Present moving-image artwork across 90+ synchronized Times Square billboards
The Times Square Video Art Open Call program from Times Square Arts invites artists to submit completed moving-image artworks for presentation across more than 90 synchronized digital billboards in Times Square. Presented nightly from 11:57 PM to midnight, Midnight Moment is described by Times Square Arts as “the world’s largest and longest-running digital public art program.” Selected works are displayed across screens between 41st and 49th Streets in New York City and viewed by millions of visitors annually. Rolling submissions are accepted through SlideRoom.
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Times Square Video Art Open Call Snapshot
What: Public digital art presentation program for moving-image works
Who: Artists working in moving-image art
Where: Times Square, New York City
Award / Support: Public presentation across 90+ synchronized digital billboards nightly from 11:57 PM to midnight; approximately one-month presentation period; exposure through Times Square Arts programming
Application Fee: $0 submission fee through SlideRoom
Residency Duration: Approximately one month of nightly presentation
Deadline: Rolling submissions accepted through SlideRoom
Official Link: Midnight Moment Proposal Submission
Strategy Coach Note: https://www.patreon.com/posts/strategy-coach-159396324
About the Opportunity
Midnight Moment is a long-running public art initiative produced by Times Square Arts in collaboration with the Times Square Advertising Coalition. Every night, commercial billboards across Times Square pause regular advertising programming for three minutes to present synchronized moving-image artworks. The program spans screens between 41st and 49th Streets and presents a different artist’s work each month.
The program focuses specifically on completed moving-image works. Still images or image sequences are not eligible. Works must function successfully as silent presentations because the billboard system does not support synchronized public audio playback. Artists are encouraged to study previous Midnight Moment projects and consider the visual conditions of Times Square when developing submissions. Times Square Arts notes that successful projects often use saturated or high-contrast imagery and maintain legibility at monumental scale across multiple aspect ratios and billboard formats.
Artists are selected through a committee process involving Times Square Arts staff, billboard operators, and administrators working across public art, design, and video art. The organization also states that it values equity and diversity across artistic approaches, traditions, subjects, and methods of artmaking.
What Is Offered
Selected artists receive:
- Presentation across more than 90 synchronized digital billboards
- Nightly exhibition in Times Square from 11:57 PM to midnight
- Approximately one month of public presentation
- Visibility through Times Square Arts programming
- Exposure to large-scale public audiences in New York City
- Technical formatting support for billboard delivery systems
Who Should Apply
This opportunity is intended for artists working with moving-image formats. The program specifically requests completed works rather than works-in-progress. Projects should be visually legible at architectural scale and adaptable to multiple billboard dimensions and formats.
Submissions Guidelines:
- must be original moving-image artworks
- cannot contain logos or advertising
- cannot include nudity, sex, drugs, violence, overt political messaging, expletives, or religious iconography
- should function successfully without audio
- should be appropriate for broad public audiences
- should avoid title cards or embedded credits
Files for Submission
Mandatory materials include:
- Horizontal format video, 170 seconds (2:50)
- 1–3 still images representing the submitted work
Optional materials include:
- Horizontal format video, 150 seconds (2:30)
- Vertical format video, 170 seconds
- Vertical format video, 150 seconds
- Preview video of additional channels
Technical Specifications
Times Square Arts requires:
- Horizontal video format at 1920 x 1080 px or larger
- No audio
- No embedded credits
- Works capable of cropping and adaptation across billboard aspect ratios
- Preference clarity for single-channel or multi-channel presentation
The organization strongly recommends that multi-channel works maintain a clear visual relationship between channels so the presentation reads coherently across multiple screens.
Why This Opportunity Matters
Midnight Moment remains one of the most visible public moving-image art platforms in the world. The scale of Times Square changes how moving-image work is perceived. Artists submitting to this program should think carefully about duration, rhythm, visual clarity, pacing, color saturation, and the relationship between multiple screens operating simultaneously across an urban environment.
The strongest submissions will likely understand Times Square as a spatial and architectural condition rather than simply a projection surface. Works that operate through clear visual systems, repetition, choreography, abstraction, or monumental visual gestures may translate more effectively at this scale than dense narrative structures or text-heavy works.
Apply
Submit proposals through the official Times Square Arts submission portal:
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Artist: Tomokazu Matsuyama
