Call for Collaborators: Interactive Art Experiences - Creativity & Innovation Summit 2025

Submission deadline: July 30, 2025

Artist fees: $2,500 (+HST if applicable)

Business & Arts NL is seeking an artist to develop and facilitate an interactive art activity for the 2025 Creativity & Innovation Summit. Taking place at the Sheraton Hotel on November 4, the event will welcome 200–250 participants from across the private, public, and creative sectors. The Summit features speakers, networking opportunities, and experiences designed to spark new connections and inspiration. This is an opportunity for an artist/artist team to create and present a hands-on, participant-driven experience that unfolds throughout the day and encourages conversation between attendees. 

Ideally, the selected interactive art activity will have its debut at the Summit, and become a standalone offering that other businesses or organizations are interested in engaging for their events. With this secondary goal in mind, Business & Arts NL will offer feedback and an opportunity to test the project with a focus group in advance of the Summit. 

Project Brief

This event is focused on the value of creativity to individuals, workplaces, and society. Artists and their worldview and expertise are placed at the heart of this conversation. These activities, interspersed between more traditional opportunities to network and inspiring speakers from various creative backgrounds, are an important driver of engagement and conversation at this event. 

We’re seeking activities that:

• Spark participants curiosity or creativity 

• Engender “creative confidence” (confidence in one’s own creativity)

• Start conversations

• Are unintimidating - an easy “nudge for participation”

• Are story catalysts, creating an experience that participants will talk about after they leave. 

Proposed activities may accomplish any of the following:

• Play with data - for instance a form of data portrait, or a creative and innovative way to gather data for impact measurement 

• Result in a final piece/output that participants contribute to/co-create

• Provide something participants can individualize/make their own in dialogue with others

• Result in something participants can keep

Logistics

These projects could last mere seconds, or span several minutes. For instance, attendees at last year’s summit checked in by selecting a pin or pins that represented their creative strength/s, and another favourite project saw participants take a small clay fish and some paint back to their seat to paint while speakers were speaking, and later add it to a collective artwork facilitated by Daniel Rumbolt and Amber-Lynn Thorne. The length of time for instructions to be given should be minimal, so that participants can choose how much time they wish to spend engaging with the activity and networking. 

We aren’t able to mount works directly on the wall at the Sheraton, and so activities need to be free standing, displayed on a table, on easels etc, and activity materials must be easily transported and able to be set up early on the morning of the event.

Budget

Artist Fee = $2,500* + HST (if applicable)

*Artist fee includes design of the activity, delivery/facilitation and participation in the Summit, and providing materials (bio, photos, artist statement) to support event marketing. Additionally, he cost of materials will be reimbursed up to a maximum of $1,000.

Eligibility

• Newfoundland and Labrador-based artists of any/all disciplines, which may include visual artists and craftspeople, designers, interdisciplinary artists, multimedia artists, installation artists, and artists whose practices focus on community participation or engagement. 

• Emerging, mid-career, and established artists are encouraged to apply

• Business & Arts NL is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. We encourage applications from artists of all backgrounds, identities, and lived experiences. 

Selection 

The selected activity will be chosen by a small focus group of Summit stakeholders, based on the project’s anticipated impact, and how it fits within the overall program. 

Submission Requirements

Please submit the following, combined into a single pdf:

1. A short proposal outlining your interactive idea (max 500 words) including the cost of materials for 250 participants

2. A brief bio or CV

3. Up to 5 images of your previous work

4. A short note about why this opportunity interests you

Project Timeline

• Proposals due: July 30, 2025

• Selected artist will be notified by: August 11, 2025

• Mid-point test run/feedback (see FAQ for details): Sept 30, 2025

• Summit: Nov 4, 2025

Send your proposals to: Lynn Panting - lynn@businessandartsnl.com

Have questions or want to talk through your idea? Reach out to Lynn lynn@businessandartsnl.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Tell me more about the “Mid-point test run/feedback” in the project timeline?

  In order to ensure that your project fits well within the flow, messaging, and vibe of the Summit, we’ll get together on Sept 30 to talk through the setup, space/technical requirements, language, materials etc. We’ll provide any feedback we have and work together to ensure the project is set up for success and maximum impact with Summit attendees. There may be an opportunity to test the project with a small focus group as well. 

• I don’t live in St. John’s - will travel expenses be provided if I’m selected?

  Yes, we will offer a travel stipend to cover kilometrage, accommodations and per diem for selected artists living outside of the Avalon Peninsula. 

