Summer 2025

Exhibition Location: Creative Philadelphia Art Gallery, Room 116 & Office of Councilmember Rue Landau, Room 592

Deadline for submissions: May 25, 2025

For Pride Month 2025, Councilmember Rue Landau and Creative Philadelphia issue a Call for Art, an invite to LGBTQ+ artists to submit work for a special Art In City Hall exhibition in Creative Philadelphia’s Art Gallery and the Councilmember's office. 

Theme

Portraits of Pride and Resilience will center on portraiture as an act of radical visibility - a direct counterpoint to historical erasure and a celebration of storytelling through self-representation. Artists are encouraged to creatively interpret the theme, exploring identity, resilience, and presence in a world that has often sought to silence and erase LGBTQ+ lives. Select works will also be displayed in the councilmember’s 5th floor office. 

 This call is open to all mediums.

Jurors:

Joining Tu Huynh, Creative Philadelphia's Curator of Exhibitions and Programs, will be:

Lauren Rinaldi, the Arts & Culture Liaison for the Office of Councilmember Rue Landau, and Guest Juror, Symone Salib.

Lauren Rinaldi (b. 1983, Brooklyn, NY) is an American artist living and working in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Temple's Tyler School of Art and has exhibited her work in solo shows at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia, and extensively in group shows throughout the United States. In addition to her role in Councilmember Rue Landau's office as the Arts and Culture Liaison, she is a community activist and has served as a Democratic Ward Leader and Committee Person since 2018.

Symone Salib is a first-generation Cuban / Egyptian muralist, illustrator, and trauma-informed educator whose art centers on the storytelling of community members through large-scale public installations. Strongly rooted in portraiture, her work envisions a world of radical possibilities where equality and justice are at the center. By focusing on the voices and faces of marginalized communities, Symone uses her art to uplift and amplify those who are often overlooked.
 

 About Councilmember Rue Landau I At-Large

Rue Landau is a civil rights and housing attorney, a public school parent and the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Philadelphia City Council. She has spent her entire career fighting for social justice and equity for Philadelphia’s most vulnerable communities.  She has been an At-Large Councilmember since 2023.

For more information about Councilmember Landau, please visit: PhlCouncil.com/RueLandau. 

Francis J Myers Recreation Center
Project Budget: $160,000
 

• Read and Download the Call for Artists
• Questions about the application should be sent to paige.phillips@phila.gov

Project Overview: 

Creative Philadelphia (formerly the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy) and Rebuild announce a competition to commission site-specific, permanent, public artworks to be installed at Francis J. Myers Recreation Center (5801 Kingsessing Ave), which is located in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia. This public art commission is possible through the City's Percent for Art program and is part of a major Rebuild construction project that will include interior and exterior upgrades, a new addition to the recreation center building, and outdoor site improvements.
 

This Percent for Art commission will provide an opportunity for an artist or a team of artists to create two complementary mosaic artworks. A prominent mosaic piece will be located on the exterior of the building’s new addition. A second piece will be placed at the center’s new interior entryway. See pages 3-4 for more details about the artworks requested for the site. 

All interested artists are invited to apply for this public art commission. Priority will be given to artists who reflect the diversity of the Kingsessing community. We strongly encourage applications from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and women artists. Local artists who live or work near the Francis J. Myers Recreation Center will also receive priority consideration. In addition, we encourage collaborative proposals that draw on a range of artistic practices, community connections, and lived experiences. However, artists from all backgrounds and locations are welcome to apply. 

This is a two-part competition consisting of Part 1: Submission of Qualifications and Part 2: Finalist Proposals. In Part 1, interested artists are invited to apply by submitting materials that demonstrate their qualifications only; no design proposals should be submitted at this stage. Based on these submissions, four (4) finalists will be selected to move on to Part 2 of the competition. Each finalist will receive a $1,000 stipend to develop a detailed design proposal for the Francis J. Myers Recreation Center’s public art opportunity. 

 
Public input and participation will be vital to ensuring the voices of the community are strongly reflected in the development of the artwork. Community engagement opportunities will allow the finalists to hear directly from members of the public about their ideas and aspirations for this project and what stories the artwork should tell. Finalists will be encouraged to align their proposals with input provided by the community during events led by Creative Philadelphia and, if selected as the winning artist, be expected to propose artist-led engagement.  

A total budget of up to $160,000 has been allocated for this Percent for Art commission. This sum is inclusive of all artist(s) fees, insurance, drawings, renderings, models, fabrication, installation, engineering, lighting, structure, wall prep, travel, artist-led community engagement, and all other project related expenses to support the creation and installation of the artwork. 

View the Call for Artists for full details
View Sample Percent for Art Semi-Finalist Terms of Agreement
View Sample Public Art Contract

Technical Questions?
                              Check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.

Application Questions?
                              Contact paige.phillips@phila.gov

What is Art in City Hall

Creative Philadelphia's Art In City Hall exhibition program invites Philadelphia’s cultural community to present proposals to exhibit art in display cases in the public corridors of historic City Hall.

Art in City Hall is an exhibits program that transforms the public corridors of City Hall into a platform for the arts. It provides an opportunity for Philadelphia’s diverse cultural organizations  to present their artistic expressions and utilize the visual arts to amplify community voices, foster healing and community dialogue in the most important civic building in the city – The People’s Building. The program is committed to presenting a wide range of ideas and artistic explorations to showcase the important role the arts play in our communities.

Eligibility

Local nonprofits, art programs, and cultural organizations are invited to submit proposals. Collaborations between organizations and other partners, such as with local schools are welcomed, but one organization needs to lead the application process. Artists do not have to live in Philadelphia but including artists from the region is strongly encouraged. Artists can be self-taught or professionally trained.

At this time, we do not present solo exhibitions and encourage the organizations to select enough artists to utilize all the display cases in City Hall.

Exhibition Locations

15 exhibit display cases are located on the First through Fourth Floors of City Hall near the offices of the Mayor, City Council, and City Council Chambers.

Exhibition Dates

There are four exhibit opportunities year round. The calendar is usually booked up to six months or more in advance.

• May – July
• August – October
• November – January
• February - April

Exhibition Installation and Programming

Participating organizations are expected to deliver and install the exhibition and supply all exhibition hardware and printed materials. They are also expected to plan ONE educational program that complements the exhibition. OACCE may assist the partner organizations in the development and coordination of the exhibit programming, but the organization is responsible for all expenses for the events.

City Hall Hours

City Hall is open to the public Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and closed on weekends and holidays. Visitors must sign in at the Northeast corner Visitor’s Entrance, have personal belongings checked, and follow COVID protocols.