Open Call: SFMOMA Artcade

In the spirit of competition, coinciding with the upcoming Get in the Game exhibition, SFMOMA invites artists, designers, and creators to propose an interactive game that will be available for visitors to play in the museum’s Koret Education Center on Floor 2. The museum welcomes games on various platforms, from digital to non-digital to mixed, including board games, phone games, video games, or live action role-playing games.

The museum will select up to ten semifinalists who will be invited to submit a full proposal with an attached honorarium of $250. An esteemed panel of jurors from the games community will select three finalists who will receive an honorarium of $2,000 each to develop their proposal into a game for presentation in the Koret Education Center from October 15, 2024–March 1, 2025.

Competition parameters

  • Proposal submissions are due Sunday, April 21, 2024, by 11:59 p.m. PDT..
  • Submissions should incorporate at least one of the following themes:
    • Disruption: breaking records and rules
    • Space: considering physical space in the field of play
    • Spectacle: the dynamic between players and fans
    • Pushing the limit: extraordinary expectations for mind/body
    • Design evolution: aesthetics and practicality
  • Semi-finalists will be notified by May 1, 2024. Semi-finalists will then receive a full request for proposals (including but not limited to a full project description, timeline, budget, project team, and contract), an opportunity to meet with museum staff for virtual office hours, and an honorarium of $250 on receipt of their completed proposal.
  • Semi-finalist proposals will be due on Friday, May 31, 2024, by 11:59 p.m. PDT.
  • A jury of SFMOMA staff, esteemed game designers, and artists will choose three to five winning entries. Each selected entrant will receive a $2,000 honorarium to develop their game. Winners will be notified on Wednesday, June 18, 2024.
  • You may work independently or collaboratively; individuals, collectives, and high school, college-level, or adult class groups are all welcome to apply.
  • The game should include age-appropriate designs and mechanics (ages 8+) and consider non-readers.
  • Koret Education Center is a free-to-access space on Floor 2 of the museum that is a gathering place for school groups, a public program space, and exhibition space.

About Get in the Game

Opening in fall 2024, Get in the Game brings together over one hundred works of art, design, interactive installations, and media on the significance of sport in contemporary culture. From the Olympics to the local recreation league, sports constitute a powerful social force that can promote health, cultivate a sense of community, drive economies, and spur social progress. Bringing out the best and the worst in humanity, sports is both a collective and a highly personal subject for many contemporary artists, who respond to the inner drive of the athlete, the almost religious fervor of the fan, and the tension between individuals and dominant institutions and systems that govern how games are played, and who gets to play them.

Submit a proposal