Criteria for Art Grant Sustainability and $500 Sustainability Prize

CAMP is making a concerted effort to be more sustainable. We’re far from perfect and don’t expect you to be, but we’re making a big effort to take a leap forward, and ask you to join us in that journey. 

What follows is not a list of rules, but an invitation to make your art grant more sustainable. Additionally, we will be giving a $500 prize (on top of any art grant money awarded) to one project we deem excellent in both its design and its sustainability factor, based on the criteria below. 

We don’t expect you to nail every element of this document, but we will give bonus points (and dollars) to projects that excel in the areas by which we judge sustainability (and in extreme cases, we may reject your project if we deem it excessively wasteful — or if your post-event plan for your project results in excessive work from our team).

Need guidance beyond the criteria below? Join the sustainability chat and ask for help.

Material Guidance 

  • Source Sustainably: Present a clear plan for the materials you are using and sourcing. Source from what is already in circulation.

  • Use pre-owned/thrifted/reused/upcycled or directly sourced from nature in a sustainable way.  Be creative. Use materials from The Big Reuse, Materials for the Arts, your neighbor’s garage. 

  • Avoid plastic, single-use items (unless these come from waste that you’re reinventing) and other environmental toxics. If you are using new materials, try to make them sustainable, compostable, biodegradable — and avoid sourcing from sites like Amazon. 

  • Think through how you can get as close to zero waste as possible

    Are there any materials you can swap out?  Can you make use of scraps and waste from the process of making your project? Can you use the packaging? 

Installation

  • Create a detailed design and do necessary calculations to avoid unnecessary waste/ending up with excess material. 

  • Reduce trash from packaging, build supplies, and secondary elements of your project

  • Avoid single use tools like zip ties and duct tape wherever possible, and reduce excess packaging. 

Longevity 

  • Create a detailed and comprehensive plan of what happens to your project after CAMP. You are responsible for ensuring your project does not end up in a landfill. Plan for your project or the materials in it to have a use that lasts beyond this one weekend. 

    Is there somewhere your project can go after? Can you use biodegradable materials? Can the materials be reused for future projects?

Bonus points toward $500 prize 

  • Your project is zero waste (or close to it) 

  • You turn trash into treasure and incorporate waste from your project into the project itself. 

  • What is your project saying? Does it express environmental activism or encourage a conversation on humans relationship to nature