MSVU Art Gallery seeks Expressions of Interest from artists, proposing graphic design concepts for limited-edition merchandise. The merchandise, t-shirts and tote bags, will be produced by MSVU Art Gallery as part of its 50th anniversary activities. Artists are encouraged to interpret this call broadly and creatively.
The submission and selection process has three phases:
- Artists are invited to submit expressions of interest.
- Expressions of interest will be reviewed by a selection committee and selected artists will be invited to submit a completed design proposal for consideration. These artists will be offered a $25 fee upon submission of their proposal (please see below for information on proposal requirements).
- The selection committee will review the submitted proposals and select five final designs, which will be printed on ten t-shirts and ten tote bags as limited-edition commemorative merchandise.
Artists’ expressions of interest should provide a general description of their design concept and outline how they envision it printed on both t-shirts and tote bags. While each design is ultimately the artist’s creation, artists are asked to consider the following:
- Explicit or thematic acknowledgement of MSVU Art Gallery’s 50th anniversary is not required but final designs must incorporate the MSVU Art Gallery 50th anniversary logo in some visible capacity (see below)
- A maximum of three colors may be used in the composition
- Selected designs will be printed on black t-shirts and unbleached cotton canvas totes
Artist Fees
$25 proposal fee will be offered to every artist who is invited to submit a completed design proposal for consideration (invitations will be capped at 100 artists).
$600 artist fee will be offered to the five artists whose designs are selected and produced as limited-edition merchandise.
How to Apply
Expressions of interest must include the following:
- Your name, address, phone number and email address
- Material that provides some insight into you and your practice (e.g. a CV, resume, artist website and/or other similar information)
- A brief statement describing your design concept and how you envision it printed on both t-shirts and tote bags (150 words max)
- Sketches and images are welcome, but not necessary
All submission components, including images, should be compiled in a single PDF document. The PDF file name and email subject line should both be “Merchandise Design EOI – Your Name”.
Expressions of interest should be emailed to cinthia.ariasauz@msvu.ca by March 2, 2022 at 12:00pm AST.
Artists whose expressions of interest are selected to be developed into a completed design proposal will be contacted by March 4 and asked to submit the following by March 14:
- Three images of relevant work, labelled with the title, year and medium (if applicable)
- A statement describing your design concept – this can be an expanded version of the statement included in your expression of interest (400 words max)
- A maximum of 3 visual representations (sketches, drawings, collages, etc.) of your proposed design, as fully rendered and print-ready as possible
~ ~ ~ If you have questions, need assistance, or if any aspect of this submission process is inaccessible to you, please don’t hesitate to reach out, Gallery staff are happy to help! Contacting us via email (cinthia.ariasauz@msvu.ca) is the best first step and from there we can arrange to connect via phone or video chat, etc. ~ ~ ~
