THROUGHLINES 2027
OCTOBER 8–10, 2027
CINCINNATI, OHIO


 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Deadline: January 15, 2027, 11:59 PM EST


THROUGHLINES is a socially engaged art convening emerging from the legacies of Common Field, Open Engagement, and Hand in Glove. Planned in conversation with participants and organizers of these past gatherings, Throughlines continues the spirit, energy, and spaces of support the field needs. Amidst a changing institutional, cultural, and political landscape, we ask:

  • What do socially engaged artists do today?
  • What do socially engaged artists need today?
  • Where does socially en
    gaged art go from here?

THROUGHLINES 2027 will take place October 8–10, 2027 at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and a constellation of sites throughout the city. Proposals are reviewed by the Artist Leadership Committee, artists and culture workers named at the end of this call. Every accepted presenter is paid and attends free.

Throughlines is committed to supporting your access needs. If you have questions, need additional support, or require this call in another format, contact Thomas at thomas@wavepoolgallery.org 



THEME: THROUGHLINES


Throughlines is the convening title, the theme, and the program design process.

As a title, it marks continuity. The gatherings that held this field together have closed, and what they carried persists in the work of the people who made them. This convening picks up those lines.

As a theme, it asks what persists. A throughline is whatever runs through a field and carries it forward: concerns, commitments, and methods that recur across generations and outlast projects and institutions.

As a process, it determines how the program is built. The Artist Leadership Committee reads the proposals and identifies the throughlines that run across them; the program takes shape around those. Your proposal should describe what's important to you right now.

Confirmed keynote speakers: Tania Bruguera, Caroline Woolard, Mel Chin.



WHAT YOU CAN PROPOSE


We encourage anyone with a vested interest in art as a way of engaging with society to propose programs: artists, activists, academics, cultural workers and producers, administrators, curators, educators, writers, thinkers, doers, makers of all kinds and ages, located anywhere.

Past gatherings in this lineage have included story circles, know-your-rights training, foraging walks, bus tours, pop-up restaurants, dance parties, treasure hunts, puppet shows, quilting bees, healing clinics, temporary radio stations, and one-on-one consultations. We invite you to expand this list.

Proposals fall into the following categories. Each carries a fee, paid to every accepted presenter:
  • Special projects: multi-day interventions, performances, and participatory or social works. Fee: $1,000.
  • Events: projects and gatherings of up to one day. Fee: $500.
  • Conversations: dialogue circles, panels, workshops, and short performances of up to four hours. Fee: $250.
  • Short engagements: presentations of less than 15 minutes. Fee: $50.
  • Local programming: studio or organization open houses, tours, walks, and place-based, community-hosted sessions in and around Cincinnati. These can be submitted in the Special projects, Events, or Conversations category, matched to the scale of the engagement, and are compensated at that category's fee.

If your idea does not fit neatly into these categories, propose it anyway and tell us what it needs.



WHAT THE APPLICATION ASKS

All narrative prompts are limited to 100 words.

Reviewers come from a wide variety of professional and organizing backgrounds. Do not assume knowledge of professional lingo; please explain your intentions in as plain a language as possible.

  • Contact details: name(s), pronouns, email, phone, address.
  • The closest category for your proposal (see under “What You Can Propose” above), or “other” with a short description of your own.
  • Are you located in Cincinnati, and do you want to host a local event?
  • What do you want to do? Be as specific, technical, and detailed as needed for us to understand what will happen.
  • Why do you want to do this? Explain your motivations and what you hope to do or achieve, in as specific terms as possible.
  • Where do you want to do this? Describe your ideal environment: class, street, gallery, river bank, coffee shop, etc.
  • Do you need help doing this: volunteers, access workers, equipment, facilities, etc.?
  • If you are proposing a local off-site event in Cincinnati: your location.

All applicants will be notified by April 1, 2027.

If you have questions about the application, contact Thomas at thomas@wavepoolgallery.org.



SOLIDARITY AND TRAVEL SUPPORT

If your salary or existing funding covers your project or your travel, or if you can otherwise afford the costs, we encourage you to waive or reduce your fee. All waived funds go toward travel support for presenters.

A limited number of travel stipends will be available. Travel stipends are separate from the application and do not affect selection.



KEY DATES

Call opens
October 2026

Proposals due
January 15, 2027, 11:59pm EST

Applicants notified
April 1, 2027

Accepted presenters confirm participation by
May 1, 2027

THROUGHLINES 2027
October 8–10, 2027


                     


THROUGHLINES 2027
throughlines.art
CONTACT
throughlines.art@gmail.com