Celebrating 15 Years of CaFÉ

By July 30, 2020Blog
Confetti image with text that reads Celebrating 15 Years of CaFÉ

Despite the challenges we are all facing, we are delighted to be celebrating 15 years of providing a premier call for entry management system for arts organizations across the country and beyond. CaFÉ began in 2005 as a response to slide projectors being phased out as organizations were choosing to jury artists’ work via high-resolution digital images instead of slides. With an easy-to-use system to collect information and digital images, CaFÉ helped eliminate mailing costs and provided an efficient and high-quality digital jurying process.

Fifteen years later, online submissions have become the industry standard. From juried exhibitions and studio tours to public art projects and fellowships, we’re proud that we’ve been able to connect hundreds of arts organizations with thousands of artists. Throughout the years, we’ve been committed to improving the experience for administrators and artists — a commitment that stands today. Take a look back on the past 10 years, and stay tuned as we work on future enhancements to make our site even more accessible and efficient.

An infographic highlighting the work of CaFE. It starts in 2005 and goes up to 2020. Below the image is a text version of the timeline.

2005

First Call: Laveen Watercourse Public Art Project
First Organization: Phoenix Office of Cultural Affairs

  • 10 calls posted
  • 9 organizations
  • 1,437 artists

2010

Launch of the Public Art Archive
Began as the sister project of CaFÉ to document public art projects and them more accessible online.

  • 648 calls posted
  • 189 organizations
  • 74,136 artists

2012

Introduced Audio/Video Work Samples

  • 1,214 calls posted
  • 339 organizations
  • 121,938 artists

2020

Longest Active Organization: Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
Organization with the Most Calls: Settle Office of Arts & Culture

  • 7,965calls posted
  • 1,594 organizations
  • 408,380 artists – and counting!

Written by Communications Coordinator Justine Chapel