RICHMOND — 1708 Gallery’s 16th Annual InLight will take place Friday, November 3rd and Saturday, November 4, 2023 along the 200 to 400 blocks of West Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia’s downtown Arts District. InLight is 1708 Gallery’s annual two-night exhibition of light-based contemporary public art that moves to a new location each year. Past sites have included Bryan Park, Chimborazo Park, Great Shiplock Park, and the sculpture garden and grounds of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
In recent years, InLight has pushed the boundaries of its original form – a light-based media festival – to meaningfully engage notions of place and new modes of creativity and presentation in contemporary art. Reflection and Refraction honors InLight’s fifteen-year history, its roots as a light-based festival, and its present and future as a contemporary art exhibition of site-specific, multimedia works in the public sphere. Just as InLight’s form has changed and dispersed – refracted – so have the blocks surrounding 1708 Gallery. Reflection and Refraction brings InLight home to 1708 Gallery and the surrounding businesses to highlight how art continues to activate and animate one of Richmond’s main arteries and thriving areas – downtown Broad Street.
For this year’s exhibition, 1708 invites regional, national, and international artists working in all media and disciplines to submit entries that engage with and respond to Reflection and Refraction and that imagine new media and installation possibilities to honor the past, present, and future of InLight.
Artists are invited to propose projects that engage with and expand upon the histories and activities that comprise InLight, as well as Broad Street’s past, present, and future. These include the industrial, economic, and racial histories of downtown Richmond and their legacies; public transit and mobility; regional and commercial architectures and their many styles; the role of public art in the upper South; and the significance of Broad Street’s surrounding communities.
The curatorial team for InLight 2023 is especially interested in proposals that address ideas around place making and play as well gathering and dwelling. The team is likewise interested in future-thinking projects that reimagine Broad Street’s locality and its potential beyond the past and present.
Artists, Collectives, and Community Organizations are encouraged to apply.
SELECTED ARTISTS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS RECEIVE
An honorarium of $1,000 per project
Significant production and technical support
Support includes technical expertise and production equipment such as large format projectors and sound systems and/or fabrication or material assistance
Recognition and inclusion in all InLight media
SELECTED ARTISTS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS GUIDELINES
Artists are responsible for the installation and removal of artwork before and after exhibition. Additional support can be provided upon request and communication with the gallery.
Additional insurance coverage (1708 will provide basic insurance) may be required, to be determined in consultation with 1708 Gallery.
All projects must be installed in a safe manner, and abide by all by-laws, laws, and safety standards, to be assessed and evaluated in consultation with 1708 Gallery (for example, electrical wiring must meet electrical safety standards).
Artists grant permission to 1708 Gallery to reproduce entries for the purposes of publicity and education unless otherwise noted on the entry form. Please include photo credit where it differs from the artist’s name.
InLight 2023 is curated by Dr. Tiffany E. Barber and Ra-Twoine Fields.