CT State Housatonic - Art in Public Spaces Call for Art
Budget: up to $275,000 is available to purchase a wide range of artwork by several artists.
Submission Deadline: 11:59pm ET on December 15, 2026
Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis as soon as entries are received. Artists are encouraged to submit early as artwork will be selected and purchasing will begin during the application submission period.
About the Housatonic Museum of Art
Through access to art, the Housatonic Museum of Art promotes engagement, connection, and opportunities for our local community to find daily inspiration. The Museum accomplishes these goals in a few ways. They offer students, faculty, and staff daily access to world-class artworks from a permanent collection of over 7,000 pieces throughout the entire CT State Housatonic Campus. Secondly, they collaborate with members of the community to develop a robust exhibition program with a particular focus on local and regional artists that reflect the student demographic. Thirdly, they partner with organizations whose values align, such as Catalyst CT, to provide art making and exhibition opportunities to young artists. Finally, the Museum connects with the campus community by offering exhibition-related programming, professional development opportunities for students, and extracurricular options like Art Club. They believe that community college art museums and galleries are critical to the creative fabric of a community and the future generation of creatives.
About Beacon Hall
Beacon Hall, which opened in 2008 as the second building on the CT State Housatonic campus in downtown Bridgeport, stands as a landmark investment in accessible, community-centered higher education. The 174,000 square-foot, three-story facility was designed by Perkins Eastman to serve as a dynamic hub for academic and community life, housing expanded classrooms, a computer lab, a bookstore, and a celebrated collection of over 7,000 works of art integrated throughout the building — a unique "learning signature" that reflects the college's deep commitment to arts and culture.
Built with sustainability at its core, Beacon Hall earned LEED Silver Certification, underscoring its focus on energy efficiency and responsible stewardship of resources. As a cornerstone of CT State Housatonic's downtown presence, Beacon Hall continues to provide a welcoming, flexible, and enriching environment that supports students from across Southwestern Connecticut — many of whom are first-generation college students — while strengthening the college's vital partnerships with the surrounding Bridgeport community.
Project Description
The public art committee for the Housatonic project is interested in purchasing artwork from multiple artists that fit the mission and core values of the Housatonic Museum of Art and CT State Community College Housatonic.
The project can best accommodate two-dimensional art within the interior of the building such as paintings, digital art, and other works of art that arenot light-sensitive (i.e.,works on paper and certain textiles). The goal is to retain the artworks in place for an extended duration at the discretion of the HMA staff. Therefore, we are limited in our consideration of light-sensitive works that may fade with long light exposure.
The Housatonic Museum of Art will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2027. The artwork selected for Beacon Hall will be part of this important anniversary for the museum. As such, we are looking for artworks that connect to our existing collection, the college curriculum, and the Bridgeport and Fairfield County communities. We are looking for artwork that will expand the collection into the 21st century and beyond.
The committee has outlined several qualities and characteristics they hope to achieve through these acquisitions. Artworks with two or more of these characteristics are strongly encouraged:
- Extends the Housatonic Museum of Art Collection into the 21st century, especially through digital art, experimental processes, and forward-thinking frameworks.
- Serves as a teaching tool for CT State Housatonic programs
- Represents experiences of the Bridgeport and Fairfield County communities
- Creates a pleasing environment that encourages a positive and welcoming experience
- Promotes community collaboration, especially with students, faculty and staff on campus
Eligibility Criteria
Regional artists may submit up to six (6) images of works of art that are currently available for purchase. The Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) is accepting submissions electronically through the Call for Entry site and submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Artists must be able to complete a W9 and enter into a contract with the State of Connecticut for the purchase of the artwork. Contracts can only be administered with an artist. Contracts cannot be issued with a gallery representing the artist, an estate, a non-profit, etc.
Artists from the following counties may submit art for consideration.
- Connecticut - all counties
- New York - Westchester, Bronx, New York, Queens, Kings, Nassau, Richmond, Rockland, Putnam, and Suffolk
- New Jersey - Bergen, Hudson
Application Requirements
Artists interested in this project must submit a portfolio of up to six (6) available works of art for consideration through the Call for Entry online portal.
The selection committee will review submissions on a rolling basis and will begin the review soon after the Call for Art is posted. The goal is to acquire a wide range of artwork. COA will contact artists who are selected by the committee for further review and consideration and additional artworks may be requested and reviewed.
Artwork does not need to be framed to be consider for purchase. Please provide us with the framing status of each piece submitted.
Additional Notes - Artists may submit up to 6 works of art for consideration. Artists are not required to 'hold' these pieces. We do not want you to miss out on other opportunities for the sale of your work. The committee has been made aware that submitted artwork may be available for sale or exhibit elsewhere. If a submitted artwork is no longer available then please send an email to tamara.dimitri@ct.gov so we can remove it from the review. We will move through the review as quickly as possible, but we anticipate a rolling review over a few months.
How to use Artwork Archive
Artists can use Artwork Archive to submit a Call for Entry at no cost.
Link to a resource on how to set up a free account.
Link to a resource for artists with existing Artwork Archive accounts.
Contact
For questions about this Call for Art, email Tamara Dimitri at tamara.dimitri@ct.gov
FAQs
COA will provide FAQs to common questions about this Call for Art on an ongoing basis. Feel free to reach out to Tamara Dimitri if you have a question and/or revisit this page for future FAQs.
Rules and Terms
PAYMENT
The Artist shall submit a billing/invoice on his/her letterhead to DECD. The State will process the invoice and make payment to the Artist approximately thirty (30) days after the Work of Art has been inspected by DECD or its duly authorized representative and determined to be satisfactory, and picked up by DECD or its designated transportation contractor. Payments are issued as a check by mail or direct deposit.
WARRANTIES
The Artist warrants that: (a) the Work of Art is solely the result of the artistic effort of the Artist; (b) the Work of Art is unique and original and does not infringe upon any copyright; (c) the Work of Art is an edition of one (1); (d) the Work of Art, or duplicate thereof, has not been accepted for sale elsewhere; (e) the Work of Art is free and clear of any encumbrances from any source whatever; and (f) the Work of Art will be free from faults of material and workmanship for a period of twenty-four months (24) months after payment by the State.
REPRODUCTION
The Artist hereby reserves all rights to graphically reproduce the Work of Art, but shall not unreasonably refuse the State permission to graphically reproduce it. The Artist also reserves all rights under any copyright laws to which the Work of Art may be subject.
Notwithstanding the above, the State shall have the right to graphically reproduce the Work of Art for brochure, newsletters, or other media as produced and distributed by the State. When reasonably possible, any graphically reproduced images used by the State will include a credit line stating the name of the artist(s) and title of the Work of Art.
It is hereby agreed that the Artist will not reproduce the Work of Art in like manner.
Note: The term "reproduce" as mentioned above refers to the creation of an exact copy of the artwork. The term "graphically reproduce" refers to images of the art used for promotional purposes. Artwork may be part of an edition as long as the art is assigned a unique edition number.