Call for Proposals: 2016 Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project

Yunlin County, Taiwan

 “Meet the Future in Cheng Long:  The Next 30 Years”

Artists from all countries are invited to send a proposal for a site-specific outdoor sculpture installation that will raise public awareness about global warming and land sinking around the world and address what we want our environment to be for the future. 2016 is the 30^th year since farmlands in Cheng Long village were covered by water and became the Cheng Long Wetlands nature preserve.  This situation we met in Cheng Long 30 years ago might happen anywhere in the world due to global warming and climate change and continued human neglect and mistakes. 30 years ago when Typhoon Wayne came and the wetlands were formed, the people had no choice.  Now we can think more about what we want for the future and take steps to improve the environment with such changes as sustainable living, carbon reduction and environmentally friendly industry.

Cheng Long is in a low-lying coastal area, and the land in Cheng Long sinks more each year due to over pumping of the underground aquifer, increasingly severe typhoons and rising water levels caused by global warming. The Cheng Long Wetlands provide a great home for many different species of wildlife, including about 120 species of wild birds and many other unique creatures and plants. The wetlands are also valuable as a place for learning, recreation and aesthetic enrichment as well as international cultural exchange activities such as the annual international environmental art project. Wetlands also provide many ecological benefits such as water purification, flood protection, erosion control and shoreline stabilization as well as commercial benefits from fish and shellfish production and increased tourism. The artworks in 2016 should relate to environmental issues in Cheng Long, a small village near the southwest coast of Taiwan, and encourage people to think about the next 30 years and what they would like to see happen for the future.

The artists selected for this art project will create large-scale outdoor public artworks during a 25-day artist in residency in Cheng Long village, Yunlin County, Taiwan.  For this 7^th year of the Cheng Long International Environmental Art Project, we expect to select 5 artists (including at least 1 Taiwanese artist) based on the proposals received. This environmental art project is organized by the Kuan Shu Educational Foundation as part of their ongoing environmental education program in Cheng Long village with the Taiwan Forestry Bureau. The selected artists will work with elementary school students at Cheng Long Elementary School (a small village school with about 66 students in grades 1 – 6) and community residents, visitors and volunteers to create large-scale sculpture installations that will raise awareness about environmental issues and help develop community pride and promote environmental education.

In 2016 the artworks will be sited in the wetlands nature preserve area of Cheng Long Wetlands, a sunken land area mostly covered by water, part salty and part fresh water, and now a nature preserve that is home to many birds, fish and other wildlife. Artists making proposals should visit the Blog at http://artproject4wetland.wordpress.com to see possible sites for the outdoor sculpture installations in 2016 as well as look at previous year’s artworks. The final selection of the site for each proposed artwork will be made with the artists and the approval of the curator and organizers. Artists are required to use natural and biodegradable materials and environmentally friendly processes that encourage sustainability and preserving and improving the environment. The artworks should last for one year or more, but they should be biodegradable so that they can decompose over time and be left to recycle naturally and enhance the environment of the wetlands. Artists will work alongside other international artists and Taiwanese artists and with local children and volunteers in Cheng Long village.

Deadline for Entries: January 15, 2016

Artists will be selected and notified by February 18, 2016

Installation and Residency in Cheng Long, Taiwan: Thursday, April 7 (artists arrive) – Monday, May 2, 2016 (artists depart)

Dates of the Exhibition: April 29, 2016 (opening ceremony), April 30 and May 1, 2016 (Opening weekend activities with the artists).  The exhibition will be on display through March 2017, and the artworks may continue to be enjoyed into the next years.

Selected Artists will receive the following:

