CALL FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & COLLABORATIVE PHOTO-BASED PROJECTS FROM WOMEN, TRANSGENDER, AND NON-BINARY ARTISTS WORKING ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, D.C., AND PUERTO RICO
Do you have a photo-based project that redefines how we understand and respond to urgent issues in the United States today? We are looking to support up to five projects focused on specific states and issues (see below). Applications due November 1, 2019 at 11:59 Eastern Standard Time. Applicants will be notified by the end of the year for the grant to start at the beginning of 2020.
We, Women is not just a grant. It’s an opportunity to shape a national conversation about how to find common ground on divisive issues through photography and community engagement.
Selected artists receive:
A cash grant of $5,000-$7,500 for the continuation of existing work in a community they have a demonstrated commitment to
Mentorship and production support from We, Women leaders, project partners, and advisors
Promotion and marketing of projects
We, Women exhibition at Photoville Fall 2020
Inclusion in a traveling nationwide exhibition with concurrent programming beginning Fall 2020
The first 15 We, Women projects have been selected, and are covering issues in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Washington (state), and the D.C. metropolitan area.
We are looking to select up to 5 additional projects through this call for proposals targeting specific states and issues.
ELIGIBLE STATES: We are NOT accepting applications from the states where We, Women artists are currently doing projects (see above). Artists proposing projects from states other than those are eligible. Please note that we are particularly interested in receiving applications from the Midwest, Appalachia, the Southwest and Southeast United States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii.
ELIGIBLE ISSUES: We have a strong preference for proposals that address the following issues: Gun Violence/Safety, Healthcare (generally) and Maternal Care (specifically), the Military, Substance Addiction, Ability, Aging, Political Participation/Voter Suppression and Disenfranchisement, Education, and Jobs and the Economy.
Applicants who applied previously are not eligible to re-apply with the same project unless invited by We, Women.
Overview
We, Women is a nationwide platform exploring crucial issues across the United States, D.C., and Puerto Rico through photo-based projects. We support women, transgender, and non-binary artists whose processes are rooted in community engagement and collaboration. Projects re-frame issues and highlight underrepresented narratives that resist and interrogate social and political landscapes while promoting empathy and unity.
This developing project features up to 20 projects in key states and a mobile national exhibition starting in late 2020.
Vision
We live in an era characterized by divisiveness and distrust in politics and the media, yet we’re witnessing the highest level of civic engagement in decades. We, Women artists fuel existing movements by combining images with community engagement to offer a direct route to the core of a problem and the beginning of a solution. Our artists highlight the vital role the arts play in social change movements, by visualizing issues, attracting attention, connecting changemakers, and bridging dialogues.
Women, transgender, and non-binary people are often at the forefront of activism but disempowered in our political and social systems. Every defining issue of American existence today—from gun control to health care, affordable housing to climate change—is intersectional and should be interpreted and understood directly from these perspectives.
As a way to unravel the legacy of power structures constructed and maintained through decades of “othering” imagery, We, Women seeks to reclaim the photographic process in an act of visual rebellion: how it’s executed, what it means, and who it reaches. Only through a holistic understanding of how these structures impact our entire society can we hope to create a shift in our political and social systems.
We, Women prioritizes artists of color and individuals from all spectrums of identity, including but not limited to religion, sexual orientation, age, ability, and socio-economic status. By creating projects that unite and engage communities across the United States, our artists will show how issues are interconnected and how we are all affected by them. Through this radical transformation of image-making—with the goal of contributing to lasting change—We, Women believes we can revolutionize how we see our world and ultimately, ourselves.
Goals
Up to 20 community engagement projects in 20 different states will be showcased locally and nationally in a traveling exhibition that will begin touring the country in the Fall of 2020. We, Women projects will also be featured on our website. Though rooted in specific locations, each project serves as a case study for broader issues that impact multiple communities across the United States. By virtually and physically showing this work, we enable a broader demographic to see themselves reflected in these projects, learn about new perspectives, and see connections across geography and topics.
Over several years, we aim to support additional projects across the United States, D.C., and Puerto Rico, tracking issues across time, location, and political leadership.
