CALL for ARTISTS

2025 ARTIST CALL FOR ARTISTS is now open!

Please note, we will only be selecting artists from the Great Lakes Bay Region in Michigan this year. If you do not live in this area, please refrain from applying.

OUR VISION:

The Art Seen Festival Committee is seeking family-friendly muralists from the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan from any artistic style. We are dedicated to furthering the emerging arts scene in our increasingly diverse population, in Midland, Michigan.

Art Seen Festival seeks to strengthen our Midland County, Michigan, community through vibrant mural making and live music. Accessible public art is a meaningful way to connect people to feel seen, heard, and included. Art Seen Festival is a part of Public Arts Midland, which is a community run initiative of the Midland Area Community Foundation.

Art inspires us and propels us forward while bringing voice to diverse experiences, and people. Public art gives our community a collective voice and a way to express our values while it brings awareness of and beauty to both the physical and cultural landscape of our city. This work aligns with our larger Midland County vision statement which reads, “Midland County: an inclusive community. Together. Forward. Bold. An exceptional place where everyone thrives”.

The Community Mural is the Festival’s flagship experience, offering a “paint by number” component to allow community members to leave their mark and contribute to the work while bringing a muralist(s) concept to life.

This year’s mural space is more than 960 square feet and will be featured in the courtyard of a high traffic and historic mid-century modern building in our community. Due to the size of the space, a five-mural vignette will be created by a team of artists with a united theme aiming to include interactive elements to create a space for wonder, learning, and engagement by all ages and abilities.

2025 ENTRY RULES AND REQUIREMENTS:

  • The 2025 Art Seen Community Mural will be on two large walls within Midland city limits and will be a collaborative creation incorporating five coordinated vignettes with a tie in theme.

  • The Mural team will be coordinated by Parker Lane Art & Design Studio to ensure a cohesive result.

  • The Mural will be family-friendly and may not depict political, crude, or offensive content. It is recommended that portfolio submissions consider these guidelines. Artists may be disqualified for portfolio submissions that do not adhere to this consideration.

  • Interested muralists must submit a portfolio with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 10 images of previous mural projects, and the artist must be living in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan. 

  • Artists must be at least 18 years of age.

  • Entries must be the artist's original work, where they are the primary artist.

  • If accepted, the artist must be available for orientation and prep on Friday, May 30, is required to be actively painting the mural during the festival on May 31, and should be available at minimum on Sunday, June 1, 2025, to complete the work.

  • Artists are required to carry their own liability insurance.

  • All materials including brushes, rags, tools, paint and scaffolding/ ladders will be provided for use.  The mural wall will be cleaned, primed, and ready to be painted on. 

  • Specific paint colors will be coordinated by the Team.

  • Artists are responsible for the entire mural execution of their portion of the mural is completed in its entirety and within the allotted time frame.

  • Artists are responsible for all travel and food costs.

SELECTION PROCESS:

Once artist eligibility has been determined, portfolios will be reviewed by the Art Seen Festival Committee along with the wall owner. Artists will be notified of their acceptance between February 27 and March 5. A first round of offers will go on February 27 with required acceptance by March 4. If the deadline is missed, an additional round of offers will go March 5 with a March 8 deadline. All artists will be notified by March 8.

Decisions by the selection panel are final and not open to negotiation. Art Seen Festival does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability.

DETAILS:

There is one mural site in 2025 but five artists will be selected to contribute their style/design to a collaborative mural concept with five vignettes and a coordinated theme.

1 - COMMUNITY MURAL - $2,000 to each of the 5 selected artists
The Community Mural concept sets the Art Seen Festival apart from many other festivals. The Community Mural needs to be designed in a way that there are many smaller areas that any member of the community can help paint (picture a giant paint-by-number). Examples can be seen on our website: Art Seen Festival.

Experienced Muralists will work together with Parker Lane Art & Design Studio who together will refine a concept, manage the transference of the art, and oversee the execution of the Community Mural at the event.

Each of the five sections will be 22-25 feet wide and between 6 and 10 feet tall depending on the section of the wall. There are two walls one is about 700 square feet that will be split into four sections and one wall that will stand alone and is about 260 square feet.

While the final design will be subject to the team’s development an overarching concept has been predetermined: a storybook-like theme with folklore from different cultures. If selected, artists will need to be flexible, and willing to research and develop their vignette concept. This will be discussed in more detail with the artist team once selections have been made.

  • This mural site is in the courtyard of a historic mid century modern high-traffic building within the Midland community.

  • The building owner is open to a variety of concepts and will weigh in on the final design.

  • This site is low profile brick.  

  • Artists applying for this site must be residents of the Great Lakes Bay Region.

  • Must be an experience muralist

  • Portfolio of 3-10 images of previous large-scale mural work is required. 

  • Resume

  • Three references from previous mural projects which have a contact name along with a phone number or email where they can be contacted.

The mural site will be announced in the near future.

2025 TIMELINE:

DEC 14 - Portfolio submissions open

FEB 14 - Portfolio submissions close

FEB 27 - Notifications sent to selected artists via email

MAR 4 - Deadline for first round of selected artists to accept/Meeting to be scheduled with community mural artist and Parker Lane to discuss next steps

MAY 30 - Mandatory orientation/safety briefing meeting for muralists/prep day

MAY 31 - Festival painting

JUN 1 - Final painting day if needed

Please direct any questions you might have to
artseenfestival@gmail.com or contact us here.

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