Calls for proposals
The call for the partnership MAI + VCA is open until May 12, 11:59 PM.
Our calls for the Regular programming 2023—25 and for the Residency in the Archives are now closed.
Our calls for the mentorship programs and the Déblocages series are closed.
Open call for artists that focuses on on inclusion, equity, and representation.
Partnership MAI + VCA
VCA and MAI are excited to announce a new partnership for their joint support programs, VCA + MAI 2023-2025! As part of the Alliance project, the two organizations are collaborating to offer a residency and paired support to a visual or interdisciplinary artist or collective. The selected applicant will participate in VCA’s biennial 2023-2025 programming, “Trajectory, Planning and Genius Loci”.
Neither an institution nor an artist-run centre, MAI is often referred to as that strange beast for its multifaceted modus operandi and mandate specificity: an inclusionary, pluricultural, pluridisciplinary presenter also operating an artist-driven mentorship program, and the conveyor of an annual community exchange/public development program entitled Public +.
VCA welcomes a diversity of contemporary art practices and promotes work that crosses disciplinary boundaries. VCA provides art professionals from Laval and Québec opportunities to develop their creative practice within an exceptional setting by occupying specific sites in critical or poetic ways.
Deadline — May 12, 11:59 PM
Regular programming 2023—25
Trajectory, accommodation, and genius loci
—Whereas the miniature represents closure, interiority, the domestic and the overly cultural, the gigantic represents infinity, exteriority, the public, and the overly natural.[1]
Verticale—centre d’artistes (VCA) invites artists and collectives to submit proposals for in situ art projects that explore atypical sites by addressing the trajectories, transitional processes, and challenges of occupying space at various scales. The areas we enter and that enter us—as inhabited, stolen, occupied, forgotten, abandoned, unplanned, transformed, dreamt up, configured, and (re)activated—should also be considered, in all of their complexity.
Presentation period: between September 2023 and August 2025
VCA presents works off-site. The centre will accept proposals that take into account the physical and/or social space of dissemination, and that includes a reflection on sites, publics and/or contexts. VCA will assist with the artists’ surveying process and integration of their work so that the dissemination setting is appropriate and relevant to each individual project and art practice.
Deadline to submit a proposal: December 1st, 2022
Call to artists and writers
Residency in the Archives
This one-time program will support two artists and two writers in the creation of art projects and texts based on the processing of Verticale — centre d’artistes’ (VCA) archival documents.
The goal of this residency program is to expose artists and writers to the processing of VCA’s archives, currently underway. Working alongside archivists, the selected participants will be able to consult and discover the contents of these documents.
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Who can apply
This program seeks to promote VCA members and Laval-based artists in a non-exclusive manner. Members of our broader community who have taken part in VCA’s activities (through exhibitions, as board members, etc.) will also be considered.
Deadline to submit a proposal: December 1st, 2022
Schedule
Planning meetings: March and April 2023
Residency period: between May and June 2023
Public discussions: spring, summer, and fall 2023
Please refer to the complete call for submission.
Call to members
Déblocages
Déblocages, a self-directed series of gatherings, brings together members of the Centre and their guests to discuss issues arising in their artistic practice. Each event is organized around a specific issue proposed by a member. The gathering provides a pretext to share experiences and hash out possible solutions collectively.
This call is now closed.
Call to emerging artists
Mentorship Program
This annual program is aimed at assisting an emerging artist in the exploration and development of their practice through peer support, namely with a professional artist who will take on a mentorship role.
The artist-mentee must submit a research and creation project that will address one or more aspects they have identified as obstacles to the advancement of their practice and/or career. The program does not necessarily involve the public presentation of an artwork. The artist will carry out their project within a professional context, with the support of their mentor with whom they will meet on a regular basis for the equivalent of fifteen work days. The project will conclude with a public presentation by the artist and their mentor, where they will discuss the progress of their work.
Presentation period: spring-summer
This program is intended primarily for emerging artists (no age limit) currently living in Laval, who are originally from the region, or who are members of the organisation.