Call for proposals for events occurring April-September 2019
The call for grant proposals for events occurring April-September 2019 is now closed. Applicants will be notified once the Arts and Culture Board has reviewed all of the proposals.
The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board invites grant proposals for art, music, theatre, and cultural heritage events or projects twice each year. Nonprofit organizations, schools, informal arts and culture organizations, and individual artists who are creating public art or an event open to the public are eligible to apply. Grants awarded last year averaged $1,400.
Please note individuals and organizations are only eligible for one Arts and Culture grant per calendar year.
The grant proposal form will be live at 12:01 am on December 1, 2018 and will close at midnight on December 31, 2018. Click here to go to the form:
Some of the information requested on the form will be:
- Contact information for primary contact for proposal who is readily available to answer questions about the proposal
- Event or project title
- Purpose and description of the event or project
- Date, location, admission charge, and anticipated attendance
- Size and demographic makeup of past audiences or participants
- Amount being requested and total budget, including other anticipated funding sources (e.g., donations, ticket sales, other grants)
Special consideration will be given for events or projects that meet one or more of these criteria:
- Are free and open to the public
- Include outreach to populations that are traditionally underrepresented
- Have a cultural tourism or economic impact (e.g., events that may attract people who also attend other arts & culture venues or events, stay overnight, shop, or dine in Georgetown)
Organizations or individuals that receive funding will be required to follow up by:
- Recognizing the City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Board in their advertising and programs
- Submitting a one-page report to the Arts and Culture Board with a description of the use of grant funds and copies of event promotion materials
If you have questions, please call or email Lawren Weiss at 512-930-3552 or lawren.weiss@georgetown.org
Call for Artist Proposals: Art for City Buildings
Project: The City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Board is issuing a call for artist proposals for the new City Hall and Municipal Court. Three areas have been identified for artwork. A theme has not been selected for the spaces to allow each artist an opportunity to present their own unique vision for the space. Below are the details and dimensions of the three areas that are open for entries.
Area #1: City Hall Rotunda
- Dimensions: 88 feet X 3.5 feet (28- foot diameter)
- Topic: None/Artist’s choice
- Medium: Digital art submission. This area is a continuous band at the base of a dome. Half of it will be drywall and the other half will be on glass. The glass section will have 19 windows, the artwork will go on the glass but not on the metal mullions dividing the glass; see pictures below for more information. Digital submissions will be accepted for this area and the winning submission will be printed on vinyl and installed by the City of Georgetown. Digital submission can include, but are not limited to: photographs, computer renderings, and photographs of original artwork (paintings, sculpture, colored pencil etc.). The submission must address the horizontal nature of the space and fit the dimensions accurately. The submission does not need to account for the window divisions; simply a rectangular design is
- Digital Requirements for Printing: 100 ppi at the size of the image (88’ feet x 3.5 feet) or 200 ppi at half the size of the image (44 feet x 1.75 feet). File format: flattened TIFF or PSB
- Digital Requirements for Submitting Proposal: The full size file will be too large to upload to Submittable. Please submit a smaller JPG version of the artwork that conveys the image and concept for the Arts & Culture board to review. Be prepared to provide the full size file if your application is selected as the winning submission. In this image, is an example of how the digital submission can be entered as one file or multiple files. You do not need to account for the window divisions or transition location from drywall to glass.
- Artist Stipend: $5,000
Area #2: Municipal Court Transaction Window
- Dimensions: 22 feet X 5 feet
- Topic: None/Artist’s choice
- Medium: Digital art submission. This area is above the transaction window on drywall. Digital submissions will be accepted for this area and the winning submission will be printed on vinyl and installed by the City of Georgetown. The digital submission can include, but are not limited to: photographs, computer renderings, and photographs of original artwork (paintings, sculpture, colored pencil etc.). The submission must address the horizontal nature of the space and fit the dimensions accurately.
- Digital Requirements for Printing: 100 ppi at the size of the image (22’ feet x 5 feet) or 200 ppi at half the size of the image (11 feet x 2.5 feet). File format: flattened TIFF or PSB
- Digital Requirements for Submitting Proposal: The full size file will be too large to upload to Submittable. Please submit a smaller JPG version of the artwork that conveys the image and concept for the Arts & Culture board to review. Be prepared to provide the full size file if your application is selected as the winning submission.
- Artist Stipend: $3,000
Area #3: Municipal Court Lobby Wall
- Dimensions: 21 feet X 16 feet
- Topic: None/Artist’s choice
- Medium: The wall will be reinforced with plywood to allow for some additional weight and a variety of art mediums. The artwork can include, but is not limited to: paint, wall mounted sculpture, photos, mosaics, wallpaper etc. The artwork can be one large piece or multiple small pieces that work together to make a large piece.