We, Women believes photographs are only the beginning of a creative and socially-minded process. Thus, we support work that is rooted in collaboration, blurring the lines between the author, photographed community, and audience. We welcome a range of artistic and documentary approaches including photography, video, interactive technology, and the use of historical archives.
The Application
Due November 1, 2019 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time via Submittable with the following information:
Your contact information
Project Title
Project Location
Answers to the questions below
Your CV
Contact information for two references
Up to 20 images plus captions, from the proposed project or a related project
Your project timeline
Your project budget, including other sources of funding
Gender identity, ethnic background, and age
For your reference, the questions are also listed here. We recommend working on your answers in a separate document and pasting your answers into the online form.
Application Questions
In 1,000 words or less, please describe the following:
The issue your project will address and how this issue impacts the community you’ll be working with. Also include the project location, activities, goals, tangible outcomes, and how it’s rooted in collaboration and community engagement.
How your project moves beyond insular and polarized conversations and creates pathways for dialogue and action.
How your project and the community you're working with provide an opportunity for a broader, national conversation about the issue you are addressing.
Describe your relationship with the community you’re working with. Are you a member of this community? If not, how have you demonstrated a relationship and/or longstanding commitment with the people of this community?
Please describe how this grant will enable you to develop a new component of your existing project. Also, how is your proposed strategy similar or different to previous ways of addressing this issue?
Who is your desired audience for the final product of your work and how will you assess your project’s impact?
In 250 words or less, please describe the following:
Do you have a local partner organization (e.g. outreach, funding, advocacy)? If so, please list and indicate role of the partner(s). If not, are there partners you have identified? If so, who and what do you envision their role(s) to be?
Please attach the following:
Your project timeline
Your project budget, including other sources of funding
Up to 20 images plus captions, from the proposed project or a related project
Selection Process
The We, Women founding team and members of our advisory committee will select artists.
We will choose the artists best equipped to make meaningful and impactful community engagement work.
Preference will be given to applicants with a strong, demonstrated commitment or connection to the communities or issues they are addressing.
Priority will be given to projects that are already underway, fully conceptualized, and where the artist has a track record of working in the proposed method and/or demonstrated experience with the community and issue.
We, Women encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds and the majority of We, Women artists will be women, transgender, or non-binary people of color. In our selection, we do not discriminate against otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, ability, or sexual orientation.
We believe that gender is fluid. We, Women is inclusive of a plurality of voices including womxn, transgender, and non binary people.
Eligibility
Women, transgender, and non-binary artists whose processes are rooted in community engagement and collaboration.
Demonstrated longstanding commitment to the issue and/or community in which you propose to work
Feasible project with tangible goals
Project includes the community you are working with as collaborators not “subjects”
Collaborations between artists are accepted, provided that all team members are women, transgender, or non-binary. Please submit one application per project.
In most cases, projects in which a substantial part of the funding will be used for travel and accommodations will not be considered.
We are looking for projects that:
Respond to the misogyny, racism, bigotry, and divisiveness that is being magnified in the current political climate
Move beyond insular and polarized conversations and create pathways for dialogue and action
Promote a reconsideration of how art and media are currently produced and consumed
Amplify a commitment to inclusion, diversity, and self-representation
Resist, interrogate or change how issues are understood and addressed
Collaboration and community engagement must be central elements of your proposal. The project descriptions for the We, Women artists already selected provide examples and insight into how artists are incorporating these elements into their work.
As a reminder, we are targeting specific issues and states:
ELIGIBLE STATES: We are NOT accepting applications from the states where We, Women artists are currently doing projects (see above). Artists proposing projects from states other than those are eligible. Please note that we are particularly interested in receiving applications from the Midwest, Appalachia, the Southwest and Southeast United States, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii.
ELIGIBLE ISSUES: We have a strong preference for proposals that address the following issues: Gun Violence/Safety, Healthcare (generally) and Maternal Care (specifically), the Military, Substance Addiction, Ability, Aging, Political Participation/Voter Suppression and Disenfranchisement, Education, and Jobs and the Economy.
Lead Funding Provided By: Open Society Foundations
Presenting Organizations: UPI and WP
Institutional Collaborators: For Freedoms, Kickstarter, Magnum Foundation
Community Collaborators: Authority Collective, Diversify, Everyday Projects, Natives Photograph