Call for proposals - 2017 Phyllis Lambert Grant

The Ville de Montréal’s Bureau du design to mark Phyllis Lambert’s 90th birthday by inaugurating the ninth edition of the grant established in her name.

The grant is now awarded every two years. The 2017 edition coincides with Montreal’s 375th anniversary celebrations, which, among other things, will highlight the creativity of designers and architects. If you are a young Montreal designer with an interest in and passion for the city, now is your time to shine in this cultural metropolis where anything is possible!

Objectives

The professional development project enables the recipient to explore a theme focusing on the city. It may be in the form of a work internship, participation in a design competition, workshop, symposium or any other activity relevant to the advancement of a nascent design career. The selected project must be undertaken in collaboration with one or more of the cities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which includes Cities of Crafts & Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.

The grant is in the amount of $10,000, with an initial installment of $8,000 coinciding with the recipient announcement ceremony, and the remaining $2,000 paid upon final fulfillment of the recipient’s obligations.

Eligibility criteria

The applicant must:

• be a university graduate in a design discipline (e.g., architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, graphic design, industrial design, urban design, environmental design, urban planning, experience design, interactive design);
• have fewer than 10 years’ design experience;
• have been a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for at least 12 months;
• be a resident of or have a production studio in Montreal;
• In the case of a collective, all members must meet these criteria, and a team lead must be designated to represent them.

Obligations

The grant recipient undertakes to complete the project as described and to notify the Ville de Montréal of any major change thereto, as applicable. He or she further undertakes to make changes to the project based on recommendations from the jury, and to complete the project no later than June 1, 2017.

The recipient further undertakes to submit an article 1,000 words in length for publication on the Design Montréal website, to be submitted no later than October 30, 2017. He or she shall also report on the outcomes of the professional development project by means of a workshop or lecture, sharing his or her experience with the community. The date of this presentation shall be confirmed with the Bureau du design.

The recipient also undertakes to provide a two-page log book documenting the process of the project, so that the Bureau du design may be apprised of the contacts made locally and internationally by the recipient, as well as the number of visits and presentations made. This document is to be submitted no later than October 30, 2017.

Lastly, the recipient undertakes to be available for media interviews, as well as events at which he or she will represent Montreal locally or internationally; among other things, he or she will act as an ambassador promoting the Phyllis Lambert Grant to peers, members of the public and the media.

Evaluation criteria

An independent jury made up of representatives recognized by the design and architecture community will study the eligible applications using the following evaluation criteria:

• Quality and relevance of the applicant’s profile (e.g., calibre of achievements, involvement in the community);
• Interest and relevance of the grant’s contribution to the proposed project;
• Contacts already established;
• Feasibility of the proposal;
• Clarity of applicant’s work intentions;
• Presentation quality of the application documentation.

All applications will be evaluated on the basis of merit as well as compliance with the eligibility conditions, the competition objectives and the evaluation criteria. The jury’s decision is final and without appeal.

Jury

The jury members are (in alphabetical order):

• Rami Bebawi, Partner and Co-founder, KANVA
• Cindy Couture, General Manager and Partner, Index-Design
• Caroline Gagnon, PhD, Professor and Director of the Product Design Program, School of Design, Université Laval
• Patrick Marmen, Researcher, Chair in Landscape and Environmental Design at Université de Montréal
• Michèle Picard, Section Head, Équipements culturels, art public et patrimoine artistique, Service de la culture, Ville de Montréal

To submit an application

In addition to the online form to be completed, the applicant must provide the following documents, as a single PDF file, via e-mail to [email protected] :

• Letter of intent (500 words);
• Presentation of the project (1,500 to 2,000 words);
• Curriculum vitae;
• Portfolio;
• Letters of recommendation from two members of the applicant’s professional network;
• Correspondence confirming that arrangements are underway with representatives of the city (or cities) in which the project is to be completed.

Timeline and steps

• Call for applications: January 24, 2017
• Deadline for submitting an application: March 16, 2017 at 5PM
• Public announcement of the recipient: Early June 2017