Open call for portfolios / artists for the interior and call for sketches

The second stage of the art acquisitions for TUAS’ new building being constructed on Kupittaa campus has started. With a combination of an open call for portfolios and call for sketches, we seek 2−3 works of art to be produced in the interior of the campus building, in the first-floor skylight niches and in the meeting cubes, which will be built as oriels on the second floor. The design of the works of art for the interior is carried out in two stages.

At the first stage, an open call for portfolios is announced for artists and artistic teams working in Finland. However, sketch proposals on works of art for the interior are not submitted at the first stage. The artistic jury of the KampusART arts programme selects the artists for the call for sketches stage based on the portfolios. The jury includes Head of Education and Research Taina Erävaara (TUAS Arts Academy), Communications Director Terhi Marin (Turku Technology Properties) and visual artists Heini Aho, Veli Granö and Jaakko Niemelä.

At the second stage, the selected artists and/or artistic teams will create the sketch proposals and can discuss their proposals with Construction Manager, Architect (SAFA) Anniina Savisalo at Turku Technology Properties. The process in question is an experiment with a new way for commissioning public art in cooperation with the Artists’ Association of Finland.

The call for works of art for the interior is a part of KampusART arts programme, which brings art to the indoor and outdoor premises of the new building on Kupittaa campus. High-quality and bold art increases the attractiveness of the new campus and constructs the identity of the building and region.

The first call for artists was carried out as a combination of a call for portfolios and an invitational art competition, seeking an artwork to be produced on the yard deck of the campus building. The invitational will be concluded by the end of 2019. The Kupittaa campus arts programme is coordinated by TUAS Arts Academy, and it is implemented in cooperation by TUAS and Turku Technology Properties. Read more on the arts programme here.

THE SKETCH COMMISSION IN BRIEF

The aim of the call for portfolios and the subsequent call for sketches is to find location-specific, permanent ideas for works of art for the interior of the new campus building in Kupittaa. Surprising and bold contemporary art increases the pleasantness of the building and constructs its identity. Those who move in the campus building include people working, studying and visiting the Turku Science Park area.

The number of artworks to be produced in the interior is 2–3, and a total of 100 000 euros (VAT 0) has been allocated for the production costs of the artworks or entity of works of art. This sum includes the artists fees, the material and production costs of the artworks and the right related to copyrights to save the works of art with an appropriate device and publish the documents without a separate permission or compensation.

The artists and teams have the opportunity to propose a single artwork or an entity of several works of art for the interior. The works may have a thematic connection regardless of the technique used. There are two separate sites: three skylight niches in the restaurant on the first floor and altogether seven meeting cubes on the second floor, built as oriels in the glass-roofed lobby. The artist or artistic team can create a proposal for a work of art for one or both of the sites. It is also possible to suggest an entity of works of art, which is produced both in the skylight niches and the lathed walls. Either two- or three-dimensional works of art can be proposed for both sites. The artists selected in the second stage are familiarized with the technical limitations of the site at the beginning of the call for sketches.

The artworks to be produced indoors shall be effortless to maintain and have reasonable maintenance costs. The artworks shall endure the activities in and use of the new building as well as possible.

A central part of the KampusART arts programme is its pedagogic dimension. The pedagogic possibilities of the artwork process are negotiated separately with the selected artist or artistic team (e.g. practical training of art students, workshops or lectures).

An artist-/team-specific fee of 2500 EUR will be paid to those invited in the call for sketches (VAT 0 with a Business ID, taxable income as a fee) after the sketches have been submitted. If the artist or artistic group wants to submit several sketches, an additional fee is not paid, as they are included in the artist-/team-specific fee. The project’s steering group decides on ordering the final work of art based on the jury’s proposal, and they have the right to order the work of art based on any of the sketches. The steering group consists of representatives of TUAS, Turku Technology Properties and Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

SCHEDULE

• Call for portfolios 2–30 September
• The jury selection of the portfolios in October 2019: 4−8 artists/artistic teams are selected in the second stage
• Call for sketches 1 November 2019 – 31 January 2020, meetings with the architect
• Info event for artists in the beginning of November 2019
• Jury work February 2020, artists are informed of the artist selection at the beginning of March 2020 at the latest
• The aim is that some of the artworks are completed on site in summer 2020 and some in summer 2021.

