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Less admin, more modeling.

Follow each sculpture from open call to final installment. Open calls, the foundry, the engineer and every installment, with the tasks, people and money for each piece in one place.

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Open calls, fairs and grants for sculpture

A commission is a project with everyone it needs linked to it: the arts commission, the engineer, the foundry, the crater and the crane. Each one's tasks are linked to them and to the project, with their dates, all the way to install day.

The admin that comes with public commissions

Big work is often paid in installments, and each one waits on a sign-off: the design, the fabrication, the install. Meanwhile the contract is a PDF, the foundry is an email thread, and the calls are in a spreadsheet.

  • The shortlist that wants a maquette

    Hundreds apply, three to five make the cut, and the finalists build a model, drawings and an itemized budget, sometimes for a stipend and sometimes for nothing.

  • The foundry quote that grew

    The mold, the wax, the pour and the patina are each a line. On a complicated piece the mold alone can run to around $3,000.

  • The engineer's stamp nobody budgeted

    The city wants sealed drawings for the footing and the wind load, and the engineer's fee comes out of the artist fee unless it was in the budget.

  • The last installment

    The final payment comes after the city's final acceptance, and acceptance waits on the documentation and the maintenance manual. The piece is already in the ground.

In the studio

Keep the studio days for the work

Armature, clay, mold and foundry are each a task on the commission, with a date. Today lists what's due, so the modeling days are planned before the meetings fill the week.

Hands shaping a clay figure on a sculptor's turntable

Find public art calls and track your applications

Opportunities lists open calls, grants and residencies, kept current by Plya, with each one's deadline, entry fee and organizer. Filter to Sculpture, hide the mural calls, and mark the RFQs you're answering. Move each one to Applied when the qualifications packet is in, and Yours keeps the list of what's out.

How opportunities work

Invoice each installment as it's approved

A public commission often pays in five parts: on signing, on the design, on design approval, when the piece is fabricated, and on final acceptance. Each part is its own invoice on the project, sent the day the sign-off lands and paid online to your own Stripe account, or marked paid when the city's check arrives. The project shows what's been invoiced and what's still outstanding.

How invoices work

Tools for the full sculptor's year

Residency deadlines, outdoor show calls and install season come around every year. Each one has a place in Plya.

  1. January to February

    Residency deadlines

    Winter is proposal season, and residencies with shop access close in January and February. They're listed in Opportunities with their deadlines and entry fees. Mark the ones you're applying to.

  2. March to April

    Outdoor show calls

    Park loan programs and sculpture walks close in spring, some with a weight limit and a flatbed rule. The proposal, the site photos and the install plan go in one note.

  3. May to June

    Fabrication

    Accepted work gets cast, welded or pulled from storage for summer. Each piece is a project with its foundry, fabricator and crater linked.

  4. July to August

    Install season

    Crane day, the flatbed and the anchor bolts are tasks with dates, linked to the rigger and the site contact.

  5. September to October

    Openings and acceptance

    Outdoor shows open and installed commissions get signed off. The acceptance installment goes out as an invoice the same week.

  6. November to December

    Fellowships and Miami

    Production fellowships close in late November and the fairs run into December. The curators and collectors you meet go in Network, with the follow-up dated.

Keep your insurance certificate on hand

The studio kit in Plya's Library keeps your certificate of insurance with its expiry date and marks it when it's close, next to your W-9 and your bio for the qualifications packet. The stamped drawings, the foundry quote and the maquette photos sit on the project they belong to.

Made for every kind of studio

Plya for every craft and practice

Spend more time in the studio

Keep the calls, the people on each piece and every installment where you can find them, and the shop time for bronze, steel and stone.

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