EMERGE Mural Festival 2025 RFQ

Request For Qualifications (RFQ)

The LUX Center for the Arts, located in Lincoln, NE, will be hosting its third bi-annual EMERGE mural festival in September of 2025. Three (3) new murals will be created in the University Place neighborhood, Lincoln’s first certified Creative District. This call for artists outlines the details or application.

Three artists will be selected and each will create a mural at a designated location within the UNI Place Creative District. Each artist will receive $4,000 in compensation for their work, as well as a design honorarium. Supplies and materials will be paid for by the LUX Center for the Arts, along with additional administrative coordination assistance.

About The LUX Center for the Arts and the UNI Place Creative District

The LUX makes art happen in Lincoln! We are Lincoln’s only community art center with a mission to provide arts education and hands-on art making opportunities to as many people as possible. Our classrooms and dedicated ceramic center offer learning opportunities throughout the year, including classes for adults, teens and youth, with a robust schedule of summer camp activities taking place all summer long. Our five gallery spaces host art works from individual artists and juried group shows from both local and international artists.

The UNI Place Creative District runs along North 48th Street, northeast of downtown Lincoln. As the first certified Creative District in Lincoln, UNI Place fosters creativity through annual public events including ongoing makers’ markets, First Friday open gallery events, artists talk, music events and more. Our mission is to support the vibrancy and livelihood of our artists while also fostering community building and economic growth that the arts can nurture.

The LUX has been working since 2020 to bring public art to the UNI Place Creative District. Currently we are proud to host twelve (12) permanent murals within the Creative District alone. EMERGE 2025 will see the addition of three (3) new murals to the district and bring the total up to 15!

About the EMERGE Mural Festival

The EMERGE Mural festival began in 2021, in response to the pandemic. We envisioned a celebratory return from isolation and embrace of the local community. EMERGE seeks to support and inspire the community and gives us a reason to celebrate our collective shared spaces.

In 2025 our festival will take place at the end of September. We will host free art-making events to the public in all of our classrooms and gallery areas. Visitors will be welcomed to our campus and our district to celebrate the arts as we officially dedicate the new murals which have been created.

EMEREGE 2025 Theme – “Past, Present, Future of the UNI Place Creative District”

This year’s theme will focus on and celebrate the Creative District and its deep roots as a center of community within the larger Lincoln area.

The three murals that we create this year will be focused on UNI Place’s Past, Present and Future respectively.

These images will help us to tie together a bridge from the legacy which preceded us and laid the groundwork, to where we are now as a foundation for creative growth, as well as look forward into the bright future of the district as it continues to grow and develop.

Each selected artist will be asked to work on one of these three themes within guidelines determined by the LUX.

Eligibility

All artists may apply regardless of where they live. Local and regional artists are encouraged to apply.
Individual artists or collectives are eligible to apply.
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.

Application Process

There is no cost to apply.

Along with essential contact information, artists will be asked to submit:

1. An artist’s statement that addresses the following topics:

• How the artist plans to approach designing for this project, including historical and visual research.
• How the artist plans to include themes of community and the power of creativity in their design process.

2. A sample of work, 3-5 images of completed work.

3. A written “works cited” document that describes the images submitted as a work sample and why they were chosen.

4. A link to any online portfolio or social account that the artist wishes us to see.

Review Process

This RFQ application window will be open from February 7th, 2025, until March 30th, 2025.

LUX Center for the Arts will review submissions and eligibility. Incomplete submissions may not be included for consideration.

The LUX Center will invite selected artists to submit a detailed design proposal. It is our expectation that we will ask approximately 4-6 artists to submit a proposal.

Selected artists will be notified before the end of April 2025.

Artists selected to submit a proposal will be asked to design for a specific site and theme. Each artist selected for a design will be paid an honorarium for the time spent in their design, whether or not their design is selected as the chosen final design.

Review Process Timeline

February 7th, 2025, applications open.
March 30th, 2025, last day to apply.
April 30th, 2025, artists will be notified no later than this day if they have been selected to submit a design.
May 31st, 2025, final design submissions due for review and selection.
June 2025, final artists confirmed.
August-September, schedule creation of murals on-site.
September 24th, 2025, EMERGE Mural Fest public event and dedication of the new murals.

Application Form

EMERGE 2025 APPLICATION FORM

For any questions about the application process, please email andy@luxcenter.org