The East Lansing Art Festival (ELAF) is seeking to hire a graphic designer and/or artist to design the festival’s 2024 poster and deliverables. The ELAF is interested in receiving submissions from all artists including those from the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities and from people with disabilities.

Located in south central Michigan, five miles east of the state capital, East Lansing is approximately 13.7 square miles in size, with a population of over 47,500 people. It is home to Michigan State University and the world-renowned Eli & Edythe Broad Art Museum. 

The East Lansing Art Festival will host its 61st annual event on May 18 & May 19, 2024, in the heart of downtown East Lansing. The festival is consistently in the top 100 best fine art festivals in the nation in Sunshine Artist Magazine’s rankings. Typically, the festival hosts approximately 200 artists from 17 mediums, including sculpture, metals, mixed media, ceramics, drawing and more. Artists are selected by a local jury of their peers. In addition to artist exhibits, there is live music, a delicious food court, an artist demonstration area, poetry and performances for festival patrons to enjoy, both in person and virtually. Over 60,000 individuals attend the festival each year. A new poster design is used to develop corresponding printable pieces, such as festival t-shirts and advertising. 

Submission Due: Qualification submissions are due no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 7, 2023.

Project Budget: There is a budget of $10,000. The budget for the artist includes the design and deliverables only. Printing will be the responsibility of the ELAF staff. 

Vision for Project: The design should encapsulate the ELAF, get the community excited for the next event and be easily transferable from one medium to the next. We are looking for a design that showcases the festival’s fine art mission. This is a campaign that includes, but is not limited to: 

• a large (20”x 30”) poster
• billboards
• t-shirts
• small online digital ads
• print ads
• brochures
• postcards
• cards
• coffee mugs 
• social media images

Interested artists may submit their qualifications in hard copy or electronically, as outlined below:

Electronic submission: Proposal documents may be submitted electronically via email to tlane@cityofeastlansing.com. The subject line should be “Artist/Designer’s Name/Firm – Qualification Submission for 2024 ELAF” (ex. Heather Majano – Qualification submission for 2024 ELAF), clearly delineating that the message is the submission for the 2024 East Lansing Art Festival Graphics. Electronic files are to be in a single .pdf format. Other format types will not be accepted.
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Hard copy submission: Proposals may be submitted on a portable flash drive or as an 8 1/2”x 11” unbound document. One (1) hard copy of the proposal is to be mailed or delivered in a sealed envelope to the City of East Lansing Parks, Recreation and Arts Department, 819 Abbot Road, East Lansing, MI 48823, Attn: Tim Lane. Envelopes are to be clearly marked for 2024 ELAF Qualifications and the name of the Artist/Designer. Do not submit original photographs, samples, or any product other than paper. Faxed proposals or proposals in a format other than described above will not be considered.
The proposals shall be submitted by no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 7, 2023 to be considered. No late applications will be reviewed.

Resume and/or statement outlining your education and/or experience.
Narrative outlining materials, medium, etc. typically worked with.
Three (3) digital images of examples of past work that show experience with a multi-media campaign.
Other support material such as reviews of past campaigns.
Contact information
The maximum proposal length is as follows:

Resume……………………………..1 page
Narrative……………………………2 pages
Examples……………………………8 pages
Support Materials………………4 pages
TOTAL………………………………..15 pages

Selection Process: The Request for Qualifications for graphics for the 2024 ELAF was developed under the direction of the City of East Lansing’s internal graphic designer, festival coordinator and Parks, Recreation and Arts Director. All proposals that are received will be viewed by the same team.

After initial review of proposals, the review team will select one candidate to contract with. The review team reserves the right to contact applicants with questions or to host individual interviews, before making a final selection. The chosen proposal will be forwarded to East Lansing City Council for the contract award. Michigan-based artists/designers/firms preferred, with local artists/designers/firms being given priority consideration. Local is defined as being located within the City of East Lansing or the tri-county (Eaton, Ingham, Clinton) area.

RFQ Release: Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023
Proposal due: Thursday, Sept. 7
Artist selected and notified: Monday, Sept. 25
City Council approve contract: Tuesday, Oct. 17
Artist Contract execution: Tuesday, Nov. 7
Design due: Wednesday, Nov. 22
Deliverables designed, ready for printing: Wednesday, Dec. 20