Art-Based Open Calls Comparison
A review of public art opportunities, analyzed according to accessibility, eligibility, application design and applicant support. Each factor is marked Yes, Partial or No across every call, with coverage rates aggregated by category.
What do access and accessibility mean?
What are access guidelines?
Access guidelines are practical handbooks for removing barriers. Written by museums, arts councils and disability-led organizations, they turn accessibility law and universal design into concrete, checkable practices that cover the building, the artwork, the events around it, and every word an audience reads.
Local and International Organizations
Sample guide: A Promise and a Practice
Four categories
The audit at a glance
Venue
Most widely recommended practices · each dot is one of the 12 access guides reviewed.
Presenting Artwork
Most widely recommended practices · each dot is one of the 12 access guides reviewed.
Programming
Most widely recommended practices · each dot is one of the 12 access guides reviewed.
Communication and Marketing
Most widely recommended practices · each dot is one of the 12 access guides reviewed.
Rarely Mentioned
Explore the data yourself
Scan to explore
Filter by category, search practices, and compare all 12 reference guides.
What are open calls?
An open call is a public invitation to artists. An organization announces an opportunity, such as an exhibition, commission, residency or festival, and anyone who fits the criteria can apply. For many artists it is the front door to an organization, and how the call is written decides who can get through it.
Why open calls exist
At their core, open calls are a tool for inclusion. Their purpose is to create opportunities that are publicly accessible to anyone who is interested and eligible, rather than relying on private networks, personal connections, or invitations behind closed doors. Instead of opportunities circulating only among those who already know the right people, open calls make participation visible and available to a broader community.
Local and International Organizations
Most commonly provided
Highest coverage across all open calls reviewed · % of calls that include each factor
Rarely provided
What accessibility-related information was covered
Calls order
Explore the open calls yourself
Scan to explore
Browse 31 open calls across Performance, Visual Arts, and Residency categories.
Key findings
Coverage map
Every factor as a tile, grouped by section and shaded by how many calls provide it. Hover to lift a tile; click to expand it into its definition and full per-call breakdown.
Full comparison matrix
Based at the University of Alberta, the Co-Designing a Smartwear Revolution project seeks artworks, fashion creations and performances for a 2028 festival around the theme of SUPPORT.
Co-Designing a Smartwear Revolution is an international research project led by the University of Alberta and funded by Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund. Through collaborations between researchers, artists, designers, technologists, and People with Lived Experience (PLEX), the project explores the creative and social possibilities of smartwear technologies and intelligent fibres designed to support movement, care, and everyday life. With sensing, actuating, and battery-power capabilities built directly into the fabric, the Smartwear Revolution project aims to adapt clothing stiffness and shape to provide physical support and movement augmentation as needed. These smartwear fibres incorporate intelligent technologies that identify user intent and dynamically adjust the fabric’s properties to support trunk, arm, and leg movements during daily activities such as self-care, reaching, and carrying loads.
We invite artists to creatively engage with some of the specific technical questions the research teams are currently encountering, such as:
- How is trunk support defined?
- How and where should smartwear be anchored on the body?
- How should recharging smart garments work?
- How can assistive technologies be created without generating a loss of agency in the user and AI rage?
In addition to addressing specific technical complexities, we also invite artists to engage with the theme of Support more broadly. Within the context of smartwear and assistive technologies, support is often understood as something that helps movement, access, safety, communication, or participation. At the same time, support is not a fixed or universal idea; it is shaped by relationships, systems, values, and the diverse experiences of those who use and create it. Support comes in different textures and temporalities. Support shapes everyday life in many different ways: through people, environments, objects, technologies, routines, and forms of care. It can be physical, emotional, social, cultural, or technological, intentionally designed or developed through lived experience and adaptation.
We invite artists, performers and designers to engage with the concept of support in its many forms and meanings.
What is the Smartwear Revolution project
Co-Designing a Smartwear Revolution is an international research project led by the University of Alberta and funded by Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund. Through collaborations between researchers, artists, designers, technologists, and People with Lived Experience, the project explores the creative and social possibilities of smartwear technologies and aims to develop intelligent fibres designed to support movement, care, and everyday life.
The overall goal of the Smartwear Revolution project is to develop a “smart” fabric that can learn to respond and support mobility for people with muscle weakness, including disabled people, aging folks, caregivers and healthcare workers. This is technology that is intended to be as accessible as the clothes in one’s closet. The project involves over 100 different researchers working with sensors, actuators, AI technologies, textile science, clinical and healthcare contexts, robotics, design tools, rehabilitation medicine, biomechanics, power systems and batteries, as well as arts and social justice researchers. For information about the technical aspects of the project, as well as the PLEX engagement activities, see the project website. link
Below, we explain the context for this festival, who is eligible to apply, possible formats for making work, what to expect in the application process, and ways to ask for assistance should you need it. We look forward to reading your proposal!
