Call Detail
A Memorial for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in the Church
Entry Deadline: 1/16/22
Application Closed
Number of Applications Allowed: 3
Work Sample Requirements
Images | Minimum:Min. 3, Maximum:Max. 9
Total Samples | Minimum:Min. 3, Maximum:Max. 9
Call Type: Public Art
Eligibility: National
State: Minnesota
Budget: Budget: $3,000-$4,000, for initial piece. This includes the initial drawings/plans for the successful proposal, along with stipend, supplies, and mounting for the final execution and installation of the selected proposal. Creative attention to costs will influence the evaluation of proposals. NOTE: It is intended that this piece could be replicated by the artist at a somewhat lower cost so that it could be utilized by churches across the U.S. Hence, subsequent executions of the piece should not exceed $2,000, not including installation, shipping, etc.

Call for Art: A Memorial for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in the Church. Budget: $3,000-$4,000, for initial piece. This includes the initial drawings/plans for the successful proposal, along with stipend, supplies, and mounting for the final execution and installation of the selected proposal. Creative attention to costs will influence the evaluation of proposals. NOTE: It is intended that this piece could be replicated by the artist at a somewhat lower cost so that it could be utilized by churches across the U.S. Hence, subsequent executions of the piece should not exceed $2,000, not including installation, shipping, etc. 

Purpose and themes: We envision an installation of a work of art that gives voice to the pain of sexual violence and betrayed trust as well as to the hope for healing. The primary audience would be the survivors themselves, with church members and others being a secondary audience. This art will be used by congregations, synod offices and other ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The memorial should be replicable by the artist in the price range described above.

 The ELCA will retain the rights to make photographic images of the art for use in promoting this project throughout the church. Our hope is that this would become an enduring testimony to the courage of survivors and the truth of sexual violence in our church. Below are some bullet points from a brain-storming session of the planning team and some statements covering what such a work of art might convey to survivors. NOTE: The inspiration for this work is the Survivor’s Memorial at Boom Island Park in Minneapolis Minnesota – although what we are envisioning would be much smaller in scale and also replicable for churches across the U.S. 

Notes from team brainstorming (These are offered not as a directive, but in order to inspire or inform the artist’s imagination.) • Might the work convey both brokenness and hope/healing? • The use of biblical or Christian images or symbols, if incorporated, needs to be done with sensitivity to the fact that religious symbols may be problematic for many survivors who are the primary audience. • It should express that survivors are loved, cared for, deeply valued by the church. • It should convey that survivors are heard, believed and that we stand with them. • Might the art be tactile – interactive physically – inviting interaction or touch?

Additionally, we imagine that the artwork might convey the following messages to survivors. Again, these should not be considered proscriptive or directive, but inspirational to the artist’s work. • We want you to hear that we lament that this happened to you. • We want you to hear that we believe you and what you are trying to tell us. • We want you to hear that we care. • We want you to know that we repent of the times when we did not hear you, or looked the other way, or stood with your abuser, rather than with you. • We want you to hear that we have zero tolerance for abusive activity in our church. • We don’t want any abuse to happen ever again to any other person. • In the future our hearts, eyes and ears will be open to those people who are coming to us seeking help and validation.

 

Application Requirements

Requirements: The successful proposal will be for a planned work from the durable plastic arts of ceramic, stone, metal, tile or other material that can be installed on or near the entrance to a church building or other high foot-traffic area and can weather the outdoors. 

Subsequent pieces must be able to be replicated for $2000 or less with the congregation incurring the costs of shipping and installation and possibly travel if the artist wishes to oversee the installation. 

Artists should provide a brief explanation for how subsequent pieces would be executed/reproduced. Given that the artwork must be able to be affixed to the front of a building or be positioned on a pedestal or post near the entrance to a building, the artist should imagine a piece that is small enough for this type of application, yet large enough that it might still be recognizable from the sidewalk or roadway. The artists should provide some kind of schematic for how the art could be mounted to a building, pedestal or post. 

Site location: Initial installation will be near the entrance on the south facing exterior of the Riverside building on the Campus of Concordia College at 310 14th Ave S., Moorhead, MN. NOTE: Two subsequent installations are already planned — one at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moorhead, MN and another at Crown of Glory Lutheran Church in Chaska, MN. Adjudication of proposals: A panel of sexual abuse survivors along with bishops of the ELCA and others from the task force will adjudicate the proposals.

 

Eligibility Criteria

Open to artists working in the USA who are professional artists, 18+, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identification, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical ability.