Request for Submissions: Public Art & Performance Open Call 

 We invite you to submit a proposal to activate Boston’s Chinatown with place-based Temporary Public Art and Performance projects. 

Pao Arts Center is proud to be one of the curatorial partners of the City of Boston’s “Un-Monument, Re-Monument, and De-Monument: Transforming Boston” project. As part of this initiative, Pao Arts Center will share a series of temporary public art and performance place-based projects and events that celebrate Chinatown as a neighborhood, cultural hub, and monument within the City. Each public intervention will showcase and uplift underrepresented Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) voices and consider how public art can inspire residents, visitors, and artists to engage in these efforts. "Un-monument" is funded by The Monuments Project at the Mellon Foundation.   

Chosen projects should center community engagement and cultural healing. We seek creative proposals which address one or more of the Chinatown priority issues listed below:  

  • Environmental advocacy through education on climate mitigation 

  • Wellness and well-being through increasing resident access to green spaces and community gardens 

  • Cultural identity empowerment through storytelling that uplifts Chinatown community members’ stories and lived experiences 

  • Public space interventions and gatherings that counter isolation and promote intergenerational exchange between Chinatown community members 

Key Details:  

Pao Arts Center seeks 3-5 artists and/or artist teams to activate Boston’s Chinatown with Temporary Public Art and Performance projects for place-based public performative work.  

  • Activation: August - November 2024 

  • Call Opens: Monday, May 6, 2024 

  • Virtual Information Session: Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 12:00 PM ET

    • FAQs and recording HERE

  • Written questions deadline: Friday, May 24, 2024, 5:00 PM ET 

  • Call Closes: Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 11:59 PM ET

  • Finalists will be notified by late-June

  • Selected artists will be publicly announced by July

Artist Award and Budgets: 

  • Artist Stipends: $2,800 per artist/artist team   

  • Project Budget: $2,000 - $6,000  

    • Design, fabrication, materials, engineering, installation, deinstallation, insurance, documentation etc...  

  • Community Engagement Budget: $1,500 per project  

    • Honorarium, translation, program supplies, refreshments, childcare etc...  

Eligibility:

We welcome any artists and artist teams who center community in their practice and have a demonstrated interest or experience working with Chinatown and/or Asian American Pacific Islander communities. This opportunity is open to all artists at all stages of their career, including individuals and artist-led teams or collectives. 

Questions:

  • View the recording and FAQs from our information session hosted on May 15, 2024

  • Email questions to Lani Asunción at publicart@bcnc.net with the subject “Open Call: Temporary Public Art” or “Open Call: Performance.” Inquiries will be answered on Wednesdays and Fridays between 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Deadline for email inquiries, Friday, May 24, 2024, 5:00 PM ET

  • Boston Chinatown is a thriving residential neighborhood and cultural hub empowered by resilient community activism, that has preserved against racial exclusion, infrastructural injustice, institutional expansion, and gentrification. Pao Arts Center’s Public Arts programming aims to uplift stories, priorities, and community narratives through one year of public art interventions in public spaces so community members can see themselves and reflect in public spaces.

    Pao Arts Center will support a series of temporary public art and performance-based events that seek to uplift AAPI voices and experiences while considering how public interventions can inspire residents, visitors, and artists all sharing part in the efforts to preserve and celebrate Chinatown not only as a neighborhood, but a cultural hub and monument within the City of Boston drawing on community, historical remembering, and cultural sharing.

    This project will support current community building and organizing-led grassroots initiatives in Chinatown. Selected artists will have the opportunity to work with community members of these initiatives, to explore how creative practices and projects in partnership with community organizing can elevate each other in celebrating a vibrant future for Chinatown.

    Projects with specific place-based activation proposals will be prioritized for Philips Square, Reggie Wong Park, and performances for Harvard Avenue with art that activates the fence and surrounding area. Site specific projects with mobile units and applications with multiple site activation proposals are ideal, allowing community partners to active and access temporary public art works throughout Chinatown.

    Applicants are encouraged to review the Chinatown HOPE website, Chinatown Master Plan, and Cultural Plan to understand the existing Chinatown-based community work in progress and proposed sites. Specific research on sites throughout Chinatown can be reviewed in Observing Open Spaces in Boston Chinatown by Anti-Displacement Studio at Northeastern University in partnership with the Castle Square Tenants Organization Media Makers led by Dr. Lily Song and Media Maker Coordinator Maria Fong.

  • Email

    Name

    Preferred Pronouns

    Link to portfolio or website

    Artist Statement (300 words)

    Proposed Project Description (Can be based on existing projects adapted to this Call) (500 words)

    Sites of Interest for Project (Does not need to be confirmed)

    Ideal Dates Activation (Activation does not need to span the entire period August - November 2024)

    What makes you a good fit to work with this community? (Experience working with Chinatown, community organizations, linguistic capacity etc.) (250 words)

    Images or Media of Project Proposal (File size 10 MB)

    Links to Media with Password if applicable

    Link to Budget template & narrative (Make a copy of the google spreadsheet, complete with your budget numbers, and upload)

    • Proposed project budget ($2,000-6,000): Include these categories: Design, fabrication, materials, engineering, installation, deinstallation, insurance, documentation, other

    • Community engagement budget ($1,500): Include these categories: Honorarium, translation, program supplies, refreshments, childcare, other. This is separate from your project budget.