Forecast Public Art activates, inspires, and advocates for public art that advances justice, health, and human dignity.
Forecast supports artists, partners, and communities throughout the entire process of creating public art that advances justice, health, and human dignity. We partner with decision-makers and stakeholders on arts and cultural planning efforts, and support public artists with funding, training, and opportunities to create partnerships and advance their public art careers. We also help others find, select, curate, fund, and commission public artists. Forecast emphasizes access for artists of color, indigenous artists, and groups that are traditionally excluded.
Forecast firmly believes that culture and creativity are important drivers of creating a more just society. As one of the country’s first nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing the field of public art, we are called to advocate for and advance public art practices that advance justice, health and human dignity. We are invested in public art that plays a crucial role in creating a sense of belonging, and supporting people to realize their potential and live healthy lives.
What is public art?
Public art plays a crucial role in shaping our culturally vibrant and sustainable communities. Artists of all disciplines are treating public space as a venue for creative experimentation. Public art offers opportunities for community collaboration, for ideas to shape our environment, and to influence change. The definition is always expanding — performance art, interventions, land art, and wrapped buildings are just some examples — and artists are redefining public art every day.
The Change Lab National Research Fellowships aim to produce new research, data, reporting, and suggestions to advance justice, health, and human dignity in the field of public art in the United States. Fellows will be thought partners informing Forecast’s work conducting research and providing recommendations that will inform public art policies and practices in the United States and Native Nations that share the same geography.
The Civic Engagement Research Fellow will articulate how artists are renewing civic life by using public art to foster connection, knowledge, and change, especially for historically excluded communities. The resulting report will contribute to a national public art policy platform, rooted in justice, human dignity, and democratic vitality.
Our goal is to collectively develop a national public art policy platform that is rooted in justice, health and human dignity for Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.
Fellows will work from their home base and can be located anywhere. A working knowledge of public art and some experience with research in civic engagement will be important. Research Fellows will have access to Forecast staff and our published resources. The application for our Civic Engagement Research Fellow art is open now. The application deadline is July 13, 2025, at 11:59pm CT.
The fellowship will begin August 1, 2025.
The Fellowship entails:
- Focused Research: The Fellowship will be centered on the critical topic of civic engagement and its intersection with public art.
- National Policy Platform: Research from the Fellowship will include recommendations on how to address civic engagement in public art policy. The Fellow’s research findings will contribute to the development of a national public art policy platform that prioritizes justice, health, and human dignity for historically marginalized communities.
- Model of Change: The final report created during the Fellowship will become a model for shaping the future of public art programs and policies, with a focus on equity and sustainability.
Over a 6-month period (200 hours total), the selected Fellow will:
- Conduct in-depth research into the intersections of public art, civic life, and democracy-building
- Investigate how artists are building civic infrastructure such as tools, spaces, relationships, and systems that help people participate more fully in public life
- Develop a public-facing report that shares research findings, insights, and recommendations for public art policies and programs across the country
- Influence the development of a national public art policy platform that addresses the needs of marginalized communities
- Receive a stipend: $5,000 (paid in two installments)
Who can apply?
- Graduate students, recent college graduates, doctoral/post-doctoral researchers, artists, and public art professionals with research experience, a working knowledge of public art in the U.S., and some experience in research in the specified topic area are encouraged to apply.
- Location: based in the U.S., working remotely from your home base