The PAiD Public Art Apprenticeship Program is a 12–18-month program designed to address tough entry barriers to the field of public art by providing artists with the necessary training and support to complete a permanent public art project. Ten artists will be selected to receive comprehensive training, mentorship, and a project budget to complete their first permanent public art commission at an LA County site.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to:

• Visual artists working in any media whose primary residence is in Los Angeles County.
• Artists who have not been previously commissioned for a permanent public art project through a municipality or government agency program.
• Individual artists only; artist teams are not eligible to apply. For the purposes of this opportunity:

  Permanent Public Art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. Public art is visually and/or physically accessible to the public; it is installed in public space in both outdoor and indoor settings. It is fabricated with materials and methods with a long-term lifespan expectation incorporating materials and methods that have recorded longevity such as metal, glass, concrete, terrazzo, stone, mosaic, tile or other similar products.

Schedule and Time Commitment

Two cohorts of Apprentices will be selected, each with five (5) artists, for a total of ten (10) selected artists. Apprentices will be assigned to a cohort based on availability and project suitability. The first cohort is currently planned to begin work in early 2025 with the second cohort beginning in 2026.

Project schedule is subject to change.

There will be approximately 80 hours of formal training planned over 3 months consisting of once-a-month training sessions on Saturdays, with online trainings three times a week on weekday evenings. The trainings will be concurrent with project activity. The time commitment for an artist’s oversight of their artwork development, fabrication, and installation will vary in intensity and there may be more flexibility for the overall time commitment depending on the project needs and stage.

Compensation

Each Apprentice will be contracted for the training and delivery of a permanent public art project with a budget range between $100,000-$200,000 based on availability and project suitability. This budget will include all costs associated with the completion of the project deliverables, including a 20% artist fee. Each Apprentice will also be provided with an additional $5,500 stipend for their participation in required meetings and training sessions.