The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)
Remote
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) is seeking three qualified artists or artist teams to create artwork that will be installed at NHM as part of an upcoming exhibition tentatively titled Habitats: Rethinking a Century of Dioramas at the Natural History Museum. This exhibition is part of the Getty Foundation’s region-wide Pacific Standard Time 2024: Art x Science initiative and will be on view from September 15, 2024 through September 14, 2025. NHM would like to commission artists or artist teams to install bold, original works that respond to our diorama halls and address topics relevant to the themes of the exhibition, such as biodiversity, ecology, conservation, climate change, habitat loss, colonialism, and changing museum display techniques.
THE AWARD
Each artist or artist team will be awarded $60,000. The budget must cover all expenses associated with the design, fabrication, artist fee, transportation, and installation. NHM will prepare the diorama bay for the purpose of supporting and facilitating the implementation of the art project. Installation and deinstallation will be coordinated with NHM staff. Artists will retain ownership of their work and are responsible for collecting their work within 30 days of the close of the exhibition. NHM will not be responsible for or provide storage for materials left over 30 days. In the event that NHM would like to purchase the work, a separate agreement will be enacted.
HOW TO APPLY
All applications must be submitted via email to Marlyn Musicant, Exhibition Project Manager, at
[email protected] Materials may also be sent via dropbox and wetransfer. Links to media via
YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud are also acceptable.
A complete application must include:
1. Contact Information including name, business name (if applicable), physical address, mailing
address, telephone and email. Team must identify one artist to be the primary contact for the
team. Artists who are represented by a dealer/gallery may designate the dealer/gallery as the
primary contact.
2. Letter of Interest clearly describing why you/your team are interested in this project, your
understanding of the goals of the project, and related experience. This letter should be
addressed to the NHM Artist Selection Committee. (pdf format/500 words max)
3. Proposal Description including the proposed artwork concept and physical materials. (pdf
format/750 words max)
4. Proposed Artwork can include images, video, and/or audio. Each image file must include the title
of the image, materials, and brief description. (max 5 files)
5. Current Resume(s) for each artist on the team with no more than 3 pages per artist indicating
artist(s)'s ability to plan and realize projects of similar scope. (pdf format)
6. Portfolio of Past Projects that demonstrate conceptual, aesthetic and technical mastery.
Examples can include Images (up to 5MB each), Video (up to 250MB each), Audio (up to 30MB
each); submit images of completed artwork that will provide the selection committee with a
sense of the artwork you would produce if chosen for this commission. Each image file must
include the title of the image, materials, and brief description. (max 10 files)
7. Itemized Budget including preliminary costs for all aspects of the project, such as design,
fabrication, transportation, installation, and maintenance. (pdf format)
8. Timeline showing estimated schedule for fabrication and installation. (pdf format)
9. Operation & Maintenance Plan specifying operating procedures and daily, weekly, or monthly
maintenance that would be required for your artwork. (pdf format)
Materials must be received by March 6, 2023.
Full RFP available here.
