Frequently Asked Questions

These are the most frequently asked questions by participants.
You will likely find answers to some of your questions listed below.

The Basics
• What is a Group Action?

A Group Action is when a group of 50 or more people come together to create a public installation in a location of their choice. Through their poster size portraits they convey a message or a cause that they are passionate about.

• What is the role of a Group leader?

A Group Leader is responsible for organizing the Action, being regularly in touch with the Inside Out Team, gathering participants and creating the installation for their Group Action. Leaders are encouraged to collect personal stories from participants and passersby, spread their message over social networks, contact their local press, and create video content to strengthen their statement.

Submitting Your Action
• What is in an Action Statement?

A Group Action Statement is the message that your community stands behind. It answers the question: What do I want to tell the world through my Group Action? This can be a cause you are passionate about, a story you want to tell, a movement you want to start, a celebration you want to commemorate, and more! If you would like to say more about your Action than fits in a statement, or want to share your experience, send us an email and we will create an article on our News page for you!

• Are there topic restrictions?

Anyone can participate in the Inside Out Project with the message of their choice! However, we will not tolerate statements promoting hate.

• Can I use Inside Out to advertise my brand, product, or organization?

Inside Out cannot be used for any commercial purposes, or be affiliated with promoting any organization, NGO, product, company, fundraising, or brand in any way. Our goal is to focus on personal stories and statements, not on the actions of a specific organization or parties. Keeping Inside Out free of branding is very important to us. Therefore, sponsors should remain anonymous and no logos, brands, or products may be used in conjunction with any Group Action or its documentation; including but not limited to photos, videos, audio, social media posts, etc. The Inside Out Project is free and can not be used for any lucrative purposes. Posters cannot be sold for money.

• Can I create an Action without donating?

The Inside Out Project is a global participatory art project that lives on thanks to the generosity of our participants. We encourage a contribution of 20 US Dollars per poster in order to cover printing and shipping costs and ensure a future for the Project. We recognize this amount is out of reach for many and do not want to discourage anyone from participating. Feel free to give a smaller amount as all donations are welcome! You can make a donation through your user account. Please keep in mind that sponsors must remain anonymous.

Education
• What is Inside Out Education?

Education Actions are used to teach youth about a wide range of topics including self-expression, community values, issues of art and public spaces, school subjects, and many more. These Actions are created in/but not limited to schools, camps, youth programs, or educational organizations, and can use the Inside Out Curriculum as a tool to involve youth in the Action.

• What is the Inside Out Curriculum?

Our curriculum consists of a set of activities and lesson plans that can serve as a guide for students and ​​educators​ ​​to​ ​engage with their young participants and spark a conversation. Educators are encouraged to adapt their activity to their school program, age group, and context. The Inside Out Project can be used to expose youth to themes such as self-expression, self-love, street art, community, and many more classroom topics such as sustainability. We welcome any feedback or suggestions.

• Inside Out Education One Pager

Check out our Education One Pager!

The Community
• How do I get involved with the Inside Out Project?

Create your own Action

Participate in an Action by having your portrait taken, or lending a helping hand. Connect with leaders through their Action Page and ask them how you can help.

Create your own Inside Out User Account to engage with the Inside Out Community. With it, you can bookmark the actions you love, engage with Group Leaders from all around the world, and discover Actions tailored to your interests.

Inside Out Education: Use the Inside Out Project as an educational tool to make learning more interactive and fun.

• How do I get in contact with an Action leader?

Group Action Leaders can choose to be contacted by other community members. You can contact them by clicking on the “Contact the Group Leader” button on their action page. They will be notified of your contact request and get back to you.

• Is there an Action going on in my city right now?

You can find ongoing Actions around you by exploring the map, zooming in to your city and using the upcoming filter. You will see all of the Actions in the stages between Action Approved and Action in Progress.

• What countries and territories has the Project traveled to?

Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antarctica, Arctic, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, French Polynesia (FR), The Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guadeloupe (FR), Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong (CN), Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, La Réunion (FR), Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Martinique (FR), Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte (FR), Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia (FR), New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico (US), Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Georgia (UK), South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Portraits
• What are the portrait guidelines?

