Submit to the Jamaica Flux Open Call Here: https://jcal.submittable.com/submit/282311/jamaica-flux-workspaces-windows-2024

Launched in 2004, Jamaica Flux was created to build equity and to expand cultural inclusion throughout Southeast Queens. For the sixth iteration and 20th anniversary of Jamaica Flux in 2024, JCAL will build on this legacy by once again uniting artists, local residents, curators, scholars, and community stakeholders to harness and catalyze the transformative power of the arts. Projects informed by a commitment to social change, and which drive inclusive public discourse, collective civic action, and deep community engagement, are especially welcome.

Each of the six artists selected for Jamaica Flux will receive a minimum of $1,000

Previous Jamaica Flux iterations have consistently situated principles of social practice, exploring and incorporating such diverse contemporary issues as urban development, wellness, education, fair trade, and small business into traditional and interdisciplinary artforms. Over 140 artists and collectives have taken part over the years, from installing large-scale public installations and convening interactive projects and workshops to potato ecology, SAT tutoring, CGI/AR videos, walking audio tours, and papermaking on the street.

Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL) seeks proposals from visual artists for Jamaica Flux: Workspaces & Windows 2024, a multidisciplinary project focused on site-specific public artworks temporarily installed in a tight, one-mile radius of Jamaica Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Jamaica, Queens. Projects that meaningfully explore the area’s diverse cultural geography and utilize dialogue and deep collaboration with local businesses, organizations, and/or public sites within the community, are particularly welcome.

Selection Criteria:

· Conceptual rigor and artistic quality

· Articulation of the project’s potential to positively affect the local community;

· Feasibility and clarity of scope for the proposed project;

· Capacity of the artist to design and execute the project;

· Significance of the proposed project as an agent of social change;

· Understanding the professional benefit to the artist for participation in Jamaica Flux.

Project Sites

Sites for earlier iterations of Jamaica Flux have included King Manor Museum and Rufus King Park; Jamaica Market; Jamaica Colosseum Mall; Central Branch of the Queens Public Library; Jamaica Station of the Long Island Rail Road, Jamaica YMCA; York College/City University of New York; First Presbyterian Church; many local restaurants and businesses; and a range of public spaces (bus shelters, billboards, phone booths, street corners, sidewalks). 

JCAL’s two landmark buildings—Jamaica Arts Center (sidewalks, windows, balcony, galleries, classrooms) and Jamaica Performing Arts Center (lower level, fences, grass, lobby)—have also been utilized for Jamaica Flux projects. Previous Jamaica Flux sites are not necessarily locked in for 2024, but rather will be approached by the JCAL leadership during the project-selection process.

We strongly encourage artists to visit and to be thoughtful when identifying proposed sites for projects.

Applicant Eligibility

Artists currently living in New York City, working across all visual arts mediums, may apply regardless of age, gender, or nationality. JCAL honors the values of its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Plan, thus Queens-based candidates that identify as BIIPOC (Black, Immigrant, Indigenous, People of Color) will receive priority.

Application Instructions

Proposals for Jamaica Flux shall be considered complete when all the following are included:

• Up to 2-page resume with full contact information (name, address, phone, email);

• 1 page artist statement or biography;

• 3-page full project proposal that must include the following elements:

o Detailed description of the project’s premise and concept;

o At least 1 suggested site and explanation of alignment with Jamaica Flux;

o Up to 5 drawings, designs, and/or segments germane to the proposed project;

o Ideas for supplemental public programs and/or events.

o Up to 6 images of previous artwork, clearly labeled.

For general inquiries, please email Visual Arts Program Associate Zach Frater at zfrater@jcal.org