- Artist Stipend: $5,000
- Material Stipend: Artist will receive up to $2,000.00 in material reimbursements (with receipts and subject to a signed letter of agreement). Artists will be asked to include a budget in proposal. Additional expenses may be approved by the Arts and Culture Board if appropriate.
- Completion Date: All work must be completed by December 15, 2018.
How to submit: Proposals will be submitted through Submittable.com: https://artsgeorgetown.submittable.com/Submit. A separate proposal must be submitted for each area. Artists are allowed to submit no more than two proposals per area.
Proposal Deadline: Midnight September 30, 2018
Selection: The artists will be selected by the Georgetown Arts and Culture Board and notified by October 19, 2018.
Application fee: None
Payment: An initial payment of 50% will be paid within two weeks of a signed letter of agreement and 50% will be paid upon completion of the artwork installation.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Sarah J. Blankenship at 512-930-8471 or sarah.blankenship@georgetown.org
Images of each area below
Area #1: City Hall Rotunda | 88 feet X 3.5 feet |Area highlighted in yellow
Area #2: Municipal Court Transaction Window | 22 feet X 5 feet |Area highlighted in yellow
Area #3: Municipal Court Lobby Wall | 21 feet X 16 feet |Area highlighted in yellow
City of Georgetown 2017-2018 Sculpture Tour Call for Entries and Application
Please see 2018-2019 information here: https://arts.georgetown.org/call-for-entries-sculpture-tour-2018-2019/
NOW OPEN June 1-Aug. 1, 2018
**This call closed Sept. 1, 2017. Thank you to all the sculptors who submitted pieces for consideration!
The Arts & Culture Board’s decisions will be made and communicated to you by Sept. 30.**
The City of Georgetown has issued a call for entries for its annual Sculpture Tour, a juried year-long outdoor exhibit in the bustling Georgetown Cultural District.
Sculpture Tour applications will be accepted May 1 – Sept. 1. Each sculptor may submit up to three sculptures for consideration. Please provide two or three photographs of each piece, showing different angles.
From the applications submitted by the deadline, the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board will select the nine 2017-18 Sculpture Tour pieces. All applicants will be notified of the board’s decisions by Sept. 30.
Sculptures will be installed by appointment in early November 2017 and remain on display through October 2018. Delivery is the artist’s responsibility; installation will be done by City of Georgetown Parks and Recreation staff working with the artist.
No honoraria will be paid; instead, all nine sculptures selected for this year’s Sculpture Tour will receive a cash prize based on judging that will take place in November by the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board. Checks will be mailed in December. Awards will be:
$1,500 First Prize (one will be awarded)
$750 Second Prize (one will be awarded)
$500 Honorable Mention (seven will be awarded)
Artists will be required to sign a Sculpture Tour contract, which includes a 25 percent commission to the City on any sculpture sold during the exhibit. Once installed, sculptures are covered for theft or damage by City insurance.
The online application form is below. Or if you prefer you can print the City of Georgetown Sculpture Tour Application and then email or mail the form and images.
If you have any questions about the application or the selection process, please call Dana Hendrix at 512-930-3624.
Georgetown Arts & Culture Board Awards Grants to Local Organizations
At its November 2016 meeting, the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board approved $20,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations and schools. The grants will help fund local art, music, theatre, and cultural heritage events or projects in Georgetown.
The amounts and projects funded in this grant cycle are:
Festival of the Arts, for support of the 2017 festival: $3,000
Georgetown Cultural Citizen Memorial Association: $1,000
Georgetown High School Theatre Dept. Booster Club for Thespian Festival scholarships: $2,000
Georgetown Symphony Society for support of the 2016-2017 season: $3,000
Georgetown Palace Theatre to help fund inclusion shows: $3,000
Senior University for technical equipment for lectures: $1,500
SU Native organization for support of 2017 Powwow: $1,500
Williamson County Symphony Orchestra for funding two Georgetown concerts: $3,000
Williamson Museum for an interactive exhibit: $2,000
Funds are for events in Georgetown taking place in Georgetown between December 1, 2016 and September 30, 2017.
For more information about the work of the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board, visit arts.georgetown.org/georgetown-arts-culture-board.
Carol Light
Carol Light’s contributions to arts and culture in Georgetown were recognized Nov. 8, 2016 in a proclamation at a City Council meeting that acknowledged her career and lifetime of service to the arts.
