RFP for New Designers-in-Residence Program

We are looking for interesting designers from all angles of the field, as well as challenging projects to explore our museum’s resources and expose the NYSCI Explainers and audience to the full spectrum of design and innovation through these residencies.

Please share with the ITP network, if you think appropriate.

My best,

Liz

RFP for NYSCI Designers-in-Residence Program for 2017–2018

Description

The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), New York City’s only hands-on science center, is excited to offer a new opportunity for collaboration via its Designers-in-Residence (DiR) Program. The DiR program has been created to infuse innovation and current design principles, thinking and insight into NYSCI’s Science Career Ladder. The Science Career Ladder is a nationally recognized youth development program, founded over 30 years ago, which supports over 100 youth from the New York City metropolitan region. High school and college students participate by working on the museum floor as “Explainers,” while receiving mentoring, professional development and career preparation opportunities.

NYSCI is seeking deep engagements with local thinkers, creators, makers, educators, artists, technicians, architects and engineers working in and around the design community. We are looking for collaborators who want to come to NYSCI, engage with museum culture, explore our resources, and work with the Explainers. NYSCI is interested in individuals and groups who want to test ideas with the public, develop new work or new components of existing projects, and introduce different perspectives into the way we present information and engage with our multiple publics. During their residency, each DiR will participate in public programs and be paired with a small group of two or three Explainers.

Who are the Explainers? They are the face of NYSCI. Explainers explain our exhibits, perform demonstrations, support educational workshops, and act as role models to students in NYSCI’s out-of-school camps and clubs. Easily recognized by their trademark red aprons, Explainers bring a love of learning and communicating science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to younger audiences. They hold a deep understanding of our visitors (community and school groups, as well as young people and their families), including who they are, and how they best learn. The Explainers are a highly diverse group of young people with a wide range of life experiences and cultural backgrounds.

Residency Options

Below are the available timeframes and corresponding stipends for the DiR 2017–2018 program. Residents do not need to be at NYSCI for a specific number of days/hours, but do need to comply with the program’s expectations for working with their Explainer partners and participating in public programs. NYSCI has a budget for prototyping, workshops and build-outs/installations for DiR projects to be worked out on a project-by-project basis. There is a section for project budgets in the application to ensure a match of ideas, scale and ambition.

Timing of residencies will be determined based on preferences listed in the application,  programming opportunities and available space at the museum.

• One Month Residency (NYSCI will select two DiRs for this category) – $1500– A good opportunity for prototyping a project that needs space and/or time on a museum floor/access to young visitors.

• Three Month Residency (NYSCI will select two DiRs for this category) – $4000 — A good opportunity for working out a new component of a larger project that they will prototype and/or showcase at the end of the residency.

• Six Month Residency (NYSCI will select one DiR for this category) – $7500– A good opportunity for developing a new, larger-scale project that will be prototyped on the museum floor at various points during the residency.

Projects do not have to be completed or have final outcomes for showcase at the end of a residency. However, we are looking for public programming opportunities through each residency, which can take the form of prototyping events, hands-on activities, installations/exhibits for NYSCI visitors, talks, workshops and skill-shares.

DiR Tracks

We envision DiRs coming to NYSCI to participate via one of the following tracks:

• Co-develop hands-on activities and/or exhibits for NYSCI’s audience. For this track, prospective DiRs must have an interest in co-developing activities, installations and/or programming with Explainers. These could take many forms: events, workshops, lectures, demos, exhibits and/or prototypes for NYSCI’s existing young audience or our developing older audience.

• Development of an existing project for the purpose of engaging a different or younger audience. For this track, prospective DiRs must have a project that requires development with/for a new/different audience that can be explored at NYSCI via feedback from Explainers and prototyping with NYSCI visitors.

