Fitzsimons Innovation Community Teaching Artist for Public Mural

Fitzsimons Innovation Community (FIC) and Aurora Public Schools are partnering to foster meaningful engagement between students, educators, and the community through public art. FIC is seeking a teaching artist to guide a 12th grade class at Charles Burrell Visual & Performing Arts Campus (Burrell Arts) through the collaborative creation of a mural on FIC’s campus during the 2026/27 school year.

The mural will celebrate FIC’s mission and values while providing students with hands-on experience in the creative process, mentorship from a professional artist, and exposure to career pathways in the arts and creative industries. Through this program, the teaching artist and students will develop a meaningful artwork that aligns with the program’s guiding principles and criteria, creating a lasting contribution to the FIC campus and the broader community.

Fitzsimons Innovation Community (FIC) and Aurora Public Schools are partnering to foster meaningful engagement between students, educators, and the community through public art. FIC is seeking a teaching artist to guide a 12th grade class at Charles Burrell Visual & Performing Arts Campus (Burrell Arts) through the collaborative creation of a mural on FIC’s campus during the 2026/27 school year.

The mural will celebrate FIC’s mission and values while providing students with hands-on experience in the creative process, mentorship from a professional artist, and exposure to career pathways in the arts and creative industries. Through this program, the teaching artist and students will develop a meaningful artwork that aligns with the program’s guiding principles and criteria, creating a lasting contribution to the FIC campus and the broader community.

The following sections describe the Partnership Program managed by Fitzsimons Innovation Community (FIC) in collaboration with NINE dot ARTS, and share information on how to apply as a teaching artist candidate.

Program Mission

The mission of the partnership program between Fitzsimons Innovation Community and Burrell Arts is to unify the FIC community through inspiring artwork that engages Burrell Arts in meaningful opportunities for professional development.

Program Vision

If the partnership program achieves its mission, art projects will successfully:

-Illuminate FIC’s mission, vision, and impact through meaningful artwork

-Provide Burrell Arts students with hands-on learning experiences and professional development opportunities

-Create lasting value for the Aurora community through collaboration, education, and inspiring public art experiences

Guiding Principles

Below are six guiding principles for the Partnership Program, which should be thought of as best practices to follow whenever possible throughout the program lifecycle and in regards to mural design:

-Creative

-Visually Striking & Meaningful

-Localized Impact

-Educational

-Community-focused

-Collaborative

Teaching Artist & Student Benefits

-Unique Creative Opportunities: Student access to environments that inspire and inform artistic creation.

-Funding and Resources: Provide stipend to support the teaching artist's work.

-Networking: Opportunities to collaborate with professionals across various fields, fostering interdisciplinary connections.

-Public Engagement: Opportunities to interact with diverse communities through workshops, talks, or public art projects, enhancing the impact of the teaching artist's and students’ work.

-Professional Development: Developing new skills or expanding portfolios by engaging with large-scale or mission-driven projects.

Award

A Partnership Program stipend of $25,000 to be awarded to a selected teaching artist and will include teaching artist fee, classroom presentations, mentorship, project execution, and all materials.

Separate art installation fund of $6,000 will include all prep, scaffolding and installation for one mural location to be administered by NINE dot ARTS in collaboration with teaching artist.

Timeline

8/31/26 - Call Opened

9/20/26 - Call Closed

9/21/26-9/28/26 - Evaluation and Selection

9/29/26-10/5/26 - Artist Contracting

Week of 10/5/26 - Kick-Off Meeting and Planning Session with Burrell Arts

October-November 2026 - Teaching artist classroom sessions and mural design

November 2026-January 2027 - Presentation of mural design, revisions, and final approval

February-March 2027 - Student presentation and mural installation prep: permitting, planning and logistics

April-May 2027 - Mural Installation

Submit the following to be considered:

-Full name

-Biography

-Artist Resume (teaching artist applicant must have prior teaching experience working with students in an education setting)

-Artist Statement, if applicable

-Website and social media handles

-Work samples or 3-5 images of previous work

-Proposed concept for teaching sessions and student engagement and how these fulfill the program’s mission, vision and guiding principles 

Scoring Guidance

-Qualifications: Does the artist demonstrate the appropriate qualifications to perform the proposed work and/or public activation?

-Adherence to Guiding Principles: Does the artist’s proposal align with the program’s Guiding Principles?

-Visual Impact/Engagement: Does the artist’s portfolio/proposal offer a visually striking and unique story, inspire the viewer, or compel engagement with Fitzsimons Innovation Community and the broader community?

-Education: Does the artist or artwork invite interactivity and education around professional growth or life sciences learning?

-Longevity: Does the proposed artist’s portfolio indicate murals with timeless appeal and that appear to be well maintained?

Contact Information

Application Questions:

erin@ninedotarts.com

FIC Contact:

ltroge@fitzsimonsinnovation.com

-Participating teaching artists must live in Colorado.

-The art may not include copyrighted materials or brands. 

-The artwork should reflect and celebrate connections to the local community, the state of Colorado, and/or life sciences.

-The art should be easy to maintain and durable.

-The teaching artist must provide meaningful mentorship and guidance to students  in the creation of a public artwork.

-The teaching artist should agree with the terms and conditions in the contract agreement.

-Participating teaching artists must provide a summary of their work and, if applicable, ideas for how it could be utilized in creative, flexible ways in the future to support FIC’s ongoing program goals. 

-Teaching artists must receive approval prior to using the FIC or Burrell Arts logos in any events or programs occurring outside the scope of the partnership program.