$10,000 Grant Available to Create Art in Bed-Stuy's Herbert Von King Park

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — An information session for emerging, New York City-based artists to learn more about a $10,000 grant program aimed at bringing art to underserved NYC parks is scheduled for Thursday in Bed-Stuy.

The "Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant" will provide each of 10 local artists with a $10,000 grant to create art in 10 designated NYC parks over the next year.

The information session for Brooklyn-based artists is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 6:30 p.m., at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center of Bedford Stuyvesant (located at 677 Lafayette Ave.).

Grant winners can use the funding toward art installations in the following parks:

• Bronx: Joyce Kilmer Park and Virginia Park
• Brooklyn: Fort Greene Park and Herbert Von King Park
• Manhattan: Seward Park and Thomas Jefferson Park
• Queens: Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Rufus King Park
• Staten Island: Faber Park and Tappen Park

Grant proposals and "will be judged according to artistic and creative merit, response to the surrounding community, and suitability to the site," according to NYC Parks.

Priority will be given to artists who intend to directly engage the local community with their artistic vision, and who plan to create work that responds to the park and its surrounding neighborhood.

Only one proposal is permitted per park. However, any one artist can submit proposals for more than one park, as long as the proposals aren't identical.

Here's the timeline for the grant program:

• October 2016: Grant information sessions; view the schedule here.
• Nov. 13, 2016: Proposal deadline
• January 2017: Award recipients announced
• Spring through Summer 2017: Artworks installed in parks

The grants are available only for emerging artists in New York City, which NYC Parks officials define as "artists who have specialized training in their field (not necessarily gained in an academic institution), who are at an early stage in their career, and who have created a modest independent body of work."

Currently enrolled students are not eligible for the grant program, and previously exhibited work will not be considered, according to NYC Parks.

Applications should include the following (via NYC Parks):

• Resume with current contact information
• One-page statement describing artist’s work in general
• Proposed sculpture - detailed description of no more than two written pages - representative renderings or images of proposed artwork - list of materials, dimensions, and weight - installation recommendations - maintenance recommendations - proposed budget - list of proposed supplemental programs or events
• Names and contact information of two references who are familiar with artist
• Five to six images of previous work; each image should be labeled and succinctly described

Lead photo by Dan DeLuca/Flickr