Call-for-Pitches: Cultural Correspondent for Art Design Chicago

September 20, 2024

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Sixty is seeking pitches for a Cultural Correspondent for our editorial collaboration with Art Design Chicago! Deadline is October 7, 2024.

Image: Installation view of three of Güiza-Rojas’ pieces from Territoire-Travail (2018). From left to right, one is a picture of a man performing janitorial work inside a building with one hand and working on a laptop with the other; the second is a man in a construction hat at a construction site, staged to look like he is working on a red lamp as an electrician; the third is a man in a neon construction vest and hat holding a large microphone up to a ladder. Courtesy of Villa Albertine.

Deadline: October 7, 2024 (at midnight)

Overview

Sixty is seeking pitches for a Cultural Correspondent from Chicago and across the Midwest for our editorial collaboration with Art Design Chicago 2024 (ADC), a project of the Terra Foundation for American Art. Launched in 2018, ADC is a city-wide initiative created to explore the vital role Chicago plays as a crossroad of art and design. It initially included over 46 exhibitions and 300 programs presented by over 95 organizations and spaces across Chicago and has expanded each year since then. Similarly, Art Design Chicago 2024 will include hundreds of programs, exhibitions, and projects highlighting Chicago’s art and design history.

Sixty’s collaboration with ADC will focus on how to creatively and editorially highlight, reflect on, and add new perspectives to the programs, exhibitions, and projects produced across the initiative. As part of the collaboration, we are looking to commission someone to create reels specifically for Instagram that highlight and reflect on an ADC exhibition. This person can pitch to create anywhere from 2-3 reels at varying lengths (2 minimum), but please note that, because pay is stipend-based, the pay will be the same regardless of the number of reels. You can find a full list of ADC’s current and upcoming programming here.

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PITCH
We ask that you submit your pitch through the form here.
To see a preview of the submission form, click here.
To see the list of ADC programming, click here.

What we will need from you:

Plan to have your working draft of the video content ready to share with Sixty three weeks before the show closes (for exhibitions) or within three weeks after the event (for one-time events).
You may create your videos one of two ways:
1. (preferred) create in Canva OR anonther app or software that allows us to review draft before posting on Sixty’s instagram
2. Create within Instagram’s reels editing feature (doable, but not preferred because it’s not as easy to share drafts before posting and requires your IG profile to be public to post collaboratively with Sixty)

Videos need to include:
1. A cover image: can be a still from the video that says the title or it can be a graphic with the title of the reel
2. A slide at the end that runs for 3-4 seconds that includes ADC’s and Sixty’s logos and your name. (Sixty will provide this slide)
3. Closed captions: please caption all voices heard in the video. This can be done in third party software or when posting to Instagram. Canva does *not* support captions so if you use Canva, don’t worry about this because Sixty will add them.

What We’re Looking For

When reviewing pitches, we will be looking for:

Thoughtfulness of a pitch — what is the scope and angle for this pitch? How do you intend to cover the exhibition or program in the reels created? How will you connect this project to topics and concerns of Sixty’s communities? What is the culture being perpetuated by this subject and coverage of it? How might this pitch support your own creative growth and expansion–through format, subject matter, or collaboration?

Relevance to Sixty’s communities and Art Design Chicago — is this pitch heightening or exploring the narratives, art, and histories of Indigenous, diasporic, disability, trans, and/or queer communities, as well as any other historically marginalized people? Does it offer a fresh or distinct perspective on Chicago’s visual arts and design legacies, past and present?

Looking for examples of what we are looking for? You can find the work of our past Cultural Correspondents here, here, and here.

*Please note that all applicants need to do all their own video/audio editing.

Compensation:

For Art Design Chicago, Sixty negotiates a higher rate for contributors to this collaboration, therefore the Cultural Correspondent will receive a stipend of $2,000.

This opportunity is part of a larger Sixty initiative called Sixty Collective, where we at Sixty work to create and facilitate paid opportunities for Midwest writers, artists, and arts workers to expand their writing, editorial, archival, and artistic practices or skills. Through these meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships with artists, archives, libraries, artist-run initiatives, media platforms, and other cultural institutions, we cultivate opportunities for our communities to record, preserve, nurture, and reflect on their artistry and culture.