OPEN CALL TO ARTISTS
Emerging Artist - Paid Collaboration Opportunity
Sijia Chen Studio | Denver Arts and Venues - Denver Fire Department Station #40 Public Art Project
Sijia Chen Studio invites Denver area emerging artists to submit qualifications for a collaborative public art opportunity connected to the Denver Fire Department Station 40 Public Art Project.
This opportunity is part of the Shared Vision Project, an initiative within Sijia Chen Studio’s public art practice that supports emerging local artists by creating meaningful pathways into civic-scale public art. Through this project, Chen invites selected artists to contribute their own visual perspectives while participating in a guided design process connected to community engagement, site-responsive storytelling, and permanent public artwork.
Two selected artists will participate in a community based design process led by Sijia Chen Studio. Each artist will create an original, digitally produced papercut-inspired design for one panel within Sijia Chen’s permanent public artwork for Fire Station 40. This opportunity is intended to support local artistic voices, expand community representation within the project, and create a meaningful connection between the artwork, the station, and the surrounding Montbello and Green Valley Ranch communities.
About the Artist
Sijia Chen is a Los Angeles-based multimedia artist whose practice spans papercut collage, sculpture, and large-scale public art. Rooted in the visual language of traditional Chinese papercutting, her work transforms collected materials, community stories, and site-specific imagery into layered forms that speak to memory, migration, identity, and belonging.
In her public art practice, Chen works closely with local communities through workshops, conversations, and public contributions, translating shared experiences into cut patterns, sculptural forms, and architectural-scale installations. Her projects often use color, light, perforation, and shadow to create artworks that are visually bold from a distance and rich with detail up close.
Chen learned papercutting from her father and later expanded the medium into contemporary sculpture and public space. She received her B.A. from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and her M.F.A. from Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Her work is held in major public and museum collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and her permanent public art commissions are installed at airports, civic sites, and public spaces across the United States and China.
Learn more about Chen’s practice at www.sijiachen.com
Instagram: @sijiachenart
Rendering of Sijia Chen’s proposed artwork for Denver Fire Department Station 40. Final design of the papercut-inspired panels to be developed.
About Shared Vision
The Shared Vision Project reflects Sijia Chen Studio’s commitment to making public art a more open and collaborative field. Selected artists will contribute original visual ideas, learn from the development of a permanent public artwork, and gain practical experience in how community engagement, design translation, fabrication, and public art production come together.
Project Overview
Sijia Chen Studio is developing a permanent sculptural public artwork for Denver Fire Department Station 40. The artwork will reflect themes of public service, connection, resilience, and local cultural heritage specific to the Montbello and Green Valley Ranch communities. As part of the project, Sijia Chen Studios will engage local residents, stakeholders, and selected emerging artists through workshops that explore papercut design, pattern, storytelling, and the relationship between public art and place.
Each selected emerging artist will develop one original papercut design that may be translated into a panel on the final sculpture. Designs should be appropriate for permanent public art, visually legible at architectural scale, and responsive to the character of Fire Station 40.
Scope of Participation
Selected artists will be expected to:
Participate in at least one community workshop and project planning meeting organized by Sijia Chen Studio.
Develop an original papercut inspired digital design for a sculpture panel responsive to project themes, community input, and site context.
Eligibility
This opportunity is open to emerging artists based in the Denver metropolitan area.
Artists with a connection to Montbello, Green Valley Ranch, the Denver Fire Department, firefighting communities, first responders, youth engagement, or neighborhood storytelling are especially encouraged to apply.
We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, artistic disciplines, and lived experiences, including artists from historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.
Artists working in drawing, paper cutting, illustration, graphic design, mural art, textile design, printmaking, sculpture, public art, or related visual practices are encouraged to apply. Prior public art experience is not required.
Selection Criteria
Artists will be selected based on:
Strength and originality of past work.
Connection to Denver and the Montbello/Green Valley Ranch communities.
Interest in community engaged public art.
Ability to create bold, graphic, pattern based, or narrative imagery suitable for translation into a sculptural panel. Selected artists will be asked to create a digital design; vector files are preferred.
Openness to collaboration and design refinement.
Honorarium
Selected artists will receive an honorarium of $1,250 for workshop participation, design development, and final design delivery.
Other Terms
Selected artists will be required to enter into a written participation agreement with Sijia Chen Studio. The final panel design will be commissioned as a work made for hire, selected artists will assign to Sijia Chen Studio all rights, title, and interest, including copyright, in the final submitted design and any related design files created for the project. Sijia Chen Studio will have the right to adapt, modify, scale, translate, fabricate, reproduce, document, maintain, repair, replace, and incorporate the design into the final artwork and related project materials. Selected artists will be credited for their contribution where appropriate and may include the project in their portfolio and professional materials, provided that the project is properly credited as a Sijia Chen Studio public art project and that their role is accurately described.
Anticipated Timeline
RFQ Release: June 8, 2026
Submission Deadline: June 21, 2026 at 11:59 PM MT
Finalists Interview: June 23, 2026 Time TBD
Artist Selection: June 24, 2026
Community Workshops: June 27, 2026; others dates TBD
Final Design Due: September 30, 2026
Artwork Fabrication: Early 2027
How to Apply
Submission Requirements
Please submit the following materials as a single PDF:
Artist name, contact information, and current Denver area location.
A brief artist statement or letter of interest, no more than 500 words.
Up to 10 images of recent work.
Image list including title, year, medium, dimensions, and brief description.
Short biography, no more than 150 words.
Optional: website, Instagram, or portfolio link.
Please email submissions to contact@sijiachen.com with the subject line: “Denver Fire Station 40 Emerging Artist RFQ.”
Questions may be directed to contact@sijiachen.com by June 18, 2026
Sijia Chen Studio encourages applications from artists of all backgrounds, including artists who are new to public art. This opportunity is designed to create an inclusive, collaborative process that brings local voices into a permanent civic artwork for the Denver community.