Call for Artists: North Light Mitigation Sculpture Installation at Cherry Grove
In response to the recent loss of the north light screen at one of our observing sites, the Minnesota Astronomical Society (MAS) is seeking an artist or artist team to design and implement a large-scale sculptural installation constructed from donated telescopes and related astronomical equipment no longer usable by the club.
The selected proposal should transform obsolete observational instruments into a site-responsive sculptural intervention that both mitigates urban light intrusion and speaks to the emotional, philosophical, and communal dimensions of amateur astronomy. The work should function simultaneously as practical infrastructure and as a contemplative monument to wonder, longing, and humanity’s enduring desire to locate itself within a larger cosmic framework.
Particular consideration will be given to proposals that recontextualize tubes, mounts, mirrors, tripods, and eyepieces into a visually compelling assemblage that is inspired, emotionally resonant, and legible from a distance. Artists should demonstrate the ability to frame darkness not as absence, but as a necessary condition for perception, imagination, and collective awe.
The ideal installation will not merely block urban glow but interrogate the boundary between technological mediation and direct encounter with the night sky.
Artist Qualifications:
Applicants should have demonstrated experience in large-scale outdoor sculpture, public art, adaptive reuse, salvaged-material practice, nocturnal placemaking, and astronomically adjacent visionary environments. Experience with structural engineering, wind load, Midwestern weather extremes, and emotionally compelling arrangements of retired optical hardware is strongly preferred. Familiarity with the affective visual vocabulary of awe, cosmic humility, and regionally appropriate celestial symbolism will be considered an asset.
Deadline:
Applications will be accepted beginning April 1, 2026. Review of applications will commence immediately and continue on a rolling basis until the position is filled, or until April 1, 2027, whichever comes first.
Please direct questions and application submissions to:
