UKAI Projects is launching this Request for Partnership in response to a cultural and institutional moment defined by overwhelm, disconnection, and symbolic breakdown. Across sectors, we’re witnessing a hunger for meaning that metrics alone cannot satisfy. The rituals of innovation have grown predictable. The rebrands are losing their resonance. And while artificial intelligence accelerates everything, fewer people know what story they’re in anymore.

We are offering a different methodology: one honed by artists, tested in complexity, and grounded in care. Since 2017, UKAI has been working with high-potential individuals and organizations to transform how they engage with creativity—not as an accessory or communication tool, but as a methodology for structural and symbolic change. We believe this is a time to take risks—not reckless ones, but intentional, rigorous ones that expose new ground. Artists and cultural practitioners have long developed tools for navigating uncertainty, for transforming estrangement into insight, and for building meaning where systems falter. This accumulated practice has shaped an approach that is not only sincere but also urgent. We are inviting partners into encounters that shift how they think, act, and relate.

This RFP is an invitation to institutions and organizations that are ready to rehearse new modes of learning, change, and participation. It is sincere. It is demanding. It will feel unfamiliar. And it is built to be shared.

Traditional Residency Model:
Organization identifies problem → Artist creates solution → Organization implements result

UKAI Model:
Organization names tension → Artist leads discovery process → Collaborative navigation of complexity

Anticipated Scenarios:

• Tech company: Artist spent 4 months examining "innovation fatigue," resulting in new approaches to creative risk-taking across teams

• Museum: Artist embedded in community engagement, leading to programming model shift after discovering performative listening patterns

• Healthcare org: Artist intervention in staff communication revealed hierarchical barriers; process paused mid-engagement for leadership restructuring, resumed 6 months later

Artists’ presence doesn’t seek to solve an assumed problem—it exposes what the problem really is.

Minimum Investment: $20,000 CAD

Access Commitment:

• Senior leadership participation from selected organization (minimum 2 hours/week)

• Staff time allocation across departments, recognizing that the inquiry and artistic methodology are learned and shared through encounters, engagement, and direct action

• Providing visibility into internal data, meetings, and decision-making processes

• Physical workspace and administrative support

Process Agreement:

• Artist leads creative direction during the engagement without institutional oversight

• Documentation of process (including challenges) for field learning

• There are no predetermined deliverables; instead, outcomes emerge through a shared process of discovery and response

• Up to 6-month timeline commitment

The absence of a final product is not a lack—it is an intentional design choice that prioritizes emergence, adaptation, and systems-level insight over packaged outcomes.

Sample Week:

• CAD $20,000 + tax

• 1 week

• Single department

• 15–20 staff

Tier 1:

• CAD $100,000–$150,000 + tax

• 3–4 months

• Single department

• 15–20 staff

Tier 2:

• CAD $150,000– $250,000 + tax

• 4–6 months

• Cross-departmental

• 25–40 staff

Tier 3:

• starting from CAD $250,000 + tax

• 6+ months

• Multi-site/systems

• Organization-wide

All tiers include facilitation, documentation, and evaluation support via UKAI Projects.

1. Organizational Challenge(1 page)

   • Internal tension or structural question you want examined

   • Why creative intervention is needed now

   • What meaningful change might look like (without specifying how)

2. Access and Participation(1 page)

   • Leadership and staff availability commitments (Who, at what intervals)

   • Types of information and process access you can provide

   • In-kind resources (space, communications, administrative support)

3. Investment Details(1 page)

   • Selected tier and budget confirmation

   • Timeline and decision-making authority

   • Previous creative collaboration experience

4. Organization Profile(1 page)

   • Mission, scale, recent strategic initiatives

   • Link to website or annual report

5. The non-refundable application fee is a shared investment in the process, design, and alignment. The sliding scale fee contributes to the curatorial and infrastructure that makes these partnerships possible.

Organizational Budget, Application Fee (CAD)

Under $5M: $500

$5M–$25M: $1,000

Over $25M: $1,500

Sample Week (1 week):

Organizational listening and cultural mapping, followed by artist-led interventions designed in response to observed dynamics. Engagements include direct interaction with staff, culminating in synthesized reflections and actionable provocations. UKAI provides follow-up to support internal conversations and identify opportunities for further collaboration.

Full Tiers (up-to 6 months):

From initial discovery and collaborative process design to deepened creative intervention and adaptive integration, each engagement is punctuated by structured reflection with the UKAI team. This arc is non-linear and responsive, supporting both staff and artists through evolving relationships, emergent insights, and continuous recalibration based on institutional dynamics.

Possible Outcomes:

• New frameworks for internal collaboration

• Shifted approaches to external engagement

• Process changes in decision-making or communication

• Cultural insights leading to structural adjustments

• Recognition that different work needs to happen first

• Periods of discomfort, ambiguity, or tension as part of the transformative process

Documentation Requirements:

• Bi-weekly reflection sessions with UKAI

• Written process documentation for field learning done by dedicated staff at host organization in collaboration with UKAI

1. Phase 1: Application review (organizational fit and readiness)

2. Phase 2: Applicant interview

3. Phase 3: Decisions published with runner-ups

4. Phase 4: Final partnership agreements and payment

Organizations will be matched with artists based on challenge alignment, not aesthetic preferences. Shared inquiry shapes the arc of the engagement—no final project scope is defined in advance.

• Artists retain full creative ownership over the intellectual, relational, and methodological dimensions of their work throughout the engagement.

• Both parties commit to honest reflection when approaches don't achieve intended results

• UKAI facilitates learning from stuck moments, not just successful ones

• Documentation includes what we tried, what shifted, what remained unchanged

• Organizations may implement process insights internally, but artistic methodologies—such as frameworks, scores, or conceptual models—may not be replicated or commercialized without consent.

• If artistic approaches are adapted into products, training modules, or other commercial applications, artists are entitled to 50% of derived value in perpetuity.
  Value may include IP licensing, derivative frameworks, organizational tools, or systems embedded directly from the artist’s contribution.

• Either party may pause the engagement to recalibrate, with UKAI facilitation available at a rate of $1,450/day

• All partnerships contribute to public learning through anonymized case studies

• No predetermined success metrics; evaluation is based on integrity of process, mutual learning, and conditions for transformation