Call for creatives to bring their ideas to the city

The City of Sydney invites Australian and international artists, curators and creatives to share their ideas and inspirations for one of the country’s best temporary art programs.

Expressions of interest are being sought for specialists in all art forms to be part of the City of Sydney’s year-round Art & About Sydney program.

Works are sought to invigorate public and unusual spaces across the city from visual artists, curators and performers to filmmakers, musicians and theatre companies.

The City of Sydney will provide up to $60,000 in funding for each project selected to be part of Art & About Sydney.

Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore said Art & About Sydney is renowned for showcasing works that attract thousands of visitors into the city to enjoy each year.

“We’re looking for ideas and proposals covering all art disciplines that will bring colour and joy to our city and delight locals and visitors,” the Lord Mayor said.

“This is about celebrating our city’s creativity and imagination, with local and international artists bringing their unique ideas to our parks and squares, streets and laneways.”

The City of Sydney is specifically looking for projects that are new, innovative, demonstrate artistic excellence, are participatory and inclusive, and create unique experiences through diverse and interesting collaborations.

Selected artists will be responsible for development, planning, production, risk assessment, and installation and removal of their project.

Works can be presented from November 2023 and the City of Sydney will offer various resources to assist artists including creative concept development, support with production and development applications, security, marketing and PR.

Interested parties are encouraged to visit the City of Sydney website for a copy of the brief and submission guidelines. The expression of interest period closes on Tuesday 13 June.

Since it was established 22 years ago, Art & About Sydney has become an internationally renowned program that attracts artists and collaborators from all corners of the globe.

Previous Art & About Sydney works include:

Lost Figures – a large outdoor mural that tells the story of Patyegarang – a young Aboriginal woman who played a significant role between the Aboriginal and British in 1788 – and William Dawes – an engineer and astronomer who worked with Patyegarang in 1790-91 to create what is now considered the first written account of the Sydney Aboriginal language.

Passenger -an immersive work that involved the audience riding in a moving suburban bus through Sydney streets, overhearing a conversation between 2 fellow ‘passengers’.

Bandaloop - one of the world’s leading dance companies brought its pioneering ‘vertical dance’ to Australia for the first time. Turning the dance floor on its side, the work had previously been performed in theatres, museums, on skyscrapers, bridges, billboards, historical sites and on cliffs around the world.

Bodies in Urban Spaces - a group of movement artists clad in colourful sweat-shirts ran, jumped and squeezed themselves into, on, around and under the urban landscape in a performance of living human sculpture.

A Million Things That Make Your Head Spin – an art installation in Customs House that incorporated 10 kilometres of different coloured ribbons woven together to create a multi-storey kaleidoscope.

HEARD.SYD - 30 life-size ‘horses’ dancing in unique, choreographed pieces transformed Pitt Street Mall into a large performance space.

For media enquiries, contact Elaine Kelly. Phone 0477 362 550 or email [email protected]

For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, contact Zoe Delamare. Phone 0477 263 615 or email [email protected]