Open Call for Artists

Ongoing Call for Proposals from Metalwork Artists to work with factory scrap for the Residents. Selected artists will receive commission fees and long-term public exhibition.

Overview:

Ball & Socket Arts, a new exhibition space in Cheshire, CT on West Main Street in the former Ball & Socket Factory, seeks metal artists to transform interior scrap into hidden ‘creatures’ to be sited around the 3-acre factory in surprising locales (primarily exterior locations, with a few potential interior sites). Artists must be located somewhere nearby and able to visit Cheshire, CT at least two times to complete this project (site tour/material selection, site-selection, installation, and opening reception). Artists must also have their own welding equipment and must follow all necessary on-site safety precautions.  

Selected Artists will each receive a $500 commissioning fee, along with up to $200 per project in gas and materials reimbursement (with receipts). We anticipate selecting up to 10 artists for this project.  

Project Details:

Selected artists will be given tours of the site and will be allowed to select their preferred metal scrap materials from the buildings themselves. They will also have the opportunity to select a site on campus to place their final piece, though final placement is at the discretion of Ball & Socket Arts staff. The initial round took place in spring 2023, but additional commissions will be considered on a rolling basis.

Works must incorporate some scrap metal from the Ball & Socket factory into their pieces to highlight the industrial past of the site and to re-use these materials creatively into a new vision.  

Pieces must have a “soul” and some figurative element. Creatures/critters/animals/interlopers are deeply encouraged. Artists must also provide a name and a biography for their critter at the close of the project. Assistance happily offered towards this end, if requested. 

Artists will be selected for these commissions from an independent curatorial panel.  

 To be considered, please submit an online application here. Artists must be skilled at working with metal and have their own tools and workshop space.

To view images of the site and the building interiors, please click here. 

Limited site tours are available to prospective artists, if requested. 

Applications will be reviewed roughly every quarter by the Programming Committee.

Questions may be submitted to Lydia Blaisdell, Director of Programming, at lblaisdell@ballandsocket.org.