The city of Cortez has opened a call for local artists to submit work for a series of exhibits inside City Hall. Eighteen artists, including at least six photographers, will be selected to show works for sale in the building’s main conference room.
Once the Cortez Public Arts Advisory Committee selects the artists, each will be assigned a month, during which time two of their works will adorn the walls of the highly trafficked Mesa Verde room by the front entrance of City Hall.
“The conference room is used nearly once a day by city committees and civic organizations meeting on topics touching on the quality of life in our town,” CPAAC chairperson Sonja Horoshko told The Journal in a press release. “It is a very busy room, and a substantial amount of people will see the work.”
Horoshko said that for each work selected for the exhibition, if it sells while on display in City Hall, a 50 percent commission on the sale would go toward the Cortez Public Art Acquisitions Fund, which funds art acquisitions by the city of Cortez for display in city-owned buildings.
“Artists working in a wide variety of genres live and work in Cortez,” Horoshko said in the press release. “CPAAC is addressing the monetary potential they represent by developing programs that support sustainable economic growth of their market.”
Horoshko said that the 18-month exhibition represents a means of developing the currency of artwork in Cortez.
“It really is a matter of growing pride for the City of Cortez through appreciation of the artists who have been living and working in Cortez for years, even decades,” Horosho told The Journal in an email.
Horoshko said that visitors of City Hall are accustomed to seeing “casually” loaned artworks that are not priced or actively marketed as “for sale.” She hoped a more active approach to generating such transactions would “encourage sales” of at least 40 percent of the works shown during these exhibitions.
Print copies of submission guidelines and procedures are available at the City Hall lobby desk and the Cortez Public Library. Digital copies are available from Horoshko, reachable at [email protected], or Cortez Public Library Director Eric Ikenouye, at [email protected].
Selection preference will be given to resident artists of the city of Cortez. The deadline for application submissions is Nov. 30, 2018.
