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Call for Artists: Collaborative Cat Portraits with AR Experience

Project Title: Purrsonalities

Deadline for Submissions: January 15, 2025

We’re seeking local artists from Lexington, Kentucky, and surrounding areas to participate in Purrsonalities, a unique art and technology collaboration celebrating adoptable cats. This project combines traditional art with augmented reality (AR) to create immersive experiences, with proceeds supporting the Lexington Humane Society, participating artists, and the event itself.

This collaborative project is dedicated to supporting local artists and cats, with 50% of the proceeds going towards local participating artists, and 25% of the proceeds being donated to the Lexington Humane Society thanks to the generous participation of our artists. The remaining 25% of the proceeds will go towards the event. We will also be pursuing additional funding through sponsorship and donations. If you know of anyone interested in becoming a sponsor please contact us.

Project Details

Each artwork will feature:

• Traditional/Physical Art: A 12"x12" cradled wood panel (provided).

• Augmented Reality Component: AR experiences using the traditional/physical portrait as an anchor, developed in Unity 3D.

• Artists may apply individually or as a pair (one traditional artist, one digital artist). We will assist with pairing if needed.

Key Information:

• Artists will interpret the unique personalities of adoptable cats through their portraits and AR effects. 

• There will be a companion website application for the Augmented Reality portion which will also include backstories and adoption messaging to bring these stories to life.

• Artists will have a short time of 7 weeks to complete the project, and are encouraged to design their work to take less than 10 hours to complete, preferably 4 to 6 hours. 

• For the traditional/physical art piece, we encourage a simple portrait with a contrasting background of a single color. This is both for simplicity and to help the Augmented Reality experience to better recognize the image. 

• We will be meeting every Sunday at 3:00 PM to collaborate and coordinate. Please see the section “Artist Timeline for Purrsonalities” for details on what to expect weekly. 

• We have room for between 10 and 20 pieces, so if you are willing to work on more than one art piece please say so.

• We would also like to have each set of artists give a talk on their experience and project. There’s a template for a “Talk/Workshop” or a "Roundtable Discussion”. 

Eligibility

Open to artists local to Lexington, Kentucky, and surrounding areas. Exceptions may be made to remotely attend via Discord as long as you can make some of the most important dates. I know we have digital artists from Louisville and Cincinatti areas interested, and I want to encourage you to participate. 

No prior collaborative experience needed—guidance will be provided.

Digital artists should have experience with Unity 3D or be willing to learn. Access to a personal computer is encouraged, but I believe we can find you access through a local library. If it's an issue please contact me and we'll try to find a resource.

Willingness to visit local shelters to visit with cats and kittens, take notes of cat’s information, and take reference photos & videos for their artwork, with a focus on “less likely to be adopted” cats. All adoptable cat pictures are welcome, and we can find a fun way to use them at the event. See the “Cat Visit Checklist” for more information. 

Materials & Equipment

For the traditional 2D image portion of each work, one 12"x12" cradled wood panel will be provided. This is for uniformity, gallery quality, and eliminates the need for framing since we are on a short budget and schedule. 

• If painting directly to the panel I can provide Gesso to seal the wood. Sides of panel need to be finished, either painted as part of the work or taped off for a clean finish. Green Frog tape can be provided to tape off edges.

• If needed, paper of reasonable cost can be provided and mounted to the wood panels for drawing or watercolor.

• If using a print for your 2D portion, I can provide one glossy or matte print to mount to panels. 

Physical Media artists will need to use their own supplies beyond that. 

Digital Media Artists and Photographers working will need to provide their own equipment and editing to be print ready. Color profiles will be provided upon request.

Digital Media artists working on the AR portion of the project will need to have access to a computer with the ability to run Unity 3D (version tbd), laptops are preferred to coordinate at meetings, but not required if you can bring your files with you.

Artworks each include one (1) 2D wall art and one (1) AR overlay specific to each artwork. 

The intent is to have one artist do the physical artwork, and one artist do the digital artwork, both working together as a collaborative project.

Originals will be sold in a silent auction during the opening reception event. If they are not sold during auction, they will be priced to sell during the two month exhibition. If it is not sold by the end of the exhibition, it will remain listed on the website and I will hold onto the original, putting it on display as possible. If not sold by the time we do this project again, I will once again put it up for auction. 

Compensation

One (1) Artist Proof of the Limited Edition Prints will be provided to each artist. 

The AR overlay will remain online for collectors as long as possible. I'm looking for perpetual solutions which might end up being a freehost site like GitHub. 

Limited Edition Reproductions will be sold during the two months of the exhibit in the gallery and online.

Artists will each receive 25% of the proceeds for each participating artwork including their respective auction(s) and print sales. 

Proceeds will be split as follows:

• 25% to the traditional artist.

• 25% to the digital artist.

• 25% to the Lexington Humane Society.

• 25% to the Purrsonalities Project.

You can help increase funding and sales by speaking to viewers during the exhibition, spreading the word of our exhibition, as well as finding sponsors and donors. We would also like to increase adoption rates for local shelters. This is timed to be during the peak kitten season, so help out our furry friends and tell everyone you know. 

Timeline

Application Deadline: January 15, 2025

Selection Notification: January 22, 2025

Artist Collaboration Begins: February 15, 2025

Creation Period: February 15–March 31, 2025 (7 weeks)

Talk & Workshop Preparations for Artists/ Event prep & printing reproductions: March 31 - April 27, 2025 (4 weeks)

Exhibit Installation: May 1, 2025

Exhibit Opening Reception: May 2, 2025

Gallery Hop: May 16, 2025

Exhibit Closes: June 30, 2025

Auction Results and Artist Payment: July 2025

Collaboration Process

Weekly group check-ins to share progress and resolve challenges. Meetings will be Sundays at 3:00 PM.

Pairs of artists will develop a physical and augmented reality test to ensure compatibility early in the process.

A collaborative plan for each pair will be established in the first week.

Reference materials (photos/videos of cats) will be provided if artists are unable to visit shelters.

Artists will also have opportunities to present their work through short talks or workshops during the exhibit.

Submission Guidelines 

Artists should submit the following:

• Links to a portfolio or examples of relevant work

• Upload Artist Resume (or a list of experience if you don't have one) and up to 9 images  (keep image sizes 10MB or smaller. Search online for, "tips for reducing image size without losing quality" if you're having trouble.) 

• Artist statement and short bio (this will be used on our website later.)

• Indicate whether applying as a traditional or digital artist (or both if you can and want to do both).

• If applying individually, state whether you’d like assistance finding a collaborator. If with a partner, make sure to include information for each participant.

• Provide a brief statement of interest, highlighting how you’d approach the project. This doesn't have to be complicated, just what medium you're using, ideas for how to portray cat purrsonalities, what you think your style will be, etc. This will help me ask questions to make sure what you want to do will work with the tech etc. 

Submit application using the form below.

Submission Deadline: January 15, 2025 11:59 PM Eastern Time (ET)

Legal and Usage

Artists retain full copyright to their work. Submitted works may be displayed publicly and online to promote the event and future editions of Purrsonalities.

Join us in this creative effort to showcase Lexington’s adoptable cats and bring art and technology together for a cause. We look forward to seeing your submissions!

For questions or additional information, contact: Shylo Silvenar email: shylo@silvenar.com