Mayor Dale Ross remarked on Light’s contribution as an artist at the meeting. “Carol Light is a very talented artist and a wonderful representative for Georgetown’s strong arts community. She has helped to build the art community here over the decades through her teaching and encouragement of other artists, and she has enriched life in Georgetown by sharing the inspiring body of work she has created in her 45+ years in Georgetown as a professional artist. She is a person who inspires creativity and joy through the arts,” said Mayor Ross.
In 2015, Light was selected as one of just a handful of local artists commissioned to create artwork to be exhibited in the Sheraton Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center, which opened in July. Light collaborated with Sue Bishop Spahn on a 14-foot-long painting called “Grazing the Fault” that hangs now behind the reception desk in the upscale hotel. (See page B1 of the July 31, 2016 Williamson County Sun for a profile and a picture of “Grazing the Fault.”)
Light’s art has been exhibited internationally, and has won awards in a number of juried shows. Her work was carried by Spicewood Gallery and Design Studio in Austin, and by Hill Design + Gallery in Georgetown. She works primarily in watercolor and mixed media.
Light, 86, says, “I am still making art, mostly mixed media lately. I work on paper and canvas, and I love handmade papers and collage. It’s so much fun to be in the creative process—it’s a different world. It transports you like books and reading do, but putting color down on paper is a special joy for me.”
Light is a third-generation floral designer who worked as a young woman in Austin for the family business, Belding Flowers, which served the needs of customers like Lyndon Baines Johnson and John Connally. She worked as a floral designer until 1976. When asked how she was first inspired to take up art, she said, “We were not taught much art in high school, but my parents owned the retail flower shop in the Driskill Hotel in Austin, and you learn a lot of design in the floral industry.”
In addition to that on-the-job training, Light attended Tarleton College in Stephenville, Texas and also The University of Texas at Austin. She left college in order to study art more intensively, and she took summer courses at Louisiana Tech University in Rustin, Louisiana.
Light and her husband and sons moved to Georgetown in 1969, into a house she still occupies. She works in a studio on the property that was rebuilt from the remains of a barn with a sweeping view of the countryside.
In 1980, she became an art instructor and she continued to teach art until 1996. “Most artists,” she said, “have to supplement their income. Artists are trying to say something in a nonverbal way….while you are practicing and working on those creative goals, you have to support yourself, so I took up teaching—then I found out what a joy it was. I ended up travelling and teaching all over the state. It was so inspiring to teach other artists and see them develop.”
In June, her farm was the site for a “Curated Picnic” for creatives organized by Light with graphic designer and artist Nick Ramos, owner of Georgetown graphic design firm Graphismo. Ramos says, “Carol is a pioneer, an inspiration, a true guiding light. The never-ending desire to learn keeps her young. She has mentored endless numbers of artists, citizens, and children in our community. She was there at the beginning of the Williamson County Art Guild. Her words, kindness, talent, and smile are a source of energy that will inspire anyone that crosses her path.”
In addition to her teaching, Light has worked in other ways to foster local creativity. She has a history of involvement in local arts groups, having served as president of the Williamson County Art Guild and judging art exhibits, as well, including the 2012 Art Hop, a statewide competitive exhibit hosted by the Georgetown Art Center.
Awards Announced in Texas Society of Sculptors 9th Annual Summer Show
The Texas Society of Sculptors has announced the award winners in their ninth annual summer show, which is hosted by the Georgetown Public Library and funded by sponsorship from the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board. Seventy pieces were entered in this year’s exhibit, which will remain in the library until September 23.
The current exhibit can be viewed all the hours the library is open: Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday noon – 5 p.m.
The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board donated $1,800 for cash awards.
Christina Rudofsky, staff member with Round Rock Arts, was the exhibition awards juror for this year’s competition. Awards, which were announced at the artist reception July 17 in the library, are listed below.
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First Place Award
Thunderbirds by John Mark Luke (mixed media; natural tree branches, eps styrofoam, steel) |
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Second Place Award
Lady News by Vera Smiley (red paperclay, acrylic paint, collage, epoxy, wood)
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Third Place Award
Fast Break by Michael Synatzske (bronze)
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Honorable Mention Award–Mixed Media
System by Jonathan Sanders (steel, concrete, tar, found object)
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Honorable Mention Award–Metal
The Gift by Dan Pogue (bronze)
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Honorable Mention Award–Stone
Seven Sisters by Bob Ragan (Florence white limestone)
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| Librarians’ Choice
Thunderbirds by John Mark Luke (mixed media; natural tree branches, eps styrofoam, steel) The library staff makes the choice for one of the awards each year. This sculpture, which also took first place in the overall competition and is pictured above, captured the library staff’s imagination. |
Sculpture Demonstrations Sept. 17
Sculpture demonstrations will be held on Saturday, Sept. 17 from 1-3 pm in the library Lobby. The demonstrations are a come-and-go event, free and open to the public. Participating sculptors will be:
Frank Maglio (metal and stone)
Dar Richardson (clay)
Joe Kenney (bronze)
Mary Griffin (bronze)
Bill Stuewe (wood)
For more information, call the Georgetown Public Library at (512) 930-3551. The library is at 402 W. Eighth Street, Georgetown, Texas.
