Arts Board Seeks Wisconsin Artists for
Percent for Art Mentor Program

The Wisconsin Arts Board’s Percent for Art program is piloting an Percent for Art Mentorship Program. This program will train Wisconsin artists who are inexperienced with public art commissions to compete successfully in Percent for Art commissions, and incidentally, other public art commissions as well. The Wisconsin Arts Board seeks Wisconsin artists who are inexperienced with Percent for Art commissions to apply for inclusion in a roster of Wisconsin artists to work with mentors on specific Percent for Art commissions.

Wisconsin’s Percent for Art program was established in 1980 for the purpose of placing artwork in public settings, helping to beautify our public buildings and urban environments, and draw attention to the wealth of artistic expertise within our region. Under the legislation for the program, two-tenths of one percent of the total construction budget for selected new state buildings or renovation projects is designated for the acquisition of artwork.

The purpose of the percent for art mentoring program is to provide technical assistance to Wisconsin artists without experience in Percent for Art commissions. Commission projects with Percent for Art allocations between $15,000 to $25,000 will be open to these pre-selected Wisconsin artists only. Selection committees for specific projects will select semi-finalist artists from the roster. The artists will then work with mentors as they develop their initial design concept proposals for the specific Percent for Art projects.

Wisconsin artists selected for participation in the roster will receive a resource packet and will have 5-10 hours to work directly with their assigned mentor. The mentors consist of artists from the Midwest who have successfully completed Percent for Art Commissions.

“This is a great idea; I wish there had been such an opportunity to learn from artists experienced with public art commissions when I started out,” said Madison public artist Gail Simpson.

Wisconsin artists interested in participating in the new Percent for Art Mentor Program should check out the prospectus on the Arts Board’s website, http://www.artsboard.wisconsin.gov/static/percent/percent.htm.

Applications must be postmarked on or before March 18, 2004.

 

Contact: Chris Manke, 608/266-9737
Date Posted: 2/11/04