cabarets and cafes, portraits, women bathing, and ballet dancers- can be seen in a variety of pieces from Picasso’s early periods. Picasso's interest in Degas even inspired a series of etchings, made late in his career, in which Picasso depicted Degas himself.

Thursday, April 25: Paul Signac and the Utilization of Scientific Theory and Pointillism

Neo-Impressionist Paul Signac adopted the scientific theory of color and light refraction published by Eugene Chevreul and the model of pointillism he developed with his contemporary Georges Seurat to create a new phase of Post-Impressionism: Pointillism. See how these theories of color and phenomena of perception influenced Signac’s art.

Thursday, May 23: Raoul Dufy Looks at Pissarro, Matisse and Braque

Like the Camille Pissarro and the Impressionists at the time, Raoul Dufy's cheerful paintings depict events of the time, including views of the French Riviera, and musical events. However, Impressionism was simply a step artistically- he then fell under the influence of the Fauves after being mesmerized by Henri Matisse. Later, he found that he needed to instill more austerity and soberness in his works, and Cubism fit the bill. Dufy preferred Georges Braque’s neutral, fractured paintings to the wild and painterly Fauvist style. He later gained a reputation for being a commercial artist after a lifetime of borrowing from different artistic movements.

EVENT DETAILS:

What: “Artists Inspire” Lecture Series

Who: Carol Ehlers

When: Fourth Thursdays starting in March, 2013

Time: 5:30 PM

Where: The Muscatine Art Center’s Music Room

Admission to these programs is FREE.

February 15th, 2013
6.00 p.m. Till 9.00 p.m.
February 16th 2013 -till- April 26th 2013

Bill Marsoun is a graduate of Illinois State University with an education degree in mathematics and art. He is a life long resident of the Illinois Quad Cities.

He taught mathematics and art at Rock Island's Washington Junior High for 35 years. He has, and is, a scenic artist, set designer and director in many Quad City theaters. He has been the primary scene designer and scenic artist for the Quad City Music Guild for the past forty years.

He lives with his wife Cathy in Rock Island and has two adult children: Beth and Rich.