Red Poppies Art Installation Comes to Library
Hundreds of red ceramic poppies have been planted outside the Georgetown Public Library! Continue reading “Red Poppies Art Installation Comes to Library”
Red Poppy Art on the Square April 4-May 5
Attendees at Georgetown’s 2016 Red Poppy Festival April 22-24 will also enjoy an outdoor art installation of thousands of deep red ceramic poppies by artist Jen Rose. The poppies will blanket the west lawn of the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown’s downtown Square. The piece, entitled “Blood of Heroes Never Dies,” commemorates Texas World War I veterans and it will be on display from April 4 through May 5.
Individual poppies will be available for purchase for $10 apiece at the Visitor Center, 103 W. Seventh Street on the Square. Proceeds will benefit Puppies Behind Bars, a nonprofit organization that provides service dogs for combat veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan who have suffered a physical injury, including traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Blood of Heroes Never Dies” was a collaboration between artist Jen Rose and Clive Siegle, a history faculty member; both teach at Richland College. The original installation included 5,171 ceramic red poppies installed on the campus of Richland College for Veterans Day 2015 as reminders of the 5,171 veterans from Texas who died in World War I. The Georgetown installation will include about 4,000 poppies “planted” by volunteers.
Henry Purl Compton (nicknamed Okra) helped Georgetown to become the Red Poppy Capital of Texas when his service as a Corporal in the Army during World War I ended and in 1919 poppy seeds he collected in northern France were planted in the yard of his mother’s home on Seventh Street in Georgetown.
The poppies installation on the Williamson County Courthouse lawn is on loan from the artist, Jen Rose. The display is co-sponsored by the City of Georgetown Arts and Culture, the City of Georgetown Convention and Visitors Bureau, Williamson County, and The Williamson Museum.
Georgetown Arts & Culture Board Awards Grants to Local Organizations
The City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board approved just over $20,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations and schools in November. The grants will help fund local art, music, theatre, and cultural heritage events or projects in Georgetown.
The amounts and projects funded in this grant cycle are:
Festival of the Arts for two Festival events (a film presentation and a concert): $2,280
Frost and Williams elementary schools for Learn to Draw assemblies with Mark Kistler: $2,230 and $1,508 respectively
Georgetown Art Works for expenses associated with the exhibit Working Colors – The Work of Henry Isaacs: $2,280
Georgetown Heritage Society for a fundraising event called The Amazing Heritage Quest: $1,520
Georgetown Symphony Society for assistance with its 2015-2016 season: $2,280
Georgetown High School Theatre Dept. for shelving and plays to create a play scripts library: $1,520
Handcrafts Unlimited for advertising/marketing: $1,140
Georgetown Palace Theatre to help fund inclusion shows: $2,280
Williamson County Symphony Orchestra for funding a pops concert: $2,280
Williamson Museum for Hispanic Heritage Month expenses: $760
Funds are for events in Georgetown occurring between December 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016.
For more information about the work of the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board, visit arts.georgetown.org/georgetown-arts-culture-board.
Public Reception for Muralist Aug. 7 at Georgetown Art Center
Muralist Joe Magnano will be honored at a public reception on Friday, August 7, from 6-8 pm at the Georgetown Art Center. The public is invited, and the event is free of charge. The reception will mark the completion of Magnano’s mural, “Jumping Around,” on the alley side of the oldest building on the historic downtown Square, 711 S. Main Street. He began the mural in June working under a commission from the City’s Arts & Culture Board.
Magnano is a Waco-based fine artist who studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and the Artist Students League of New York City. The finished mural provides a piece of public art of interest to residents and visitors to the downtown. Magnano’s mural has a nature-and-wildlife theme with a bit of Texas mythology thrown in for fun, and is vibrant and playful. The mural features a Texas sunset, bluebonnets, bats, cacti, an armadillo, and three jackalopes that are perched on structures of the wall itself. To see photos of the wall and the developing mural, click here.
The Georgetown Art Center is at 816 South Main Street.
