Challenge

Shaw & Co. Productions, a producer of design-centric marketing and promotional platforms, collaborated this year with NYCxDESIGN to produce DESIGN PAVILION. A public exhibition, DESIGN PAVILION presented a collection of creative structures and displays, serving as the public hub during NYCxDESIGN, New York City’s official design week, May 7-15, 2016.

Ilene Shaw, the producer of the DESIGN PAVILION, wanted to find a large design + art piece that featured interactivity and light to engage the thousands of attendees during the week-long design event.

Ilene had no funding for an art project of the scale she needed, but she did have a platform with NYCxDESIGN to provide a featured artist with immediate exposure in New York City and visibility through international press and online content. Some of the most renowned names in the design world and beyond participated in NYCxDESIGN. Ilene wanted to find an interactive artist with an already completed piece which could be exhibited at this public design event. The challenge was how to find an interactive artist with an appropriate crowd-friendly piece on a tight two-week timeline.

Solution

Ilene and the team at Shaw Co. Productions reached out to CODAworx to see if this could be a creative use of the CODAworx RFP Toolkit Concierge Service. This was an exhibition event looking to make a national call for artists, and not the traditional paying commission which is distributed through CODAworx RFP tools to the network of designers and artists. The response was positive, with a number of professional artists interested in the exposure and press that came with exhibiting at this international event.

As part of the Concierge Service, a CODAworx RFP Specialist managed the RFP process for Ilene from start to finish. The Specialist wrote the custom DESIGN PAVILION Request for Proposal and created a PDF for distribution. Then CODAworx staff worked with Ilene to identify the types of artists that would be applicable for this exhibition opportunity, out of the CODAworx database of over 25,000 potential design professionals around the world.

A targeted email blast was sent, and soon entries were coming in, neatly and beautifully organized by applicant. With CODAworx managing the process and applicant questions, Ilene was able to focus her attention on other aspects of planning her event and then reviewing which interactive artist was the right fit.

Results

The CODAworx Concierge Service enabled Ilene to target 8,250 highly qualified artists with a single email. After two weeks the deadline closed and Ilene selected interactive artist Jen Lewin and her completed project, The Pool, for the DESIGN PAVILION.

Jen Lewin is an internationally renowned light and interactive sculptor. She has fabricated large-scale interactive sculptures which combine light, sound and motion to encourage community interaction. The Pool, by Jen Lewin, is an environment of light and color created from interactive pads which encouraged play. Each day during the DESIGN PAVILION event, The Pool was activated with color and light at dusk. Yet, visitors enjoyed hopping over the lily-pad-like discs during the day as well.

Over 250,000 people saw the DESIGN PAVILION event and over 25,000 people engaged and interacted with the design projects during the one week exhibition. Jen, who is based in Boulder, Colorado, is planning to move her studio to New York City this fall. Having the opportunity to exhibit at the DESIGN PAVILION exposed her work to leading New York design professionals at the perfect time. The event had over 4 million impressions online and in social media and received press from NBC, Forbes, Metropolis magazine, and others. The DESIGN PAVILION was featured as the Snapchat of the day, with thousands of people interacting with The Pool and sharing their fun on social media.

 

 

Julie Miller of the Jen Lewin Studio team called the event “A huge success!” Julie works full time with Jen Lewin Studio and applies to RFPs on an almost daily basis. When asked about her experience with applying to an RFP through CODAworx, she noted, “What we do at Jen Lewin Studio isn’t always easy to fit into an RFP and working with CODAworx was relatively smooth. Having a platform like CODAworx is very helpful. We received the email from CODAworx, went on their site and were able to find the call very quickly, and applied. Too many times we won’t find out about a great opportunity until it’s too late. We love getting the CODAworx RFP email blasts right when the RFP comes out. Keep sending them!”

From Ilene

“The CODAworx RFP Tool is a most effective and easy process with quick and thorough results. There is no other platform or method existing today anywhere that offers communication with 25,000 (and growing) qualified and talented artists and creative professionals.

The RFP Tool resulted in the participation and NYC debut of Jen Lewin’s The Pool. We hence have introduced Jen to the NYC Department of Transportation for future collaboration for other city spaces. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of visitors were dazzled and engaged by The Pool at Design Pavilion and we successfully created a very special, entertaining and compelling event.

Thanks to CODAworx and their helpful, attentive and brilliant staff!” 

– Ilene Shaw, President, Shaw & Co. Productions

 

Let us help you find and hire your next interactive artist. Visit the RFP Toolkit >>