Open Call for Mural Artists: Malikah x Queens Museum

08.12.21

Application deadline: August 29th, 2021, 11:59pm

Click here to access the application form.

As a Year of Uncertainty (YoU) Community Partner, Malikah is looking for a local NYC-based artist to collaborate on a community mural. The mural is expected to be sited in the Astoria, Queens area. The selected artist will participate in a collective visioning session with community members around the question: “What would the world feel like, taste like, sound like, smell like, and look like if all women were safe and could step into their power?” and will co-create the mural design based on the responses. This opportunity is in partnership with the Queens Museum’s Year of Uncertainty, a program that explores the new ways institutions can support individuals and publics navigating a world that is always and increasingly shifting. 

In reflection of the Malikah community, we are centering Black, Indigenous, and POC women and non-binary artists for this opportunity. Muslim, North African, or Arab artists are also encouraged to apply.

Artist fee: $2,500

Qualifications:

  • Experience with leading collaborative murals including community participation
  • NYC resident (ideally Queens-based)
  • Experience and/or passion for intersectional social justice work and organizing
  • Available for this opportunity from early September through early November 2021
  • Multilingual artists are encouraged to apply

Expectations:

  • Willing and excited to co-vision mural design with community
  • Ability to travel to multiple locations in Queens
  • Will work closely with the Program and Operations Manager at Malikah on logistics and engaging the community in the process

Selection Process and Timeline:

  • Artists should submit an application via Submittable by Sunday, August 29, 2021
  • A jury composed of Malikah and Queens Museum team members will review applications. Finalists will be selected based on the strength of their work samples and interest in community engagement. The selected artist will be notified by September 6, 2021.
  • Timeline:
    • First two weeks of September: Artist will meet virtually or in person with Malikah and QM to familiarize themselves with Malikah’s work and discuss needs for the visioning event 
    • Sunday, September 19th, afternoon: Community visioning session at Queens Museum
    • Late September: Artist to submit mural design and work with Malikah and Queens Museum to develop installation process/timeline and order materials
    • Early October-early November: Production of collaborative mural takes place and Malikah hosts launch event(s) to celebrate the opening of the mural 

About Malikah

We are a collective of trauma-informed women and nonbinary trainers, organizers and facilitators dedicated to building power for ourselves and our communities. We facilitate, train and organize locally and are connected globally, from London and Frankfurt to Greensboro and Brooklyn, our vision is to build a world where all women are safe and all women are powerful. While Malikah is a global organization, we are based in Queens, NY. Please read Malikah’s origin story here.

Through our train the trainer model, we equip folks in our communities with our four programmatic pillars 1) healing justice 2) self-defense 3) organizing and 4) financial literacy. We host intensive weekend long bootcamps, gender justice summits, recurring weekly sessions and one-off programs to scale access to our curriculum through organizers and trainers. 

Our movement is committed to an intersectional gender justice framework that amplifies the leadership of the most marginalized women in our communities, women who have been carrying all of us all along. All of our work centers Black, Indigenous, and women/nonbinary people of color. 

Since 2010, our volunteer team has reached over 20,000 women and girls in 20 cities across the globe. Reach out to movement@malikah.org to learn more.