Gateways To Nature – Call For Artists
Tyler Arboretum, in Media, PA, announces a call for artists for the 2019 Gateways to Nature Exhibit. Create a structure or work for Gateways to Nature that showcases your talent and vision. Ignite the imaginations of a broad regional audience by creating portals, gateways, and thresholds that invite discovery of the natural world on extensive grounds. Gateways to Nature will run from April through October, 2019, at Tyler Arboretum.
Click here for the application / registration
Deadline: 2 Nov 2018
Submissions may include existing works appropriate to the theme or new works. All works including those offered for sale must remain at Tyler for the duration of the exhibit. Collaboration between artists, designers and builders is encouraged. All winning exhibitors will be notified by November 20, 2018.
Submissions should include:
- A rendering of the design concept
- A maximum one-page description of the exhibit concept
- Maximum of three perspective sketches and/or a model measuring no more than 24” x 18” (model is optional)
- Completed application form with requested information including title of the exhibit
- A non-refundable application fee of $40 per design, payable via check to Tyler Arboretum
Designs will be judged based on the following criteria (not in order of importance):
- Relevance to theme – Gateways to Nature.
- Engagement with visitors – creative, imaginative, inspiring, and fun.
- Accessibility – accessible for children and adults of various ages and abilities; no steps required to access the experience
- Durability and Safety – structurally sound and able to withstand environmental stresses as well as the active engagement of visitors of all ages for the duration of the exhibit
- Executable – able to be installed within the two-week installation time frame by the exhibitor’s team with limited help from Tyler staff and volunteers
- Flexibility – the ability to move the piece to an alternate location if necessary
Gateways to Nature Artist Benefits
Tyler has an affluent, well-educated audience within a region rich in arts and culture. The Philadelphia and Mid-Atlantic region has a well-developed community of patrons and collectors, both private and corporate. Tyler Arboretum attracts over 74,000 visitors a year concentrated from April through October. In 2017, Tyler had visitors from 37 states and 8 foreign countries, with 65% coming from the mid-Atlantic region including New York, SE Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.
- Exhibitors may receive reimbursement of up to $2000 to assist in fabrication and installation costs.
- Tyler will provide marketing support for the exhibit, including announcement of winners, press releases about the exhibit, and promotion through radio, web and social media. Gateways to Nature will open with an event to which exhibitors may include their invitation list.
- Tyler will create an exhibit webpage with links to exhibitors’ websites and contact information, as requested.
- Tyler will provide insurance for all works in the exhibit once exhibit materials are delivered on site, for the duration of the exhibit.
- Exhibitors work can be provided for sale, loaned to Tyler Arboretum for the duration of the exhibit, or with mutual agreement, donated to Tyler.
- Any and all sales of exhibitors’ work will be handled directly by the exhibitor, with a 25% commission to Tyler. Pieces purchased during the exhibit will remain at Tyler Arboretum for the duration of the exhibition. The exhibitor is solely responsible for delivery of the exhibit to the owner.
- Tyler has a social networks outreach with over 15,500 email recipients, 9250 Facebook followers, 1717 Twitter, 1376 Instagram followers and 80,000 website users.
About Tyler Arboretum
Tyler Arboretum is an extraordinary arboretum where human hands have created a magnificent garden with a very light touch. Tyler’s undulating landscape, whimsy, sweeps of trees and plants, and enigmatic nooks and crannies everywhere are perfect for children of all ages, adults, plant enthusiasts, artists, wanderers, and seekers of beauty and solitude.
One of the oldest and largest arboreta in the northeastern US, Tyler Arboretum’s 650 acres of gardens, meadows, wetlands and forests and 17 miles of hiking trails provide the opportunity for visitors to immerse themselves in nature. The exhibit will be located within the 102 acres of our curated gardens and collections.
Tyler is on the National Register of Historic Sites and has a distinctive character rooted in our past as a working farm, governed by the concept that connecting to nature is essential to understanding our place in the world.
With a mission focused on creating ‘champions of the natural world’, Tyler serves over 120 schools, and reaches a family audience and active adults through environmental education programs. Tyler Arboretum has a loyal and growing membership that actively supports our mission. It has over 400 volunteers who support Tyler’s operations through thousands of hours of hands-on work.
For more information, contact cbrien@tylerarboretum.org.
