Organizer Information
Hiding in Plain Site (HPS) is directed by Jack Becker, who has worked in the field of contemporary public art for fifty years as an artist, educator, producer, consultant, curator, writer, publisher, and administrator. Becker is best known as the founder of Forecast Public Art, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, and of Public Art Review, an international magazine devoted to contemporary public art. In the 1980s he served as the first Art in Public Places coordinator for the City of Minneapolis and as Arts Development Manager for the City of St. Paul. He is a recipient of the 2007 Award of Excellence from Americans for the Arts, the 2014 Public Art Dialogue Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2016 Alumni Achievement Award from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and currently advises the Institute for Public Art and the Public Art Exchange.
HPS co-producer Paige Dansinger is an XR artist, curator, educator, and community builder working at the intersection of immersive media, cultural storytelling, public art, and emerging technology. She is Director of the XR Women Museum and Founding Director of the Better World Museum and Horizon Art Museum, and has presented internationally through organizations including MIT Reality Hack, Meta Connect, TEDx Minneapolis, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Augmented World Expo, the Met Museum, Games for Change, and Miami Art Week.
HPS is supported by partners Film North and the International Sculpture Center, and Jack Becker and Paige Dansinger lead the curatorial selection process.
Title & Description
Hiding in Plain Site: International Public Art Short Film Festival (HPS)
An inaugural, curated international screening program of short moving-image works that explore or feature public art across global contexts. HPS aims to shine a light on the often misunderstood, complex global public art ecosystem, increasing awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the field and support for its community of artists. The festival features site-specific work, community-engaged projects, outdoor installations, performance-based work, and experimental approaches to art in public space, and accepts moving-image work across a wide range of forms, including documentary, narrative, video art, animation, experimental media, XR, and AI-generated or AI-assisted original work.
Theme
Public art as it appears in everyday environments across global contexts. Submitted work must meaningfully feature public art — as a main character, subject, setting, or backdrop — loosely defined by the organizers as freely accessible, non-commercial, original creative expression by artists, presented outside traditional cultural venues, temporarily or long-term.
Categories
- Film/Video
- Video Art
- Animation
- Experimental Media
- Documentary
- XR (Extended Reality)
- AI-Assisted/AI-Generated Art
- Public Art
- Social Practice
- Community-Engaged Art
Eligibility
- Open to filmmakers, artists, designers, students, creative practitioners, collectives, and emerging and established creators
- International submissions are encouraged
- No professional filmmaking background required
- One submission per creator or team
- Works must be 2–20 minutes (Standard) or up to 2 minutes (Micro Public Art Short)
- Academic lectures, TED Talks, and TV network–produced stories are not eligible
Program Benefits & Awards
- Inclusion in a curated international screening program, presented in flexible formats including live screening events, looping exhibitions, and hybrid or virtual presentations
- Initial screening presented in Minneapolis during the 32nd International Sculpture Conference (October 22–25, 2026)
- Optional artist engagement opportunities, such as Q&A sessions or informal audience conversations
- Participating filmmakers will be paid a modest stipend, amount to be determined based on revenues generated from presentations
- Artists retain full copyright of their submitted work
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- One short moving-image work (2–20 minutes for Standard, or up to 2 minutes for Micro Public Art Short) per creator or team
- Submission via the online form
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 10 September 2026
- Initial Screening (tentative): October 22–25, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during the 32nd International Sculpture Conference — note: the source materials give a specific tentative event date of October 24, 2026, while the organizer's official FAQ describes the broader conference window as October 22–25, 2026
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Additional Details
- This is HPS's inaugural edition, intentionally eclectic in its range of approaches to public art practice
- Selection criteria include originality, emotional or conceptual impact, and program fit
- By submitting, artists grant permission for screening if selected, and may optionally allow still images or short excerpts to be used for festival-related promotion (website, press, social media); no submitted work will be used for commercial distribution or third-party licensing without separate permission
- Presented in partnership with Film North, the International Sculpture Center, and the Institute for Public Art