Rethinking the Impact of Art - Clima ARTivists Wanted!

We are looking for projects that address the issue of art's effect on the climate in terms of content (thematic) or form (working methods, production processes, etc.), develop solutions to climate change, and actively involve a community.

At the time of the Spotlight submission, the project must not have been realized or published.

The winners of the Pitch Night will receive at least 15,000 Swiss francs, and a total of 175,000 Swiss francs in prize money is available as part of Clima Now Spotlight 2022. In addition, an audience prize of 15,000 Swiss francs will be awarded.

Projects receiving grant funding commit to participate in the support program. Additional places will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.

The supported projects must be realized by the Long Night of Zurich Museums 2023. In order to involve the community even more in the process and to draw even more attention to the climate issue, we plan to auction the realized art projects at a gala event for the climate (with a participation for the artists*).

The projects must be open to the public. By "active involvement" we mean participation that goes beyond mere viewing or listening. We are looking for projects that are either created in dialogue with the community, involve them during production/design and/or ensure active participation after completion.

By this we mean what your project/idea does for the climate and, further, how you measure and verify this impact.
In this context, the question of scalability/expansion/development arises, i.e. how the impact of your project can be multiplied or increased.

Projects are submitted exclusively via the Clima Now Spotlight website. Deadline for submission is 27 July 2022 12:00 CEST.

Only legal entities, natural persons capable of acting or natural persons with limited capacity to act who act with the consent of their legal representatives and who are domiciled in Switzerland are eligible as project initiators (individuals, groups, collaborations). The minimum age of project initiators is 18 years.

Art is understood at Clima Now Spotlight 2022 as:

Visual arts: painting, sculpture, drawing, graphics, arts and crafts, sculpture/sculpture, media art, digital art, conceptual art, film/video.

Applied arts: architecture, photography

Performing arts: theater, dance, performance, nouveau cirque

Literature: poetry, essay, novels, slam poetry, comics, graphic novels, children's and youth books

Music: classical music, pop music, rock music, hip-hop, etc.

Not the focus of art at Clima Now Spotlight 2022:

(fashion) design

Projects by (art) institutions

Projects related to the (art) value chain (e.g. transportation, etc.)

Formal criteria

Residence/age: Residence in Switzerland, at least 18 years old

Compliance: does the project contain discriminatory or illegal content?

Data: Has the application form been filled out completely? Does the video last a maximum of 2 minutes? Has the canvas been filled out completely? Has the Canvas template been used?

Idea: Is the project not yet realized / existing / published?

Community: Is the community aspect covered? Is the project open to the public?

The following projects are not supported:

Projects with discriminatory or illegal content

Projects that are greenwashing (suggested environmentally friendly image without basis)

Projects from political parties or groups

1. Clima Now: Checking the formal criteria.
After the submission deadline, Clima Now checks whether an application meets the formal criteria. (Described under "Who is eligible to apply? (formal criteria)")

2. Jury: Evaluation of the content criteria
All formally correct applications are assessed by the jury in terms of content. The jury will judge the project application based on the following questions (content criteria), although these do not all have to be answered at the same time:
Content criteria:
- Impact: How effective is the project for the climate?
- Potential to unfold: How well can the impact unfold, scale, spread, or multiply?
- Persistence: What is the chance that the project will endure and persist after Clima Now funding?
- NOW Factor: Does the solution develop its first impact in just one year?
- Community: To what extent is a community actively involved and activated in the project?
- Art: How is the artistic quality to be assessed? What is the social relevance of the project? Is the project innovative?

The 30 projects that received the best rating from the jury will be publicly presented on the "Wall of Fame". There they will be publicly evaluated during the two-week Public Voting. The seven projects with the most votes will present themselves on stage at the Spotlight Pitch Night.

1 June 2022: Start of entry period

27 Jul 2022: End of entry period (12:00 CEST)

26 Aug 2022: Communication jury decision

3 September 2022: Start of online voting

17 Sep 2022: End of online voting (12:00 CEST)

19 Sep 2022: Communication results online voting

26 - 28 September 2022: Rehearsal pitch presentation of the 7 finalists (at Clima Now offices or online)

29 September 2022: Submission of final slides for Pitch Night

6 October 2022: Spotlight Pitch Night (schwarzescafé @ LUMA Westbau)

January 2023 onwards: Start support program

Until September 2023: Realization of the projects until Long Night of Zurich Museums 2023, Gala & Auction of the realized projects for the climate (incl. participation of the artists)