Friday · 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 · a weekend, winter 2027 · production window Aug 2026 to Jan 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
THREE DAYS
A private subprogram on the Friday, a public opening on the Saturday, a second public day on the Sunday. The lab stands across all three; the stage runs on a clock.
Saturday · public
Twelve at once
Six WHITEBOX works open with the workings in view; six BLACKBOX works on a timed cycle of performance and film. Roughly a thousand people across the night.
Sunday · public
Second day
The lab stays open with the artists in the room. One more BLACKBOX cycle, then strike.
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 across a weekend, and a separate room built for performance, running at the same time without competing.
Requirement 01
Gallery, three days
Six works installed with the mechanism visible, plus a load-in day either side. 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 $2,000 cash against $3,000 sought as in-kind.
03 · Phases
FIVE PHASES
Curate, fund, cohort, produce, run. A weekend instead of a month cuts the venue ask from a four-week hold to three days, which is the difference between asking an institution to give up a slot and asking it to host an event. The venue is still the gate: terms by Sep 30.
04 · Calendar
AUG '26 – JAN '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
Chapters | 006
Where the work moves. Phases and gates on this page are the plan; Asana is the contract on what is assigned and to whom.
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). Rescaled from the working sheet for a weekend rather than a four-week run: $46,900 cash and $4,000 in-kind. Artist fees do not flex; operations and the venue line come down with the days. The Drive sheet still carries the four-week figures and needs updating to match.
| 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. $4,000 in-kind | $13,800 |
| Venue · weekend | $2,000 cash · $3,000 sought in-kind | $5,000 |
| 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 | weekend | $2,628 |
| Gallery attendants | 2 days, 2 people, 6 hrs, $22/hr | $528 |
| 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 | $3,571 | |
| Ticketing & processing | Platform + card fees | $400 |
| Contingency | ~6.7% of direct costs | $3,171 |
| Total expenses | $46,900 cash + $4,000 in-kind | $50,900 |
| Income plan · projected | nothing secured to date | $50,900 |
| Grants | NYSCA / DCLA regrants, arts & tech foundations | $18,000 |
| Corporate partnerships | Incl. $4,000 in-kind · min. two sponsors, $10K cap each | $18,000 |
| 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 | $1,400 |
| 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.
- $46,900 unsecuredNo income line is committed. The $18,000 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 producerLess acute across a weekend than a month, but three days still needs a production owner. The current team is three people plus admin.
Go / no-go, Sep 30. The chapter proceeds when the venue is papered and the first $25,000 is committed in writing. The weekend is already the reduced shape; the remaining fallback is a single opening night at roughly $38,000, or a move 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 in development, open across the weekend | $7,500 |
| Stage · BLACKBOX | Finished work, performance and film, on a clock | $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.