UIC's At the Edge adds Architects to the mix for 2009 Innovative Art in Chicago Series

For the first time this year, Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago is adding architecture, design and new media to their at the edge: innovative art in chicago program, an annual series of commissioned projects that began with gallery installations, public performance, websites, and more. May 31st at 6:00 P.M. (postmark or drop-off time) is the deadline this time out. According to the competition flyer:

Inquiry, experimentation and ingenuity are the basis of At the Edge. As Chicago’s artistic, architectural and design scene continues to be an expansive, resourceful and energetic creative arena, Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago encourages the most innovative aspects of that dynamism. We are looking to work with individuals ready to take a conceptual, political, speculative or aesthetic risk. Propose a project you might not be able to realize elsewhere, one you never thought could get made. . . . Four individuals or group collaborations will be chosen to present projects lasting from one night to two months (possibly longer for public projects; gallery exhibitions typically last six weeks) that will be supported by Gallery 400’s professional resources, an honorarium and a moderate production budget.

Combined honorariums/production budgets range from $500 to $6,000. Finalists will be chosen by a jury of artists, architects, designers, curators and art administrators. An "executive group" of that jury, headed by Gallery 400's director, will make studio visits and conduct interviews to arrive at the four winners, who will be notified in late June, with the actual mounting of the projects scheduled from January to October of next year.

You have to be from the Chicago region to be eligible, but you can't be current UIC faculty or staff, or a student enrolled in classes this summer or fall. More information, including application forms and complete rules, can be found here.