Description
You are going to try to sell this to the director of an art exhibition space, who requires a specific format for you to follow in the proposal. You need to follow these directions to the letter, as well as be creative.
Directions: Pretend you are a curator that is proposing an exhibition. This show will include 10 to 12 of your favorite artworks by different artists. The show has to say a number of things you feel is important. It could be anything that is related to the class and the textbook (along with any other ideas you think would work). You are going to put the proposal together in a very specific format.
Come up with a great title, and put this under your name at the top of the document. The title is worth 5 points.
Choose 10-12 works of art by 10-12 different artists. (You can use artists from the book or outside, but they have to be different artists.) List them in numbered bullet points. (In order to keep things simple, you don’t need to include the images if they come from our textbook. If you find them online, you can just include the link.) This part is worth 15 points.
Start the proposal with a summary of what you are trying to achieve with the show. Pretend I am the owner to an exhibition space. You are trying to convince me that I should give you the space for the show. You can talk about the merit of the artwork and the idea behind putting together this group of works. The idea could be political, esthetic, formal, or whatever you choose. Use no more than 200 words for this part. This is worth 20 points.
- Explain the ideas. Go over the logic of tying these artworks together. Use one (and only one) of the types of meaning that were discussed in Chapter Four (ex: Feminism, Deconstructionism, or Formalism, as well as any of the others). How do these artworks you’ve chosen deal with these ideas? Use bullet points to show the reasoning behind this. (No paragraphs.) This is worth 20 points.
- Describe the format of the show. The exhibition will be in a square room (four walls) with no windows and only one door. Which painting or sculpture or installation goes where? You can talk about north wall, south wall, etc. or you could just name the first wall, etc. Your reasoning for your placement could be related to the size of a work or to how one work is next to another because they have the same color scheme. You can come up with your own ideas about this. This section should have no more than 250 words. This is worth 20 points.
- What do you want the viewer to get out of it? Here, you can use the reasons why artists make art that were mentioned in Chapters 5-14. Remember that each chapter discussed one major reason (or theme) to make art. Use three of these themes as entry points for the viewer. Use bullet points here too. (No paragraphs.) This is worth 20 points.
- You need to follow the format, or points will be deducted. (Remember that in real proposals, most institutions state what format they would like to receive such documents, and they actually decline a proposal if it doesn’t follow instructions.).
- Just to give you a better idea of what this is supposed to look like, the following is a short example:
PROPOSAL EXAMPLE
Title
List of artworks:
1. Guernica by Pablo Picasso
2. The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein
ETC
Summary: This should only be one paragraph. Saying things like: “The show I envision will mean a great deal to people because…” And it should be no longer than 200 words.
Ideas:
the artworks will be connected by Formalism in the way that etc
Formalism is crucial to these works because…
etc…
The Layout
- This is one paragraph. This paragraph will describe the look of the show, where everything is, such as: “Since this show will exhibit ten paintings and two sculptures, we will put both sculptures in the middle of the space but with enough space between them. Picasso’s Guernica is a massive painting, so it might have to take its own wall.”
- The Themes
- the artworks will underscore diplomacy and war and how it relates to etc
the show will play with the beauty behind even ugly things in that etc
it will raise the right to protest injustices etc
