The Fort Worth Public Art Program seeks emerging and established public artists working in a variety of visual media and artistic approaches, offering regional artists the opportunity to highlight their previous work in public space including murals, digital, cultural, and studio-based media for its 2022 Pre-Qualified Artist List.  Selected artists, collectives, or creator-teams from the registry may be contacted to design and fabricate potential public artworks and are eligible for projects of various scopes, timelines, and budgets throughout the City. 

The purpose of the Pre-Qualified Artist List is to provide a streamlined application and selection process for artists interested in being commissioned for public art projects throughout the city of Fort Worth.  Possible artwork opportunities include parks, libraries, fire stations, community centers and others. Artists will be selected based on artistic merit of past work, and willingness to work collaboratively with other professionals and accept input from the community.  A selection panel will convene to review all eligible applications.  The panel will then recommend artists for approval to the Fort Worth Public Art Commission.  Once approved, artists will remain eligible for projects associated with the upcoming 2022 Bond Election.

El Programa de Arte Público de Fort Worth busca artistas públicos emergentes y establecidos que trabajen en una variedad de medios visuales y enfoques artísticos, ofreciendo a los artistas regionales la oportunidad de resaltar su trabajo anterior en el espacio público, incluidos murales, medios digitales, culturales y de estudio para su Lista de artistas precalificados 2022. Los artistas, colectivos o equipos de creadores seleccionados del registro pueden ser contactados para diseñar y fabricar obras de arte públicas potenciales y son elegibles para proyectos de varios alcances, plazos y presupuestos en toda la ciudad.

El propósito de la Lista de artistas precalificados es proveer un proceso de solicitud y selección simplificado para los artistas interesados ​​en ser comisionados para proyectos de arte público en toda la ciudad de Fort Worth. Oportunidades posibles de obras de arte incluyen parques, bibliotecas, estaciones de bomberos, centros comunitarios y otros. Los artistas serán seleccionados en función del mérito artístico de trabajos anteriores y la voluntad de trabajar en colaboración con otros profesionales y aceptar aportaciones de la comunidad. Un panel de selección se reunirá para revisar todas las solicitudes elegibles. Luego, el panel recomendará artistas para su aprobación a la Comisión de Arte Público de Fort Worth. Una vez aprobados, los artistas seguirán siendo elegibles para proyectos asociados con las próximas elecciones de bonos de 2022.

Application Requirements

Application submissions for the 2022 Pre-Qualified List will be available to artists through CAFÉ (www.callforentry.org).  All interested artists shall be required to set up a personal account, free of charge, which will include the following items.  Artists in the FWPA Artist Registry and artists who have previously been on the FWPA Pre-Qualified List shall be required to reapply through CAFÉ.

• Artist Statement (2000 character limit)
• Letter of Interest. Briefly describe your interest in creating public art. (2000 character limit)
• Current Resume. Artist teams must submit a resume for each team member.
• Ten (10) images of completed past artwork (for the Texas and National Established Public Artists List, images must include examples of public artwork).  With each image, please include:
  • Title
  • Medium
  • Dimensions
  • Date completed
  • Project budget, location, and commissioning agency (if applicable)
• Three professional references (contact information only)

Eligibility Criteria

As part of the Fort Worth Public Art Master Plan Update, it is the goal of FWPA to provide local artists with opportunities to create works of public art. Therefore, FWPA has established two separate categories within the 2022 Pre-Qualified List based upon artists’ residency and experience level. Each list has a separate application process and will be reviewed by the panel independently.  

Artists of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

North Texas-Based Emerging Public Artists: Open to North Texas artists* who reside in the Fort Worth metropolitan area and who work in any media. Previous public art or design team experience is not required. Emerging public artists from the Dallas/ Fort Worth area are encouraged to apply to be considered for upcoming public art projects. Selected artists must be willing to work collaboratively as needed. Artists should demonstrate their level of understanding as it relates to appropriate materials and capacity to work collaboratively with other artists, designers, architects, engineers, fabricators, city officials and staff. Artists should also express a willingness to accepting input from the community.

(*This list is limited to artists who reside in the following Texas Counties: Dallas County, Tarrant County, Denton County, Collin County, Rockwall County, Hunt County, Kaufman County, Ellis County, Johnson County, Hood County, Parker County, Wise County, or Somerville County.) 

Texas and National Established Public Artists: Open to artists/artist teams in the United States who work in any media, with demonstrated public art experience, use of materials suitable for public indoor and outdoor settings, site-specific design, collaboration with other artists, designers, architects, engineers, fabricators, city officials, and staff. Artists should also demonstrate experience gathering input from the community.