Signs of Unity | DESIGN ONLY CALL TO ARTISTS
Release Date: Friday, April 3rd, 2026
Design Stipend: $4,000 (in addition to three finalist honoraria of $500 each)
Deadline: Tuesday, April 14th , 2026 at 11:59 pm
Eligibility: Artists living and working in the Memphis metropolitan area (priority given to artists with ties to Uptown/Greenlaw/North Memphis).
BACKGROUND
Since 1983, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis has worked to expand access to affordable homeownership across Memphis and Shelby County. Through new home construction, critical repairs, and neighborhood revitalization efforts, Habitat continues to invest in long-term stability and community wellbeing.
As part of its ongoing neighborhood engagement, Habitat is partnering with UrbanArt Commission (UAC) to support a community-based public art initiative in the Uptown neighborhood.
Uptown—also known historically as Greenlaw—is one of Memphis’ oldest neighborhoods. Since the mid-1800s, it has been shaped by waves of cultural, economic, and social change. From a hub of immigrant-owned businesses to a center of Black leadership and community resilience, Uptown reflects the evolving story of Memphis itself. Today, it remains a place of strong identity, pride, and continued reinvestment.
About UAC:
The UrbanArt Commission (UAC) works to create opportunities for artists and neighborhoods to connect and shape spaces through public art. Since 2002, UAC has managed the City of Memphis’s Percent-For-Art Program, which allocates funds annually to develop public art in connection to capital improvement projects. UAC also facilitates public art projects throughout the city working with various partners and clients to support artists and new experiences with art.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Project Title: Signs of Unity: Uptown Flag Project
UrbanArt Commission, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, seeks to commission one artist or artist team to develop a design for a series of garden flags that will serve as visual markers of identity, belonging, and connection throughout the Uptown neighborhood.
This is a design-only call. The selected artist will create the final design, while fabrication and distribution will be managed by the project team.
The final flags will be distributed to residents through community events and neighborhood association meetings, creating a visible network of shared identity across Uptown.
SCOPE OF WORK
The selected artist will:
Develop a final, production-ready design for garden flags
Provide color specifications and digital files suitable for fabrication
Create a design that:
Reflects shared identity, history, and future aspirations of Uptown
Serves as a recognizable and repeatable visual marker
Is accessible, legible, and scalable across multiple placements
Submit a brief narrative describing:
Concept and inspiration
Connection to neighborhood identity
Any community-informed elements (if applicable)
Note: UAC and Habitat will coordinate fabrication, installation, and distribution.
The selection committee is interested in proposals that:
Reflect community pride, connection, and belonging
Incorporate place-based storytelling tied to Uptown/Greenlaw
Balance visual simplicity with strong identity (important for repetition across many homes)
Feel welcoming, inclusive, and representative of a multi-generational community
Can function both as individual artwork and as a collective visual system across the neighborhood
FINALIST REQUIREMENTS
UAC will convene a selection committee that may include:
Community stakeholders
Habitat for Humanity representatives
Local artists or arts professionals
Neighborhood leadership
Each of the three finalists will be asked to prepare a schematic design or mockup, followed by a presentation to the selection committee. Each finalist will receive a $500 honorarium for an original design developed specifically for the site.
DESIGN FEES
One artist will receive up to a $4,000 design stipend for commissioned artwork with final fabrication costs handled by UAC and Habit.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT(optional but encouraged):
Artists are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Uptown community by:
Attending local meetings (e.g., Uptown Joint Agency meetings)
Reviewing neighborhood planning materials
Visiting the area and observing existing visual identity and infrastructure
PROJECT TIMELINE
Deadline to apply: April 14th, 2026
Finalists notified by: April 17th, 2026
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
Please submit the following materials online by following the button at the bottom of the page:
Completed application form
A typed letter explaining your interest in the project and your general approach/concept to its design and production. Please do not submit design proposals at this point.
Up to 20 images of past work including title of work, date, medium, budget and project partners, if any.
Resume or CV, not to exceed 2 pages.
List of three professional references, including current phone and email.
To apply to an open Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or Request for Proposals (RFP), go to uacmem.org/calls-to-artists. Follow the Raleigh Markers link to view more details.
Clicking on the Submit button will redirect you to our Submittable page, which contains all of our current open opportunities. Click the Submit button next to the opportunity that you wish to apply for, or if you are already within an opportunity, scroll down to the Create your account / Have an account? Sign in form.
If you already have a Submittable account, click the Have an account? Sign in tab to sign in to your account.
If you don’t have an account, you must create one to apply. Create your free account by filling out the Create your account form. Fill in all information and click the Create Account and Continue button to continue with the submission process.
From there, you will be able to complete and submit your application. You can now use this account login when submitting to all future UAC opportunities. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email that confirms receipt of your full application.
DISCLAIMERS
UAC is committed to equity and inclusion in our work. People of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, differently-abled and neurodiverse persons, indigenous peoples, youth, seniors, and women are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applicants will be notified as to the status of their application. Commissioning of artists by UAC and the pursuit of all UAC activities are implemented without preference to racial or ethnic origins, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disability, or age.
UAC reserves the right to modify this solicitation and to request additional information from participating artists.
UAC reserves the right to accept or reject, at any time prior to the commissioning of a work, any or all proposals when the acceptance, rejection, waiver or advertisement would be in the best interest of the project.
The staff of UAC will be responsible for all correspondence and communication by and between applicants and members of selection panels. Discussion regarding these projects by and between any applicant and any member of a selection panel outside of regularly scheduled meetings during the selection process may be grounds for the disqualification of the applicant. Such determination shall be at the discretion of UAC.
