The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) at the University of Georgia invites proposals for a public art installation. The goal of this project is to use art to enhance citizen science, leveraging art installation within a natural site to crowd-source environmental monitoring. 

Dr. Daniel Coleman, research associate, explained the challenge:

What is the challenge?

We are looking for interested artists, designers, scientists, or other UGA community members who want to create a piece of artwork to help in the conservation and restoration of natural environments. The goal is to test how art promotes public engagement and can lead to crowd-sourced environmental monitoring.

What kind of artwork are you looking for?

We are open and excited to see what the community comes up with! We would love to see art that highlights the environment, green infrastructure, the communities that interact with the environment daily, or any other topic the artists want to showcase!

What kind of research is this for?

Ultimately, the goal is to engage the public to improve environmental monitoring. Our hypothesis is that sufficiently engaging art will attract more people to photograph a given site. These photographs will allow us to create a time series of ecologically relevant parameters. We hope to use this in coastal wetlands that have been restored or conserved as well as at the location of green infrastructure projects, but this idea can certainly be applied in other settings!

Why public art? Why not just use a mounted camera instead?

A mounted camera has been used in the past for similar types of research. The problem with that is cameras placed outdoors tend to need repairs and cleaning, which can result in logistic challenges. Furthermore, an autonomous camera takes the project away from the community. The art not only serves the function of attracting photographers, but also educating the public about environmental issues and environmentally-friendly solutions.

Where is it going to be installed?

This one is a little more difficult because we don’t know yet. We have a few locations in mind but we decided not to choose a site ahead of time so that we can choose a site that fits with the art. Teams are also allowed to propose locations themselves! The research team is interested in wetlands but we are open to exploring the application in a variety of other environments too!

I have an idea! What application materials do I need?

Proposals should include a brief project description, including a preliminary budget, each artist contributor’s CV or resume, and a portfolio of up to 5 representative samples, if possible (a project team does not need to have previously worked together, we just want to see a representation of your artistic sensibilities!)

More details on the challenge are available here. Proposals are due October 23, 2026.