Great News

eligius1427 - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 5:34pm

Hi all, just got some fantastic news. I just won my first juried Call to Artists for a public art project. I'm so excited. The sculpture is called Ascension and is for a public rose garden in the Dundee Memorial Park in Omaha, NE. The petals are 12ga stainless steel hollow forms with an electropolished finish. I posted the presentation pages I submitted and would love to hear everyones take on them. I'm still not exactly sure how to write a "Letter of Interest" so any insight into that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Jake

ascension presentation 1

ascension presentation 2

ascension presentation 3

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Congratulations ...that's great!!!!

SteelyJan - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 5:42pm

Hey Jake,

That's wonderful and it couldn't have happened to a better person!!!!! I'd love to read the proposal....I posted a site before that lists competition etc. ...check it out if you're not busy enough...SteelyJan (aka Janet R.)

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Hi Janet and thanks, I'll

eligius1427 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 1:40am

Hi Janet and thanks, I'll try to send the proposal PDF's. I like the new name, it really seems to fit.

Jake

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CONGRATS, JAKE. I'm TICKLED

visitor - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 7:29pm

CONGRATS, JAKE.
I'm TICKLED TO DEATH FOR YA.Wish the images were a lil larger.

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That's so AWESOME!!!!!! I

Jamie Santellano - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 8:26pm

That's so AWESOME!!!!!! I am so happy for you and your accomplishment! I wish I could help with the proposal letter, but I too am looking for help on that, for something I'm trying to accomplish at the moment. I love what you did for the presentation. Can I ask, if this is something you did through Word? I have a presentation template in word, but have never played with it.

Jake I can't wait to see it once it's finished! Congrats to you!

Cheers! You inspire me!

Jamie Santellano

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Hi Jamie and thanks for the

eligius1427 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 1:58am

Hi Jamie and thanks for the kind words. I just got sent a sample Letter of Interest from Ries today and it was very concise, never more than one page he said. He seemed to cover his experience, credentials, resources, style, materials, and a teaser for his concept for the project he's applying for with just a few sentences on each topic. Very quick and "snappy" to use his words. I have definitely been trying to put too much info in mine.

The presentation was done in Photoshop and converted to a PDF. I'm sure there are better programs out there for presentations, but that's the best that I have right now. If you ever do a presentation in Photoshop, make sure your resolution is high, otherwise all of the text will end up fuzzy. Took me many frustrating hours to figure that out.

Jake

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Hi Jake, Thanks for the

Jamie Santellano - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 9:02am

Hi Jake,

Thanks for the advice...I wish you great success with this project! You must feel so proud of yourself...I know many more awesome opportunities are coming your way!

Please keep us posted along the way!

Cheers,

Jamie Santellano

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Way to go

Frank Castiglione - Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 10:18pm

Hi Jake,
That sure is great news. congratulations. I can't make any suggestions on your letter. However, if the way you compose your posts and comments is any indication of your writing ability, then you'll do fine.
Frank

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Thanks Frank, the letter of

eligius1427 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 1:44am

Thanks Frank, the letter of interest seems like trying to fit a bowling ball into pop can. One page to explain my credentials, style, quality, resources, concept, etc. I think i make it more difficult than it needs to be.

Jake

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Congratulations, Jake! You

Rich Waugh - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 1:07am

Congratulations, Jake! You deserve it - you put in the work to get there and you did a great presentation. Very professional approach and I'm sure it went a long way in selling the jury on your work.

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Thanks for the nice comments

eligius1427 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 1:55am

Thanks for the nice comments Rich, I think the best selling point I had during the interview was that I was going to fabricate the sculpture myself and could answer their questions and respond to their concerns pertaining to maintenance, durability, and upkeep. Advantage tradesman! :) I also had to build a Maquette(sp?) which I was pretty proud of as well. I'll post picts of it when I get it back(I hope I actually get it back).

Jake

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Hi Jake! Congratulations! I

Rob Sigafoos - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 11:50am

Hi Jake!
Congratulations! I can only say that these folks are really in for a surprize when they see how wonderful and amazing this will turn out to be (based on your previous work). I am really looking forward to seeing the finished pictures!
Rob

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Thanks Rob, I hope they end

eligius1427 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 5:58pm

Thanks Rob, I hope they end up as happy as you claim they will. Getting the commission was only the first part, now i have to actually create a sculpture to match the image i put in their head. I'll start stressing about that next week though, today I'm just happy I got accepted. Sounds like you might be meeting Janet soon, hope you enjoy your trip and tell her hi.

Jake

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Thats a great presentation

PeterG - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - 7:45pm

Thats a great presentation Jake. I really like the way you have shown the different potential surface finishes.

I havnt had a huge amount of experience with Letters of Interest, but after a few failures I refined my style and have had much more success.I generally just try to create the impression of a competent, professional artist that is flexible and interested in what the client wants rather than just forcing my own ideas on them.

It is worthwhile remembering that the client often has a difficult job in that they are putting their necks on the line. It is impossible for them to get an artwork that everyone likes and they will always be criticised by someone for their choice. It is particuarly tough for them when taking a chance on relatively unknown artists as there is little history of reliability.

In short....I suggest you put yourself in their shoes and write submissions addressing their possible concerns, while showing off your creative talents.

Good Luck

Peter

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Thanks Peter, you have some

eligius1427 - Friday, August 1, 2008 - 3:05pm

Thanks Peter, you have some very good suggestions. I'm really surprised at how "open" this notion of a "letter of interest" is. Suggestions have ranged from basically a essay style resume to a forced hard sell of your idea and everything in between. It would be interesting to read all of the "letters of interest" from a call and see just how different they really are. Your's and Ries's suggestions seem to make the most sense though, thanks again.

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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