ANNUAL HAIKU CONTEST

SJCC's 6th Annual Haiku Contest is now OPEN to St. Johns County students and residents!

This year's theme honors America's 250th anniversary. With St. Johns County being home to the Oldest City, participants of all ages are encouraged to consider what freedom, responsibility, and belonging mean to them through the lens of history, art, culture, heritage, and the landscapes that shape our nation.

We've also added a NEW category for college students! A selection committee will now choose FOUR First Place haiku, one each group:

Students aged 8 – 12
Students aged 13 – 17
College students aged 18+
Adults aged 18+

Submit up to three haiku by February 28th. Click here to learn more.

LOCAL CALLS & OPPORTUNITIES

JOB OPPORTUNITY: Development Director (part-time)

First Coast Opera is seeking a part-time Development Director to plan, oversee, and execute an annual Development Plan to support company-contributed income goals. Experience with non-profit fundraising and direct donor solicitation is strongly preferred. Experience with or interest in the performing arts is desirable. See the full description and apply here.

VENDOR CALL: Spring Artisan Festival

First Coast Cultural Center is accepting applications from artisans interested in selling their handmade goods at their Spring Artisan Festival.

AUDITIONS: Limelight Theatre
March 4 at 10 AM

Limelight Theatre will hold auditions for Once on This Island, a one-act musical based on Rosa Guy's novel My Love, My Love and a Caribbean retelling of The Little Mermaid.

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

CALL TO ARTISTS: Florida State University
DEADLINE: February 27

Florida State University (FSU) invites professional 2D and 3D artists to submit permanent public art proposals for the Legacy Hall Art in State Buildings Project. With its modern architecture and advanced resources, Legacy Hall serves as a hub for academic excellence and a catalyst for cultivating the next generation of business leaders. 

This project has a $100,000 total budget, with selected artists receiving commissions for work designed to enhance high-traffic interior spaces.

Underwater Sculpture Garden
DEADLINE: March 3

The City of Pompano Beach seeks to commission an artist/artist team for a work-for-hire project to design and fabricate a sculpture to be displayed at the beach for one year. After a year, it will be submerged in the ocean and attached to Lady Luck in Shipwreck Park. It will be the selected artist’s responsibility to work with South Florida Diving Headquarters to sink and attach the sculpture.

CALL FOR ART: Dreamscaping
DEADLINE: March 4

Alliance for the Arts invites artists working in all media to submit their work for an upcoming curated exhibition that explores the theme of dreamscapes at the Alliance’s Member Gallery. Whether surreal, abstract, or non-objective, artworks should highlight the blurred barriers between reality and dreams. 

Miami Founders Monument at Bayfront Park
DEADLINE: March 4

The City of Miami is holding a national call for artists for a permanent public artwork to be installed in Downtown Miami. This RFQ commemorates the City’s incorporation in 1896 and the documented collaboration between Black and white incorporators.
Historical records document the names and racial identities of all incorporators, with approximately 44% of recorded ballots cast by Black citizens.

With an all-inclusive budget of $210,000, the selected artist or team will create a work that invites reflection on civic participation, shared authorship, and the formation of Miami as a city, while remaining accessible, durable, and appropriate for a prominent public park setting.

The James Jones Literary Society First Novel Fellowship
DEADLINE: March 15

The James Jones First Novel Fellowship, in the amount of $12,000, is awarded annually to an American writer of a novel-in-progress who has not previously published a novel.

Artist Creative Practice Grants
DEADLINE: April 30

South Arts is offering grants up to $3,000 to support individual artists in taking advantage of a variety of professional development opportunities, including milestone activities in an artist's career that are likely to lead to substantial growth.

Creative Learning Lab
February through May

South Arts hosts free professional development workshops for creatives that respond to the evolving needs of the field, providing practical tools, insights, and industry best practices. Every webinar takes place on the second Thursday of each month, from 1:00-2:30 PM EST. Recorded sessions are also available.

Guggenheim Fellowship
DEADLINE: Rolling

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation offers fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.

Creative Capital Artist Lab
DEADLINE: None

This new online professional development curriculum is designed to help artists build thriving practices at any career stage and in any discipline. Free for individual use, courses are created by art professionals, industry experts, and fellow artists who share vital concepts, skills, and tools to help grow artists’ careers—including courses on crafting artist statements, grant proposals, managing multiple income streams, and more.

This arts and culture newsletter is funded in part by the organizations listed below and through the generous support of our stakeholders.