APEXART FRANCHISE EXHIBITION PROGRAM

Curators, artists, writers, and creative individuals, regardless of experience level, background, or location, are invited to submit their ideas online in a 500-word text-only proposal (no biographical statements, no CVs, no links, no images).

An international jury of up to 200 individuals from a wide variety of professional backgrounds participate in a crowdsourced voting process. Following the open call period, apexart sends each juror a dedicated login to read and register votes for at least 50 proposals. apexart’s online process ensures that each proposal is anonymous and receives equal consideration by the jury. apexart staff does not interfere with or affect the selection of the winners.

After the jury period concludes, the organizers of the four highest-ranked proposals are notified and their exhibitions are announced as part of the upcoming season. They receive curatorial honorariums and funding for their exhibitions, including a location rental budget. The organizers work closely with the team to turn their idea into an apexart Franchise Exhibition. All applicants are informed of their overall proposal ranking in an anonymous results page.

The Franchise Exhibition Program (FEP) seeks to decentralize the selection process and eliminate problems associated with other juried open calls by making the system as meritocratic as possible and politics-free. Projects are judged by the strength of their ideas and the organizer’s ability to communicate them, not by connections or past accomplishments. With more than 1,000 people submitting exhibition proposals each season and 400 jurors, we have developed a uniquely democratic program model that represents the interests of our audience and gives each participant an interesting learning opportunity.

PROGRAM DETAILS

• apexart provides an exhibition budget of up to $6,000 for travel, shipping, artist honorariums, installation expenses, and the opening reception.
• apexart provides an honorarium of $2,000 for organizing the exhibition and writing an accompanying essay.
• The organizer can apply for up to $2,000 in additional funds for venue rental and staffing.
• apexart covers costs for insurance, advertising, publicity, and the design, printing, and mailing of the exhibition brochure.
• apexart assists the organizer with exhibition logistics such as loan agreements and shipping
• apexart is not a funding organization; Franchise exhibitions are part of apexart’s regular programming. Organizers are expected and challenged to work within the funding provided to produce a small, focused, noteworthy exhibition.

WHAT DOESN’T QUALIFY?

• Proposals are not accepted for solo exhibitions or “artist projects,” where multiple people create a single artwork.
• The artists cannot be selected through an open call.
• Residency components are not considered part of the exhibition.
• Proposals cannot include any sales-related activities.

PREPARING A PROPOSAL

• Proposals must be for an original group exhibition, presented for the first time, consisting of works by at least 3 artists.
• Submissions should explain how the idea and location are connected.
• The venue must be staffed and publicly accessible with published open hours for the duration.
• Proposals cannot exceed 500 words and must be in English.
• Please do not include biographical statements, CVs, links, or images as they will be removed.
• Exhibition dates are predetermined by apexart to take place between September 2017 – July 2018. Please do not include specific dates for the exhibition as they will be removed.
• No topics are off limits, and no ideas are too controversial.

APPLY NOW
SUBMIT PROPOSAL HERE
Deadline: February 28 (11:59 PM NYC)

For further information please visit: https://apexart.org