The United States Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and ZERO1 are launching a new program: the American Arts Incubator.

American Arts Incubator uses new media and/or mural arts as a means for engaging youth, artists, and underserved community members in overseas communities in Asia to advance U.S. foreign policy by addressing a local community issue, such as women’s empowerment, HIV-AIDS prevention, social inclusion, conflict resolution, and the environment.

Working with a community to develop a tangible art work, the program  aims to reach wide audiences, while also fostering in-depth engagement with specific groups, such as women and underserved youth. To further community engagement, the traveling American artists conduct workshops, master classes, talks, public events, and/or other outreach activities, in addition to designing and executing murals and/or new media art work.

Under this program, American artists will travel abroad to Laos, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines for one month to lead an arts incubator and a microgrant program for new media and mural art projects.

ZERO1 is calling innovative digital and mural artists with a passion for community-driven art and an interest in international travel to apply to participate in the American Arts Incubator.

Participating overseas locations are: Laos, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. One artist or artist team will be selected for each location and will be responsible for creating a public art project plus overseeing a unique microgranting program to facilitate community-driven art in that location. Artists will participate in a training session located at ZERO1’s headquarters in Silicon Valley in advance of traveling overseas and will be expected to help document their experiences via an online project portal.

The program runs from May 2014 – August 2015. Core dates for participation include a week of training in San Jose, California, scheduled for Summer 2014. International travel will be 3-4 weeks in late 2014 or early 2015. Specific dates will be determined collaboratively by the Artist, U.S. embassy, and ZERO1.

Artists need to be driven self-starters, comfortable working independently, and open to supporting local artists overseas to create collaborative artworks. Artists must be U.S. citizens at least 18 years of age and currently residing in the U.S.

The Artist will receive $7,000 honoraria for participation, plus an additional budget to cover public art production costs overseas. This budget will be determined during a pre-travel proposal time period, based on approval by ECA, the respective U.S. embassy, and ZERO1. Airfare, accommodations, and basic travel costs also are covered by the program.

Applications are due no later than  Sunday, March 2, 2014. For more information, visit http://www.zero1.org/opencall/incubator