Submit Your
Proposal

For art commissions in public-facing administrative, academic, and student spaces, work with your assigned Planning, Real Estate, and Facilities (PREF) team. PREF will ensure that proposals for commissioned art works are appropriate and fit the space and that artists and concepts are reviewed by the Public Art Team. 

Surface ideas early in your design process and include appropriate budget plans This gives everyone time to review and refine concepts before installation. For initial guidance on the role public art plays in the university’s brand, view our Brand Center Public Art guidelines. 

Once an artist has been selected, ensure that you submit your artist proposal and concepts at least two weeks prior your planning milestone.  It will be reviewed by the Public Art Team, as well as any leadership required.

We encourage faculty to sponsor short-term student, faculty, and artist-in-residence installations as part of the curriculum and commitment to creating a living lab for expression. We also encourage alumni to submit proposals. 

General requirements. All student and artist-in-residence projects for public-facing installations require a faculty lead, pre-reserved campus space (see below), and approval by the Public Art Team. Once a proposal is approved by the Public Art Team, you must inform your dean if it has not already been informed.

Proposal timing. For course-embedded projects and artist-in-residence contracts that have a public facing component, submit proposals at least two weeks before the start of the semester. Once students/residents develop their concepts, the faculty lead should submit final designs to the Public Art Team at least two weeks before installation to allow time for review and approval. Proposals from Alumni should also allow two weeks for proposal reviews. 

Exhibit timeframes. There is a limit of one exhibit/display per semester, per recognized student group, faculty member, staff member, or alumnus and a maximum display period of one month. This is to allow more requesting groups and individuals the opportunity to utilize designated campus spaces. Exhibits/displays by any one individual or group cannot be back-to-back resulting in an exhibit/display period of greater than one month. Installations requiring additional time must receive approval by the Public Art Team. 

Location selection. Temporary art works displayed in classrooms, interior halls, and academic spaces not generally accessible to the public are at the discretion of the Office of the Provost or Planning, Real Estate, and Facilities and do not need to be reviewed by the Public Art Team. All locations for other public art works must be approved by the Public Art Team. To streamline approval processes for short-term and experimental works, the university allocates several locations on its Boston campus for faculty-led student projects, artist residency installations, and works by alumni:

Boston:

Include a first and second choice location in your proposal. The Public Art Team will review and approve which location and communicate availability. If none of the designated spaces can accommodate your artwork, please suggest another—including photos and specs.  

Note: A new space reserving system is coming soon. 

Signage. Marketing oversees permanent signage for public art works, in collaboration with Planning, Real Estate, and Facilities. For short-term project showcases and installations by faculty, students, and artist residents, you must include temporary signage to provide context for the piece. The simplest way to do this on the Boston campus is to use the art attribution templated signage on file at Northeastern’s Sign Shop. Visit the Sign Shop website for ordering details and timelines. 

Send your draft attribution content to the Public Art Team for review and approval as part of your proposal or at least two weeks before submitting to the Sign Shop. 

Use the university’s approved Artist Agreement when hiring independent artists. The Public Art team provides this contract for approved artists. For design firms or artist-in-residence programs, you may use the contract that fits your project and aligns with Office of the General Counsel requirements. All contracts must be reviewed and signed by the Office of General Counsel. 

Always submit the proposal for an installation for review by the Public Art Team before signing a contract with an artist.