Eve · private
Founding Circle
A private subprogram for patrons and partners, held with the cohort before the doors open. Salon, preview or artist conversation — format flexible, details on invitation.
A Chapter by Artifice NYC
Artifice 006
Artifacts from the Vortex · Winter 2027 · production window Aug 2026 to Feb 2027
Twelve artifacts, each a way of getting at something that cannot be looked at straight on: a metabolism, a magnetic field, the light from a planet sixty light years out, a life already filed in someone else’s archive, a supply chain running through a disposable vape. The vortex is the pull that takes things down. What the chapter asks is what comes back up, and who gets to say what it was. Two formats carry it — WHITEBOX leaves the workings open, BLACKBOX closes them and plays once. Every work enters the Artifact Index, and each artist decides what the record keeps.
01 · The Run
FOUR WEEKS
A private subprogram, a public opening, then a month with the lab standing and the stage running on a clock.
Opening night · public
Twelve at once
Six WHITEBOX works open all evening with the workings in view; six BLACKBOX works on a timed cycle of performance and film. Roughly a thousand people across the night.
Weeks 1–4 · open
The lab stands
WHITEBOX holds for the month, roughly twenty open days. BLACKBOX returns on program nights across the run.
Throughout · on the record
The Index
Provenance, attribution, materials and rights entered per artifact. The show is the test; the Index is the finding, and it outlasts the run.
02 · Space
REQUIREMENTS
The venue is in development and is not named here until an agreement is signed. What the chapter needs is specific, and few buildings in the city do it: a gallery that holds six works for four weeks, and a separate room built for performance, running at the same time without competing.
Requirement 01
Gallery, four weeks
Continuous install for six works with the mechanism visible. Daylight welcome. Power and rigging for media work.
Requirement 02
A separate performance room
Blackout, sound, projection, seating or standing on a clock. Must run while the gallery stays open.
Requirement 03
Opening capacity
Circulation for roughly a thousand people across an evening, with the two formats separated.
Requirement 04
Institutional terms
Partnership rather than rental. The budget carries $3,000 cash against $5,000 sought as in-kind.
03 · Phases
FIVE PHASES
Curate, fund, cohort, produce, run. The venue is the gate: terms by Sep 30 or the chapter moves. Everything downstream of the cohort lock waits on money that is not yet raised.
04 · Calendar
AUG '26 – FEB '27
The same phases on the month grid. Stripes stack where phases overlap; gold marks the gates.
05 · Milestones
KEY DATES
06 · Files
WORKING DOCS
artificenyc.org/006
The public page, the proposal, and the decks. Nothing unsigned is named there.
Artifice 006 · Program Budget
The sheet this P&L is drawn from. Expenses, income plan, in-kind split.
The Artifact Index
Where every artifact lands, with provenance and maker attribution. Free to read.
07 · OpsBudget
PROGRAM P&L
The program budget, carried by Artifice NYC (501c3). Drawn from the working sheet: $50,000 cash and $6,000 in-kind, $56,000 total project value. Artists are paid before the doors open — that line does not flex.
| Line | Detail | USD |
|---|---|---|
| A · Artist fees & commissions | $22,800 | |
| WHITEBOX fees | 3 established at $2,000 · 3 emerging at $1,200 | $9,600 |
| BLACKBOX fees | 3 established at $2,000 · 3 emerging at $1,200 | $9,600 |
| Production & materials stipends | 12 artifacts at $200 | $2,400 |
| Artist travel & shipping | Flat pool across the cohort | $1,200 |
| B · Venue & production | incl. $6,000 in-kind | $16,800 |
| Venue · four-week run | $3,000 cash · $5,000 sought in-kind | $8,000 |
| AV & equipment rental | Projection, PA, lighting, playback · $1,000 in-kind target | $4,000 |
| Install / strike crew | 4 techs, 2 days, plus load-out | $2,400 |
| Fabrication & scenic | Pedestals, wayfinding, wall treatment | $1,500 |
| Event & exhibition insurance | GL rider + COI for the venue | $900 |
| C · Events & subprograms | $6,400 | |
| Founding Circle subprogram | Patron convening, invitation only | $1,800 |
| Founding Circle artist honorarium | Featured presentation / conversation | $600 |
| Opening reception | F&B · beverage sponsor target | $1,800 |
| Event staffing & security | Opening night + subprogram | $1,200 |
| BLACKBOX program nights | Timed performances across the run | $1,000 |
| D · Exhibition operations | month run | $4,740 |
| Gallery attendants | ~20 open days, 6 hrs, $22/hr | $2,640 |
| Photo / video documentation | Opening, install, performance capture | $1,500 |
| Artifact Index records | Provenance for 12 artifacts | $600 |
| E · Marketing & communications | $1,700 | |
| Design & print collateral | Program, signage, poster run | $900 |
| Press & paid promotion | Outreach, targeted social | $800 |
| F · Admin & contingency | $3,560 | |
| Ticketing & processing | Platform + card fees | $400 |
| Contingency | ~6.7% of direct costs | $3,160 |
| Total expenses | $50,000 cash + $6,000 in-kind | $56,000 |
| Income plan · projected | nothing secured to date | $56,000 |
| Grants | NYSCA / DCLA regrants, arts & tech foundations | $20,000 |
| Corporate partnerships | Incl. $6,000 in-kind · min. two sponsors, $10K cap each | $21,000 |
| Membership | Founding Circle + Patron | $6,000 |
| Ticketed program | Opening + BLACKBOX nights | $5,000 |
| Individual donations | Newsletter + open call audience | $2,500 |
| Other earned | Artist editions, bar | $1,500 |
| Secured to date | every income line above is prospect or projection | $0 |
Blockers6 open · resolve before the ask ships
The budget balances on paper. It is not funded, and five of the six items below have no owner. Each one is a condition of the chapter happening on this timeline.
- Venue unsecuredTerms gate Sep 30. Everything downstream — scale, install, opening capacity — is provisional until it closes.
- $50,000 unsecuredNo income line is committed. The $20,000 grant block sits in cycles that have largely closed for a January program.
- No curator creditedThe chapter has a curatorial position and no name attached to it. First absence an institution will register.
- Cohort outreach not madeTwelve works identified from the Index. No artist has been approached about 006.
- Interview series unfundedPromised in the proposal, roughly $7,000 filmed or $3,500 audio-with-transcripts. Not in the budget.
- No producerA four-week run needs a production owner. The current team is three people plus admin.
Go / no-go, Sep 30. The chapter proceeds on this timeline when the venue is papered and the first $25,000 is committed in writing. Otherwise the fallback is a one-night opening with a two-week install at roughly $35–40,000, or the chapter moves to autumn 2027.
Underwriting tiers · acknowledgment only, tax-deductible
| Tier | Underwrites | Ask |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter | The cohort’s artist fees; top acknowledgment | $10,000 |
| Lab · WHITEBOX | Six works, four weeks open | $7,500 |
| Stage · BLACKBOX | Performance and film across the run | $5,000 |
| Archive | Documentation and the Index records | $2,500 |
| Community | Access tickets, accessibility, docents | $1,000 |
| Friend / In-kind | AV, F&B, fabrication, print | $500+ |
Caps hold: no sponsor above $10,000, no single restricted source above $25,000. Membership runs alongside — Member at $25/yr, Patron at $150/yr, with the Founding Circle above it. Individual gifts suggested at $500 / $250 / $100 / $50.
Artifice NYC, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 33-2548076. Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Acknowledgment only; no goods or services are exchanged for underwriting.