Collaborating with Explainers is the cornerstone of this residency. Each DiR will be paired with a small group of two or three Explainers for the duration of the residency. DiRs will be required to have set meetings with their Explainer partners. Due to the age of Explainers and nature of their involvement in the Science Career Ladder program, these meetings will need to be scheduled, and DiRs will receive support from NYSCI staff as they build relationships with the Explainers. We expect DiRs to meet with Explainers on a weekly basis for five hours (this will be an average for longer residencies). These meetings can take the form of career talks, skill-shares/workshops (which we may open up to larger groups), project feedback sessions, building or installation sessions, or prototyping events on the museum floor. NYSCI visitors are the other, unofficial partner of the DiR, as this residency is an opportunity to build projects with and receive feedback from our diverse museum visitors.

Ideal DiRs

• Need to have experience and/or interest in working with younger people (high school and college age) to share ideas and build projects.

• Have interest in investigating different forms of public engagement in a museum setting.

• Are eager to experiment with different ways of working/looking at design, exhibits, learning and information exchange.

• Spanish speakers and fluency in other languages is a plus.

Selection of DiRs will factor in diversity in terms of gender, age, race, culture and education/learning differences, as well as experience in the areas of design we are seeking a response to each year (See below for design areas of interest.). We want to ensure that Explainers can see themselves in the DiRs and that DiRs are prepared to contribute to a community that embodies and values diversity in opinion, perspective and life experience.

Resources

The residency is a museum-wide collaboration and opportunity for exploring how NYSCI’s resources can be leveraged to expand our Explainers’ and audiences’ perspective of design in all its forms, hone or expand a project’s reach, or expand museum interactions. DiRs will have access to the following:

• Spaces to work, to produce, to build – NYSCI will provide appropriate work and build spaces for projects, based on the interests/needs described in the application. This residency does not necessarily guarantee a dedicated studio space. We will work out what is needed for each project and find suitable accommodations.

• Use of museum floor for: prototyping of different activities, engagements and installations (areas include but are not limited to: Design Lab, Connected Worlds, Rocket Park).

• Partnership with Public Programs Department to determine public programming options, based on the proposal provided in the application.

• Access to NYSCI staff for conversations and feedback about projects.

• Access to Design Lab team for help testing with visitors.

• Access to NYSCI’s Maker Space and its team for consultation and/or use of tools.

• Access to NYSCI’s Exhibits team and shop for consultation and/or use of tools.

Design Areas of Interest

Interactive

Sound

Fashion: textiles, apparel, costume

Lighting

Hardware

Simulation

Machine/Tools

Food: nutrition and/or mechanisms/systems

Timeline and Important Dates

• Applications open: June 16 – August 18, 2017

• Applications due by: 12 am, August 19, 2017

• Notification of Acceptance to Round 1/Interview Cycle: September 5, 2017

• DiR Interviews at NYSCI: September 12 – 14, 2017

• Notification of Acceptance: September 19, 2017

• DiR cycle 2017 – 2018: October 2017 – June 2018

More Information About NYSCI and Our Visitors

Founded as part of the 1964 World’s Fair in Corona, Queens, NYSCI hosts nearly 500,000 visitors annually. NYSCI engages visitors with innovative exhibits, hands-on activities, educational programs and special events that invite active exploration and encourage all visitors to ask the questions that matter to them and seek out new ideas, new skills, and new ways of looking at the world. Everything we do at NYSCI is informed by an approach to STEM education that we call Design, Make, Play, which reflects our commitment to STEM learning as a process of hands-on discovery, wonder and exploration.

NYSCI’s largest audience is drawn from our local community of Queens, but we serve all five boroughs and the surrounding tri-state area. The borough of Queens is the most ethnically diverse urban area in the country; 48 percent of residents are foreign-born and over 100 languages are spoken. During the school calendar, Monday through Friday, NYSCI is bustling with school groups (Preschool – High School), while on weekends and school holidays, NYSCI primarily serves young visitors and their families (average age of young people: 6 years old). During the summer months we receive visits from many area community and camp groups.

Apply here.