• Artist’s Award of NT$60,000 (about US$2,000) for creating the artwork and participating as an artist in the public programs and working with community school children, residents, volunteers and visitors.
• Round trip economy airfare from the artist’s home to Taipei (Taoyuan International Airport). Artists must pay their own train fare (approx. US$35) to Yunlin High Speed Rail Station where the artists will be picked up and brought by car to Cheng Long Village. Detailed travel instructions will be sent to selected artists, and artists must get the approval of the curator before booking tickets and keep all receipts for reimbursement when they arrive in Cheng Long.
• 25 days of accommodations and meals in Cheng Long with other international and Taiwanese artists. Each artist will have a separate bedroom, but bathrooms and living areas may be shared. Breakfast and dinner will be provided at the accommodations, and artists will eat lunch at the elementary school. Some group dinners will also be provided.
• Local transportation to scheduled site-seeing trips with the artists and volunteers will be provided. Bicycles will be provided for the artists to use around the local area if they wish.
• Volunteer help from school children and adults in the community and one adult volunteer to help each artist for the entire residency period. This adult volunteer will be able to speak English and Chinese. However, artists should have confidence that they can finish their proposed artwork on their own.
• Help to find local natural, biodegradable and recycled materials to make the artworks. Local natural materials include shells, reeds, grasses, bamboo, driftwood, branches, earth, sand, etc.  Other possible biodegradable materials include natural rope, nets, natural fiber fabric, wood and other recycled materials.  Artists who need to purchase materials to make their artwork must consult with the curator, and pay for this from their own artists’ Award.  We hope that artists will use mostly free recycled and available natural materials.

Qualifications of Artists:

Artists who apply should have experience working with children and communities to create large scale site-specific outdoor sculpture installations in public settings and involve ordinary people in their thoughts and process. The artists should also have an interest in environmental issues related to wetlands. The selected artists should be able to speak English and be able to get along well with other artists, the local community and people of all ages and backgrounds. The selected artists should also be able to introduce their home culture to the community and share the environmental concerns of their own part of the world. We plan to select 5 artists total for 2016; at least 1 artist will be from Taiwan.

Curator of the Exhibition:

Jane Ingram Allen, is an American independent curator, artist and critic, living in Taiwan from 2004 – 2012, and now based in California, USA. Jane first came to Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar artist in residence in 2004 and 2005 and worked as an independent artist and curator in Taiwan from 2006-2012, starting the Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival at Guandu Nature Park in Taipei in 2006 and the Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project in Cheng Long village, Yunlin County, Taiwan in 2010 as well as the National Museum of Marine Science & Technology Environmental Art Project in Keelung, Taiwan in 2015. For the Cheng Long art project Jane works with the staff of the Kuan Shu Educational Foundation and a community advisory committee of teachers, government leaders and community people to administer and coordinate all aspects of this project, including the selection of artists and supervising the art installations and public programs related to the art project. Jane has experience curating international art exhibitions and working with public art projects in communities around the world as well as being an art professor at colleges and universities and a curator and educator at museums and art centers. Jane is an environmental artist herself and has participated in many international artist-in-residency programs in the USA, Taiwan, Japan, Brazil, Tanzania, China, Indonesia, and Nepal.  She has also curated several other environmental art exhibitions in Taiwan and the USA and writes about art for such magazines as SCULPTURE, PUBLIC ART REVIEW, ART RADAR ASIA, FIBER ART NOW and HAND PAPERMAKING.

To Apply:

Send the following in English by email to Jane Ingram Allen before the deadline of January 15, 2016, at this address: allenrebeccajanei@gmail.com

Proposals in Chinese may be sent to Ms. Chao-Mei Wang, chenglong.artproject@gmail.com before the January 15, 2016 deadline.

1. Description of a proposed sculpture installation for the 2016 Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project (limit one page), sent as an attached .doc or .pdf file. Include dimensions and materials to be used in the proposed work.
2. Artist Statement about your interest and experience working with communities, volunteers and children to create sculpture and installation art projects. Also in the statement, tell how your proposed work relates to the theme of global warming and sinking land, and be sure to tell how you will involve the Cheng Long Elementary School children in your artwork. The statement should be limited to one page and sent as an attached .doc or .pdf file.
3. Sketch or rendering of your proposed artwork (attached .jpg file of less than 1 MB)
4. 6 images of previous related works (6 attached .jpg files of less than 1 MB each)
5. Image list with details about the 6 images. Include title of work, date made, materials used, dimensions, and location of the artwork (attached .doc file or .pdf file)
6. CV or Resume in English (attached .doc or .pdf file) that details your education and art experience, awards and exhibitions and any international experience. Be sure to include your name, present address and nationality.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  All 6 required items should be sent as separate attached files by email.  Do not put all files into 1 .pdf or .doc file, and do not use a Zip file.