Pumpkin Pavilion Call for Artists! 

Pumpkin Pavilion is a favorite Halloween event in Humboldt Park in Bay View. Hosted by the Bay View Neighborhood Association with community support, the four day, volunteer-run event attracts thousands of visitors to carve and then come back to see nearly 1000 pumpkins lit up together! Live music, zombies, kids events, performers, a costume parade, food vendors and art installations have all become vital parts of the event over its 15 year history. The planning committee works to make each year better than the last by engaging more people in more creative ways.

So, this year, we are putting out our first-ever public call for artists! Artists can apply for up to $1000 to create or perform a piece for Pumpkin Pavilion 2023. The planning committee is open to any type of art meeting these criteria:

• Halloween Spooky Theme- the event theme this year is the Creature from the Humboldt Park Lagoon, so we’d love anything monster-ish! However, we’re hoping your piece will last a couple of years and the themes may change, so, general Halloween/pumpkin theme is fine. Also, we like spooky, but not too gorey or frightening, as this is a family event. One last note, we have plenty of zombies already.

• Durability- October in Wisconsin can have a wide variety of weather! Once a piece is up, it will need to stay for at least 5 days. Additionally, we would like to be able to use pieces for 3 years during our events. Performance art should be able to happen rain or shine, although we may have tents available. 

• Interactivity- How can visitors engage with your piece? Can they walk through it, touch it, manipulate it, participate in a performance, create a part of it?

• Day and Night Visibility- We have worked to activate the park during the day Saturday of our event, not just the evenings. If you are submitting a performance art application, please consider how long the performance is and if you can do multiple performances to accommodate day and night visitors. 

• Accessibility- We would like all visitors to our event to be able to enjoy your artwork!

• Storage/Tranportation- We need pieces we can break down to transport in a pick up and store either in an attic or side of a garage.

Additional Things to Consider:

• Power- Although not a deal breaker, we cannot guarantee electricity, depending on where the piece is in the park. Please consider non-powered work, or solar, batteries or other creative sources for power. 

• Location- Come to the park orientation session if you don’t know the park. Our goal is to activate as much of the park as possible! Consider parts of the park that may not usually be used for our event, such as the path around the lagoon, the war memorial or 

• Ownership/Reproduction- For any physical artwork, we will own it after the stipend is awarded. For performance art, we would ask that artists not reproduce the performance for other events. We may invite you back to our event in the future though!

Timeline:

• July 1- Application goes out publicly

• July 20- Meet the Planning Committee/Humboldt Park Walkthrough

• July 30- Applications due with descriptions and info about prior work

• Aug 10- Committee will select artists to receive a $50 stipend to complete a sketch and present it to us

• Aug 30- Sketches/presentations due

• Sept 14-Committee will award stipends and send contracts

• Oct 14-17- Pieces installed if applicable

• Oct 18-21 Pumpkin Pavilion event (Oct 18-19 are Community Carving Nights; October 20-21 are Pumpkin Pavilion

• Oct 22-Clean Up-all art taken down; artists work with volunteers to store materials for next year

This is the first time we’ve done a call for artists, and our committee loves creativity, so if we didn’t answer your questions, please reach out! Email Christa Marlowe at clmarlowe74@gmail.com