Walking With Giants Call For Artists From Cleve Carney Museum of Art

In summer 2026, in honor of the United States’ Semiquincentennial or 250th anniversary and as DuPage County welcomes visitors from around the world for the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club, the College of DuPage will present Walking With Giants, a free outdoor art exhibition celebrating American artistic achievement. Responding to the national call to reflect on our nation’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans, and look toward the future, the exhibition will feature ten larger-than-life painted silhouettes, approximately ten feet tall, depicting influential American artists, performers, writers, composers, and dancers.

Installed along a walkable route across the McAninch Arts Center and COD campus, each bold, hand-painted figure will reflect the spirit, era, and creative legacy of its subject, while integrated interpretive elements invite visitors to engage with the stories behind these cultural giants. Developed with community input and created by contemporary artists, Walking With Giants offers an accessible, family-friendly cultural experience that pairs national reflection with international attention, positioning art, creativity, and shared history at the center of DuPage County’s 2026 moment on the world stage.

The Cleve Carney Museum of Art and McAninch Arts Center invite artists to submit their portfolios in consideration for Walking With Giants. The selected artist(s) will be commissioned to design and oversee the painting and creation of the silhouette works, each approximately ten feet tall, depicting influential figures from the history of American artistic achievement. The arts center will fabricate and install all silhouette forms and structural supports, allowing artists to focus on the design  and surface treatment of those forms.  Submissions should demonstrate strong visual impact, experience with large-scale or public-facing work, and the ability to translate historical or cultural subjects into compelling contemporary imagery. Budget is $10,000 plus materials.

Artists considered for Walking With Giants must be able to travel to and work on the College of DuPage campus using their own transportation and be available for on-site production during the spring of 2026. Applicants must demonstrate experience successfully completing comparable large-scale, public-facing, or outdoor projects and the ability to work with durable materials suitable for exterior display. Artists should be comfortable collaborating with institutional staff, adhering to established timelines, and adapting designs to pre-fabricated forms provided by the College. Experience translating historical, cultural, or figurative subjects into visually engaging contemporary imagery is strongly encouraged, as is a demonstrated capacity to manage a project from concept through completion in a professional and reliable manner.

Artists must submit 5 samples of comparable work, and artist statement and CV.  All items must be combined submitted as one pdf.