The festival
In order to spark conversation, critique and co-design with the communities that our smart garments aim to serve, the Smartwear Revolution’s Art & Design Working Group is organizing two international art and technology festivals. The first of these, around the overarching theme of SUPPORT, is slated for 2028, and will likely feature exhibitions, dance or theatre performances, live dress or fashion events, creative research presentations, open lab activities, and public discussions. All festival activities will be hybrid, existing in both in-person and online formats. A second festival, with a theme to be decided, is planned for 2031.
What are the fees and what support is available?
All featured artists will receive recommended CARFAC/CADA fees for their work. In some cases, like commissions and artist residencies, additional production and material fees may be offered. Other resources, like rehearsal space, studio space, or facilities may be available. More information can be found here. link
As this project is being administered by the University of Alberta, all artists will have to be registered as suppliers to the university and submit invoices for payments after the initial honorarium. We have a team that will help you navigate this process and ensure that payments do not conflict with disability support programs.
Who is eligible to apply?
We are particularly interested in applicants with lived or professional experience related to muscular and skeletal weakness, aging, caregiving, rehabilitation, mobility, chronic illness, and healthcare. This includes, but is not limited to, older adults, healthcare practitioners, caregivers, and people with lived experience of disability or chronic illness. We welcome applications from artists and artist-researchers of all abilities whose work engages with the themes of this project.
Applicants should be able to demonstrate past experience in artmaking, design or performance and will be asked to demonstrate previous creative experience relevant to their application.
Although we look forward to working with some local artists, applicants need not be physically present. There are no restrictions in terms of nationality, geographical location, age, gender, sexuality, religion, or physical and intellectual disability. Student artists, artist collaborators, collectives and organizations are welcome to apply, though honoraria may differ in some situations.
What we are looking for
We are open to a range of creative activities in response to the Support theme and the Smartwear Revolution project. We envision curating:
- An exhibition of artworks
- A series of live performances (art performance, dance, theatre)
- A live dress/fashion event to showcase 3–4 capsule collections (a collection of 3 garments)
As the festivals will be hybrid, all works must be able to exist in both the real and virtual spaces. We are happy to assist with this translation.
Possible formats for your proposals
We are interested in proposals to include works that have already been made, works-in-progress, and new work. We strongly encourage artists to engage with the research team and can facilitate meetings and lab tours (either virtual or in person). For more information on the labs and technologies that you could work with, please feel free to contact us.
The festival will be hosted across multiple sites across the University of Alberta including UCommons, FAB Gallery, Gallery A, Sound Studies Institute Sound Arts Gallery, McMullen Art Gallery and the Timms Centre for the Arts. More information about the venues can be found here. link There are opportunities for solo and group exhibitions. Our hope is to fit the festivals to the works submitted, not to fit the works to the festivals.
We are also facilitating two artistic residencies in Spring 2027, where artists will engage with one or more of the laboratories, technologies and research methods in our Smartwear Revolution project, and make work in response to these engagements. artist-in-residence call link
We are committed to hybrid access to all artworks, performance and fashion events, and look forward to collaborating with makers to devise exciting ways for artworks to exist online.
What to expect if you apply
The application process is in two stages. The first stage is this Expression of Interest (EOI), where you tell us about yourself and your practice, and pitch ideas about a possible project you’d like to propose. This is meant to be fairly simple and not overly detailed or labor-intensive. We welcome submissions in alternate formats including audio/video recordings or interviews. We will host information sessions to explain the EOI process and answer questions and will be available to provide support and accommodate needs of potential applicants.
If your EOI is selected to move to stage two, we will meet with you to discuss your ideas either virtually or in person, and ask you to complete a longer and more detailed application, where you will specify what you intend to make or contribute. We will provide a small honorarium or gift card if preferable, to those who complete the full application.
Once artists have been confirmed, we will offer support and mentorship with the creation of the works and preparation for both in person and online presentations at the 2028 festival. As the project is being hosted by an academic institution, artists will have to register as suppliers to the University of Alberta and submit invoices. Artists will also be expected to supply artist statements, images of work in progress and be open to contributing to the festival website and catalogue.
Timelines
EOIs are due on 15th December 2026 and will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary committee from the Smartwear Revolution team and external community members. Successful EOIs will be announced on 15th January with full applications due 15th February and results announced 15th March.
We will accept EOIs after these dates, but due to the complexity of contracts we cannot guarantee inclusion in the 2028 festival.
How to get help with your application
We welcome Expressions of Interest in any format that works best for you, including written text, audio or video recordings, or a live interview with a member of our team. If you would like to submit in an alternative format, please contact us and we will be happy to make arrangements.
- If you want assistance completing the Expression of Interest, please contact us contact details or attend one of our info sessions.
- If you have questions or would like to consult with a staff member, please contact us. contact details
Your input shapes our commitment to accessibility
Look at our Open Calls Draft and share your thoughts with us
- 01
What additional information would you need at this first stage of the call to feel confident enough to apply?
- 02
How do you feel about the Expression of Interest (EOI) format as a first step? Does it make the application process more accessible?
- 03
Is there any information you felt was unnecessary or overwhelming to include at this stage?
- 04
What other accessibility features or tools would you like to see added to this platform?