Art Car 3.0 – Call for Digital Artwork

Submission deadline: Thursday, March 20 at 11:59 pm

How would you like to see your art on the move? Business & Arts NL has teamed up with Genesis St. John’s to offer an exciting opportunity to transform a 2025 GV70 into a moving piece of public art.

We’re looking for you to produce digital artwork that will be professionally printed on vinyl and wrapped around a white 2025 GV70. Your art will be seen by thousands throughout the City of St. John’s and beyond!

About the Project:

This is the third Art Car collaboration. Check out Vanessa Iddon's 2021 Genesis GV 80 Art Car and Marcus Gosse's 2023 MINI Countryman Art Car. 

The selected artist will design an Art Car to help promote our Explore Art NL public art app. The back window will feature partner logos and messaging about the app provided by Business & Arts NL. We want to transform the Genesis 2025 GV70 into a bold mobile canvas that celebrates creativity and public art!

Who Should Apply:

• NL based illustrators, graphic designers, and visual artists with expertise in creating digital art

• Artists comfortable providing final artwork in high-resolution digital formats suitable for large-scale printing

Requirements

• We are looking for a design that is exciting and bold. 

• IMPORTANT: This call is exclusively for digital artwork that can be reproduced as a vehicle wrap. Submissions in other mediums will not be considered.

• Artists may create work specifically for this call or may reformat existing work. 

• This call is open to artists of any experience level (emerging, mid-career and established).

• Proposals will be assessed based on artistic merit and the adaptability of proposed artwork to the vehicle structure

• The selected artist will be provided with the printer’s specs and is responsible for providing production-ready files that are high-resolution and suitable for large-format printing

• This call is open to NL-based creatives only

What’s In It For You:

• An artist fee of $2,000* +HST (if applicable)

• An artist credit printed on the vehicle itself

• You and your work will also be featured on our website, on social media and through our marketing initiatives. 

* Artist fee includes: contract execution, artwork development, file preparation, design review and revisions (up to two rounds), supplying artist statement, bio, and headshot, and participation in project meetings (if required)

Interested? Please submit: 

• 3 images of your work, combined into a single PDF

• A 250-word description of your proposed vision for the car – we welcome submissions of new or previously created work 

• A 150-word bio 

• A link to your website or portfolio

• Anonymous Survey Information (required) This form is to be completed by the Artist as part of your submission. Once completed, please screenshot the confirmation page and upload it to your submission form. The personal information collected on this form is anonymous and confidential. Your survey answers are not linked to your application in any way.

All application components must be submitted through the online application form. Click the button below to apply.

Timeline:

Submission deadline: Thursday, March 20 at 11:59 pm

The successful candidate will be contacted by March 27. 

Artist files for the final design will be completed by May 9 

The car will be wrapped and hitting the streets by late May! 

Additional reference images of the GV70 can be found here.

This project is made possible with the generous support of Genesis St. John’s.

FAQS:

• Is there a specific theme or guidelines to follow when submitting?

  Our submission is wide open! We encourage artists to consider how their style would look wrapped around the different panels and surfaces of a vehicle. The end result will need to be an artwork that works effectively as a seamless and continuous wrap that follows the contours of the car including the roof, sides, hood and trunk. Reference the images here. All windows will remain clear except the back, which will include credits and sponsor logos.

  We recommend avoiding text, as it may be difficult to read when wrapped around the car.

  Still not sure what we’re after? Take a look at the BMW Art Car Collection, which helped inspire this project.

• Eligibility

  This call is open to NL-based creatives only. The selected artist will be provided with the printer’s specs and is responsible for setting up the files so they are production-ready. 

• Is there a limit on the number of pieces I can submit?

  Yes, 3 samples of work that demonstrate your ability to produce digital work and creative style. We also encourage you to provide a link to your website or Instagram page to give jurors the opportunity to view a broader range of your work as well. 

• What format should I be submitting in?

  Please submit your application using our online application form found here.

  Don’t forget to complete the Anonymous Self Identification survey and take a screenshot of the confirmation page to complete your application.

• Do you accept photography or painting submissions?

  Due to the large size and nature of the vehicle wrap process, we are only accepting artists or designers who are proficient in working with vector-based software to produce scalable work that they can adapt to the individual panels. The selected artist will be provided with the printer’s specs and is responsible for setting up the files so they are production-ready.  

Questions?

Please contact the program coordinator at hazel@businessandartsnl.com. We will get back to you within 2 business days.