Fair Housing Seeks Artists/Designers for Graphic Design Projects

FAIR HOUSING CALL FOR ART PROPOSALS for 2 Graphic Design Projects (#1: Disability and #2: Race/Color)

Background:
Indiana-based artists are invited to submit entries of graphic design work for the opportunity to partner with the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana to promote its mission of fair housing through use in publications, social media, and other distribution.

Project #1: Disability Proposal (the details for Project #2 are further down)

The federal Fair Housing Act was signed into law on April 11, 1968 and provides protection from housing-based discrimination due to an individual’s race, color, national origin, and religion. It was amended in 1974 to include gender protections and in 1988 to include protections for people with disabilities and families with children. The law covers all housing-based transactions, including rental, sales, lending, insurance, and zoning.

Unfortunately, incidents of housing discrimination continue today, whether through long-term systemic policies still impacting our neighborhoods or blatant forms of discrimination resulting in a refusal of housing services or differential treatment. In fact, across Indiana (and the country), disability is the highest reported protected class under fair housing laws. Some common forms of housing discrimination due to disability are:

• Being required to pay a deposit or a monthly pet fee, or a flat-out denial, for the presence of an emotional support animal or service animal;
• Experiencing inaccessible features (such as stairs into the ground-level units, inaccessible bathrooms or kitchens, and more) in multi-family buildings built after March 13 1991;
• Disapproval from a housing provider for reasonable accommodations (policy changes, such as an assigned parking space or having an animal in a no-pets building) and/or reasonable modifications (structural changes, such as installing a ramp or grab bars);
• Not allowing someone to use their Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) to purchase a home or making different policies/rules for someone that uses SSDI for their rent payments;
• Harassment by fellow tenants, neighbors, or housing providers due to a disability; and/or
• Refusal to rent due to a disability or comments or statements made by housing providers about a person’s disability that are offensive or intrusive.

Competition:

One artist will be selected. All work must be original. The selected artist will receive a $1,000 commission upon completion of the artwork for the FHCCI. The FHCCI reserves the right to make suggestions or provide guidance to the artist to best craft work usable by the FHCCI. To facilitate payment, the selected artist will need to supply a completed W-9 form for tax purposes.

Project Guidelines:

• Review the FHCCI’s Education Page to learn more about disability-based discrimination in housing and feel free to contact the FHCCI to speak with someone. Feel free to attend one of our free disability-focused webinars by visiting our Events Page. You can also view the FHCCI’s YouTube channel to learn more.
• The artwork must incorporate how disability discrimination impacts housing today or illustrate the history of the harm of discriminatory housing policies due to disability, such as inaccessible multi-family housing still being built today.
• Reminder that disabilities aren’t just limited to physical disabilities – there are cognitive, intellectual, and mental disabilities, too, all covered under fair housing laws!
• The FHCCI is a nonpartisan organization so the artwork must be absent of political messages. It also may not include nudity, profanity, or similar themes.
• Artist must be able to complete the artwork within a one-month period from the FHCCI’s selection.
• Artist will submit all graphic design files to the FHCCI in formats usable by the FHCCI.
• Any artist who is found to have NOT submitted original work will be disqualified and barred from future FHCCI partnership opportunities.

ENTRY FORM
In order to apply for the disability project, please complete the online form. Please be sure to include previous works that accurately reflect your styles, as well as concept ideas to the FHCCI using the application form.

Project 2: Race/Color Proposal

The federal Fair Housing Act was signed into law on April 11, 1968 and provides protection from housing-based discrimination due to an individual’s race or color (among 5 other federally protected classes). The law covers all housing-based transactions, including rental, sales, lending, insurance, and zoning. Unfortunately, incidents of housing discrimination continue today, whether through long-term systemic policies still impacting our neighborhoods or blatant forms of discrimination resulting in a refusal of housing services or differential treatment. Some common forms of housing discrimination due to race/color are:

• Being offered different terms or conditions when applying for a rental property compared to White applicants;
• Experiencing racial slurs or hate crimes (such as cross burnings, harassment, or intimidation) from neighbors or property management;
• Being targeted by reverse redlining transactions that prey upon minority communities; and
• Neighborhood segregation based on residents’ races/colors due to historic discriminatory redlining practices, racial covenants, substandard housing, and other actions still impacting our neighborhoods today.

Competition:
One artist will be selected. All work must be original. The selected artist will receive a $1,000 commission upon completion of the artwork for the FHCCI. The FHCCI reserves the right to make suggestions or provide guidance to the artist to best craft work usable by the FHCCI. To facilitate payment, the selected artist will need to supply a completed W-9 form for tax purposes.

Project Guidelines:

• The artwork must incorporate how race and/or color discrimination impact housing today or illustrate the history of the harm of systemic discriminatory housing policies due to race or color.
• The FHCCI is a nonpartisan organization so the artwork must be absent of political messages. It also may not include nudity, profanity, or similar themes.
• Artist must be able to complete the artwork within a one-month period from the FHCCI’s selection.
• Artist will submit all graphic design files to the FHCCI in formats usable by the FHCCI.
• Any artist who is found to have NOT submitted original work will be disqualified and barred from future FHCCI partnership opportunities.

In order to apply for the race/color project, please complete the online form here. Please be sure to include previous works that accurately reflect your styles, as well as concept ideas to the FHCCI using the application form.

Entry Deadline for both projects: December 31, 2020

The mission of the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) is to ensure equal housing opportunities by eliminating housing discrimination through advocacy, enforcement, education and outreach. You can read more about their work at www.fhcci.org. Please visit their Education Page to learn more about protected classes under fair housing laws and be sure to review their YouTube videos including this one about redlining for more inspiration.

For more information, contact Brady Ripperger at bripperger@fhcci.org with email subject FHCCI Art Project.