The Jorge and Darlene Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design program celebrates and highlights the work of individuals who support, develop, and manage the incorporation of art into the design of places and spaces across the United States.

AWARD AMOUNT:  $30,000 for project support + $20,000 to support recipient’s national networking opportunities

ELIGIBILITY: (2020) Individual artist

DEADLINE: August 14, 2020 11:59 p.m.

About the Prize

The Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design honors the philanthropic commitment of Jorge M. Pérez, chairman and CEO of The Related Group, his family and their collective vision and belief in the power of art to transform the design of places and spaces across the United States in ways that add deep and meaningful dimension to our human experience of the built environment.

Program Description

Designed to empower all stakeholders in the public art process and to create a powerful platform to develop greater national visibility and appreciation of the unique role that the arts play in shaping our experience of the built environment, the Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design program – which bears the names of internationally recognized philanthropists, Jorge M. Pérez and his wife, Darlene Boytell-Pérez – includes an annual prize that will be awarded on a rotating basis to an artist, public art administrator, or representative from the civic design field.

The goal of the Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design is to celebrate one unique person for their locally-implemented contributions that support community development through the integration of art into the built environment.

2020 Prize Goals

The 2020 Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design will recognize an artist with a track record of exemplary work created or produced with intention to advance community, civic, or social good by implementing art-based processes and/or projects that lead to positive change in the built environment of a local community. This includes increasing awareness of issues, promoting dialogue, shifting attitudes, promoting healing, motivating action, or improving conditions of equity, access, and inclusion.

The 2020 Prize will be given to an individual artist.  This includes public artists, community-based and socially engaged artists, artist-activists, culture bearers, and teaching artists working in out-of-school community contexts. We recognize that art is often a collective process, and that its full realization rarely rests on a single individual. Artists working in organizational contexts will be considered as well as those working independently. Organizational contexts may include design teams, collaborations, and art groups or collectives.

Because art in civic design encompasses a vast range of forms and genres, for the purpose of the 2020 Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design, we are inviting submissions in select categories: public art, visual arts, community-based artists, artists-in-residencies combined with civic design fields such as planning, transportation, and land use development, artist as part of design teams, hybrids of the aforementioned, and multidisciplinary work in which artistic practice elements are predominant.

Award Details

The Prize recipient will receive a $30,000 cash award that they can use to continue their pursuit of their creative work aligned with goals of creative transformation of the built environment. The recipient will also receive additional financial support that will enable them to access other national opportunities for further learning as well as dialogue and discussion about their work with national leaders in the arts and other allied fields. These activities will be of mutual value and will be determined jointly with Americans for the Arts, which seeks to create a platform for the recipient to share their knowledge, work, perspective, and experience with Americans for the Arts’ members, stakeholders, and national partners to advance national dialogue and discussion about the key role of public art and civic design.

Application Process

The application will open on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 and close on Friday, August 14 at 11:59 PM.

The application process is open to anyone who meets the application requirements. Applications for the Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design may be submitted by the individual seeking the award or by a third party on their behalf. Third party nominators must work with the nominee to complete and submit the application. Only submissions received on time and through the online application process will be reviewed. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Applicants will receive an update to the status of their applications in October 2020.

Selection Process

A jury composed of representatives from Americans for the Arts, Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, the Public Art Network Advisory Council, and outside experts in public art and civic design will select the 2020 Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design recipient. The recipient will be announced formally in December 2020.

Selection Criteria

• The artist has demonstrated experience and has made significant contributions to community transformation through their creative work in areas of civic design, planning, transportation, and/or land use development.
• The artist is at a stage when the visibility and opportunity afforded by the Pérez Prize in Public Art & Civic Design will meaningfully support their growth and recognition in the field.
• The process and/or projects with which the artist has worked have generated positive and transformational impacts according to and as expressed by community members and stakeholders. Community may be defined by place, culture, population, or other bond, such as concern for a particular issue. The artist may have worked deeply in one community or in multiple communities.
• The artist’s work demonstrates artistic excellence, in that it:
  • is relevant to and resonant with the community/ies within which the artist works;
  • for its purposes, the art was available and accessible to the general public;
  • advances a meaningful purpose;
  • allows for new possibilities for creative expression;
  • demonstrates skill in and vision of execution.
• The artist is committed to engaging at a national level with Americans for the Arts to advance mutual interests in deeper dialogue and discussion about the important role of public art and civic design.
• Toward the goal of cultural equity, selections over years will reflect diversity in terms of race/ethnicity, age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship/residency status, or religion.

QUESTIONS?  Contact Patricia Walsh, Public Art & Civic Design Senior Program Manager, Americans for the Arts, at pwalsh@artsusa.org