MRT's 20th Anniversary Artist Collaboration

McKinney Repertory Theatre (MRT) is partnering with McKinney Creative Community (MCC) to find a local artist to collaborate with to celebrate our 20th Anniversary and 2023-24 Season. 

MRT is seeking proposals from local McKinney-based visual artists to design (5) pieces of art that would embody the five (5) shows we are producing as part of our 20th Anniversary Season.   The artist would create five individual artworks in total that would be featured on the posters for each of our shows (one piece of art per poster).  Each piece of art should be the artist’s artistic interpretation of each one of the shows.  We would need one piece of art for each of the following show posters in our 23-24 season: 

• Clue by Jonathan Lynn
• Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol adapted by Dr. Andrew Harris 
• Forever Plaid by Stuart Ross
• Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling
• The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, Newly Adapted by Wendy Kesselman

MRT and MCC will review all proposals and choose one artist to create artwork for all five shows.  

Artists submitting proposals should consider how poster details (such as show dates, title, MRT logo, sponsor logos, and ticketing info) could be added to each of their art so that they can successfully be used as posters.   The selected artist will have an opportunity to interview the directors of each show to inform their final pieces.  The final delivery will be five pieces of art total; one for each show. 

We will be doing a press release once the artist has been selected and sharing it with all local media outlets.  We believe that this artist/theater collaboration between two art forms will bring together a wide variety of creative minds and continue to establish McKinney as a cultural leader in North Texas.  

Our goals for this project are: 

• To celebrate the collaboration of two art forms (art and theater) and the importance of the two local arts in our community
• Gain local awareness on the collaboration and keep the arts in people’s minds 
• To help establish McKinney as a cultural leader in North Texas
• To highlight the wide range of creative minds (from all the arts) that call McKinney home 

Project Timeline (subject to change)

• March 13, 2023   Announcement and distribution of RFP
• April 9, 2023    Deadline for RFP submission
• April 30, 2023   All submissions reviewed and artist selected
• May 15, 2023   Contract completed and work begins 
• August 15, 2023  Artwork complete and ready for reveal or publication

Proposal Requirements

The following is required to be submitted: 

• Contact information:  Name, address, telephone, email 
• Artist Resume/CV 
• At least 2 professional references who can attest to your art projects and experience
• Written narrative describing the artistic vision and proposal (no longer than 2 single-spaced pages)
• Portfolio including samples of previous work and inspiration for our project 
  • JPEG or PNG images only, no larger than 3000 px at a maximum resolution of 300 dpi. 
  • Please name your image files in this manner:
    • Lastname_01_worksample.jpg; Lastname_01_inspiration.jpg Lastname_02_worksample.jpg; Lastname_02_inspiration.jpg

Artist’s Compensation

We are offering $500 as an artist’s fee/honorarium to the selected artist for the work to be done.  

Rights 

All Intellectual Property, Artwork, and/or Images and rights relating to the Artwork, including copyright and ownership rights remain the sole and exclusive property of the Artist. A license agreement will be completed upon Artist selection that provides MRT with the right to reproduce, publicly display, and distribute the Artwork or Images for the agreed-upon terms as set forth in an Agreement that is agreed upon and signed by both parties.

About McKinney Repertory Theatre (MRT)

McKinney Repertory Theatre (MRT) was started in 2003 when a group of local actors decided to bring the gift of theatre to McKinney.  Since then, MRT has become McKinney’s Official Community Theatre and we are one of the resident companies at McKinney Performing Arts Center in historic downtown McKinney.  MRT is also a 98% volunteer-driven non-profit theatre and is supported, in part, by grants from the City of McKinney through the McKinney Arts Commission (MAC) and the McKinney Community Development Corporation (MCDC).  

About McKinney Creative Community (MCC)

The McKinney Creative Community (MCC) brings area artists together in order to build on the rich, cultural character that McKinney is known for. Each month, the group hosts a public potluck where creatives in any field or medium can share their personal and professional experiences. Often a guest speaker addresses the group. The group was founded in 2010 and has over 2,400 members/followers on Facebook. In December, it hosts the Holiday Art Bazaar, the second largest art fair in McKinney. The group welcomes all who wish to connect with fellow creatives. Potlucks and membership are free.