Works in Public

Works in Public is a professional development program for students who attend classes at the Art Students League of New York. Artists who are accepted will be expected to take classes at the League during their time in the Works in Public program. (Selected artists will receive a scholarship that allows them to meet this requirement without having to pay tuition fees.)

This is an in-person program only. Participating artists will be required to attend in-person meetings, events, and consultations in the New York City metropolitan area.

Artists who are selected to participate in the Works in Public program are awarded a small monthly stipend to help cover project-related expenses, as well as a scholarship that covers the cost of attending a League class during the program.

Participating artists are required to attend biweekly sessions with their fellow Works in Public artists and advisors. In addition, artists are expected to regularly work on their sculptures and attend meetings necessary to complete fabrication and installation. Works in Public artists must also attend a class at the League. (Classes typically meet for approximately 3-hour sessions, 2–5 days per week.) Artists must meet internal and external deadlines in order to complete their projects.

A budget of $25,000 per project is established to cover costs for materials and fabrication. This does not include transportation and installation fees.

Fabricators are selected based on the unique requirements of each proposal.

Artists are expected to have some experience working in three dimensions. Experience creating public artworks is not required.

It is not required that artists have the capability to create the actual sculpture entirely on their own. However, we do ask that artist's applications and sculpture proposals display a basic understanding of the fabrication process on a large scale in general, and any specific knowledge that your proposed sculpture may require.

The artistic merit of your portfolio is as important as your proposal. Submitting a proposal that displays your maturity as an artist is crucial. We also want to see how artist's general art practice (as presented in your portfolio) is connected to their public artwork proposal. This doesn’t mean that artists have to propose ideas similar to the rest of their portfolio work—but we are looking for proposals with visual, conceptual, and/or technical relationships to the artist's ongoing art practice.

Generally speaking, on top of the unique artistic vision, successful public art is often site-specific, addressing the spirit of the time (social or political climate, and/or holding public serviceability in visual enhancement, education, or community engagement).

Yes. Artists will be required to submit photographs of a maquette as part of their application portfolio. Graphic or animated representations of your proposal are optional.

Your maquette should approximate as accurately as possible the actual materials or the appearance of your proposed sculpture.

Yes, we expect artists to further develop and modify their proposals throughout the course of the program.

All of the  sculptures fabricated as part of Works in Public become the property of the Art Students League.

Every effort will be made to reinstall the sculptures in permanent locations following the exhibition as the League develops relationships with other municipalities.