As soon as the call for sketches is launched, an info event is organized for the artists, and there the invited artists and teams may pose questions and discuss the destination with the Art Coordinator and architect.

STAGE 1. CALL FOR PORTFOLIOS

The call for portfolios is ongoing 2−30 September 2019. The portfolios are submitted electronically by Monday 30 September 2019 at 23.59 to kampusart@turkuamk.fi. Only the portfolios submitted electronically to the abovementioned address are taken into account.

Who can apply?

Professional artists and artistic teams residing in Finland, who have completed education suitable for artistic work and/or operate actively and professionally in the field and the ability to produce the work of art independently, can participate in the call for portfolios.

What should be included in the portfolio?

The artists/artistic groups are requested to include the following in the portfolio:

• Contact information: email address, phone number and possible website address (for artistic teams, contact person)
• Résumé (max. 3 pages/artist or member of artistic group)
• A 3−5-paged portfolio on artworks with pictures, and a short introduction on each work of art in text format. Emphasis on the latest works. If an artwork has been implemented as a team, describe your own share of the work.
• Justifications why you are interested in the site, and why the working method is suitable specifically for the interior of the new building of TUAS (max. 100 words). Please state also which of the sites you are interested in or if you’re interested in both sites.

Note! Sketch proposals on artworks for the interior are not submitted with the portfolio.

Technical properties of the portfolio:

• The material is submitted as a single file (max. 10 Mb) attached to an email
• Name the file lastname_firstname.pdf OR team_name.pdf.
• Give your email the subject Call for portfolios: Last name First name OR Name of artistic group.

Please note that if the format or contents of the portfolio do not meet the abovementioned requirements, the jury has the right to ignore it.

STAGE 2. CALL FOR SKETCHES

A maximum of 4−8 artists and/or artistic groups are selected in the second stage. They are notified of the selection in October. The sketch and sparring stage begins on 1 November 2019 and ends on 31 January 2020. In the beginning of November, the artists and/or artistic teams are invited to a joint info event, where they are familiarized with the arts programme, its goals and the sketch commission. During the sketching stage, the artists/artistic teams have the opportunity to discuss their ideas with an expert very familiar with the site, Architect Anniina Savisalo. In the personal discussions, the focus is especially on the functionality of the idea for the space in question. General questions related to the site (e.g. on the capacity) are collected separately and the answers to them will be provided jointly.

The final artwork proposals are submitted as single pdf files between 25 and 31 January 2020 via the WeTransfer service to kampusart@turkuamk.fi. Please check that the email address is correct when submitting the proposal.

Please provide the following information in the message field in WeTransfer:

• Name(s) of artist(s)
• Name of the proposal
• Contact information
• The copyright holders and assistants separately, if the entire team does not hold the copyrights.

If the artist or artistic team submits several proposals, each proposal is submitted separately, as its own item.

The artists will receive a confirmation once the proposal has been received. The organizer of the call for sketches does not insure the proposals and is not responsible for possible damages to the files during the transmittal. After the end of the second stage, the artists commit themselves to participate in a feedback survey conducted by the Artists’ Association of Finland.

The final decisions on ordering the sketches and works of art are made by the steering group of the Arts programme, based on the proposals of the artistic jury. The steering group consists of representatives of TUAS, Turku Technology Properties and Arts Promotion Centre Finland. The aim is to make the decisions on the work(s) of art to be produced in the beginning of March 2020.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Art Coordinator Riina Kotilainen
tel. +358 (0)50 598 5218
riina.kotilainen@turkuamk.fi