Sculpture Concepts Competitors

The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is a world-renowned art museum housing one of the largest permanent collections in the United States. An encyclopedic museum, the Art Institute collects, preserves, and interprets works in every medium from all cultures and historical periods. With a collection of approximately 300,000 art works and artifacts, the museum has particularly strong holdings in Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painting, contemporary art, early 20th century European painting and sculpture, Japanese prints, and photography. The museum’s 2009 addition, the Modern Wing, features the latest in green museum technology and 264,000 square feet dedicated to modern and contemporary art, photography, architecture and design, and new museum education facilities. In addition to displaying its permanent collection, the Art Institute mounts more than 30 special exhibitions per year and features lectures, gallery tours, and special performances on a daily basis.

As the leader in its field, Public Art Fund brings dynamic contemporary art to a broad audience in New York City and beyond by mounting ambitious free exhibitions of international scope and impact that offer the public powerful experiences with art and the urban environment. Public Art Fund was founded in 1977 by Doris C. Freedman (1928-1981), a champion of public art who served as New York City's first Director of Cultural Affairs, President of the Municipal Art Society of New York, and was a tireless supporter of New York City's Percent for Art legislation. In 1971, she founded the Public Arts Council while at the same time serving as president of City Walls Inc. Under her leadership, both organizations developed programs to explore the potential for art to become an integral aspect of urban public spaces. In 1977, she merged the two to form the independent, non-profit Public Art Fund. Since its inception, Public Art Fund has presented more than four hundred artists' exhibitions and projects at sites throughout New York City’s five boroughs, making it possible for artists to engage diverse audiences and, along the way, redefine public art in relation to the changing nature of contemporary art.

The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey was recently designated a "Major Arts Institution" by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. This non-profit, regional art center features both a professionally recognized art school and a critically acclaimed exhibition program. With nine state-of-the-art studios, the art school is taught by an award-winning faculty. Facilities also include a two-story exhibition gallery, two strolling galleries, a digital media studio, and a sculpture park. Educational programing includes Outreach programs, Docent tours, Exhibition programs, Teachers' Symposiums, Kids and Teens Art Camps and much more.