Call for a Blackfoot Curator
City of Calgary
Deadline to apply: April 18, 2025
Who: Curators from the Blackfoot Confederacy Nations interested in curating a travelling exhibit.
What: Curate a Blackfoot educational travelling exhibit for the City of Calgary public art collection.
Where: Hybrid work, online research, in-person research, events as needed, regular meetings with City of Calgary public art staff.
When:
- Deadline to apply: April 18, 2025, 4:30pm
- Project start: May 19, 2025
- Project end: December 31, 2025
- How much: Curatorial fee of $12,000 + GST
The City of Calgary Public Art Program invites members of the Blackfoot Confederacy to apply for this curatorial opportunity. Individuals with curatorial experience are encouraged to apply. This opportunity is open to Blackfoot/Blackfeet curators. Individual artists or artist teams/collectives are eligible.
The selected curator/curatorial team will work closely with the Indigenous curator, public art conservator, public art liaison, and collections specialist to curate a Blackfoot-specific, loanable exhibit that will be available for communities and schools to host. The curatorial opportunity will include all aspects of working on a public art exhibit, including but not limited to budgeting, artist visits, exhibit design, curatorial writing, etc. The curator will work with artists from the community to reflect their voices through the exhibit. The curator’s own artwork will not be eligible for the exhibit.
The curated exhibit must be created within a set budget and will include between 4 and 12 artworks/art objects. The curator will work with the Indigenous curator to create a theme and select artworks to be purchased for the exhibit. They will also work with the public art team to create a portable exhibit and protect the artworks during moves/travel.
How to apply
Eligible submissions will contain:
Letter/email of interest (maximum of 1500 words) including:
- Your interest in this position.
- Description of how your Indigenous background will contribute to this work.
- A statement of your curatorial work.
- Experience in project management.
- Contact information (phone number, alternate number and email address).
- Up to 10 images of past curated exhibits. You can include curatorial statements, support material, or exhibition catalogues. Links will be accepted. Please ensure links are active.
- Three references: Include contact name, company, current telephone number, address, and email address. You may use past clients, Elders, and community members familiar with your work.
* Your submission will be rated out of a possible 100 points as outlined on the website.
*The City reserves the right to contact references without prior notification.
*References from The City of Calgary staff members will not be counted as part of the required references.
How to submit
Email indigenouspublicart@calgary.ca and attach all the required documents. Submissions are accepted in electronic form only.
Please note the following:
- Email subject line should include Blackfoot Curator.
- The maximum file size for an email is 10 MB. You may submit multiple emails to ensure all files are received.
- Links to past exhibits/curatorial writing will be accepted.
- Incomplete or late submissions will not be considered.
For more information and full application details visit Public art opportunities.