Make sure your portraits are cropped to the face! If your hands or props are not close to the face we will, unfortunately, have to crop them out.

Have your participants make an expressive face!

There should be only one person per portrait.

Make sure you only send us one portrait per participant.

We love your pets too but the portraits should only be of human faces!

The subjects shouldn’t be wearing sunglasses and no brands or logos should be visible.

• Who needs to sign a release form?

To be part of a Group Action, all participants must sign a model release form. If the participant is a minor (under 18 years old), they need a legal guardian to give authorization on their behalf. You will not be able to submit your portraits until all of your participants have a signed release form.
All footage submitted by the Group Leader, including the portraits, must be accompanied by a photographer release form.

• How do we sign release forms?

Your Action’s release forms are in your Action Management portal. You can choose to use the simplest method which is digital release forms or physical/pdf releases.

Digital: Share the link provided on your dashboard with all of your participants. Once a participant has signed a release form, you will be able to select their name from the list when matching your portraits with their releases.

Physical/pdf: Have all of your participants sign a release form which is available in your portal. Then, scan the releases and upload them individually to the release form step. You must indicate the first and last name of each participant so you can then select their name from the list when matching your portraits with their releases.

• What are image file requirements?

Please do not edit the images, we will take care of that!

All images must be sent as a JPG or TIFF (no PNG or RAW).

Images should be more than 1MB but no larger than 10MB.

The image’s resolution should be of at least 200dpi/ppi.

Smartphone photo quality works great!

• Where do I find the Inside Out backdrop?

You can take your portrait using any backdrop which does not show any logos or brands. We recommend that you use a neutral background to keep the attention on your participants (but feel free to get creative). You can choose to use the Inside Out backdrop by printing it yourself.

• How do I upload the portraits?

Have all of your participants sign a digital model release form (available in your user account).

Upload all of your participants’ portraits and match their image to their model release form by selecting their name from the list. If the participants’ name does not appear on the list, make sure that they have signed a model release form. You will not be able to submit your portraits until each one is matched with its form!

Choose how you would like participants’ names to appear on your Action Page. By default, the name displayed will be the participant’s first name and initial unless edited.

We encourage you to interview your participants and share a quote from them with their portraits.

The Posters
• What dimensions are the posters?

All posters are printed in black and white on 36in x 53in/90cm x 135cm paper. A Group Leader can choose to print the portraits themselves.

• Can you print the poster differently?

All posters are printed using the same format. The Inside Out Team does not print larger sizes as it is important for the homogeneity of the project that everyone follows the same standards. We only print the posters in black and white and on paper. If you would like different material or bigger posters you can opt to print locally.

• What is a Self-Print Action?

A Self-Print Action is an Action for which the posters are printed locally. Our team processes (edits and crops) the Action’s portraits and shares the ready-to-print poster files with the Group Leader. We need at least 50 portraits to print an Action’s posters ourselves. If you have less than 50 portraits, you can choose to print them locally.

• How soon can I receive my posters?

It takes us 4 weeks from the moment you send us the portraits to the moment you receive the posters or ready-to-print images. Please plan ahead and give us as much notice as possible when creating a timeline for your Action to make sure you have your posters in time for the installation.

If your package gets stuck in customs, contact the shipping company and see if there is anything you can do. Different countries have varying customs restrictions that we, unfortunately, cannot control. Feel free to contact us and we will help any way we can.

The Pasting
• Where should I paste my posters?

To bring your Inside Out Action to life, posters must be displayed in public outdoor spaces that are visible to as many people as possible. Make sure to start looking for a wall and getting authorizations early on. If you can’t find a wall, be creative: paste on the floor, put them up in windows, on cardboards, etc.

• How do I make glue? How do I paste?

You should use wheat Paste/wallpaper to paste your posters on a wall. It can be bought in-store or made at home, using sugar, flour, and water.

Learn how to paste with this video

• How do I remove the posters?

To remove the posters, use a power washer or strong hose. This method will not damage the building or structure unless it is very delicate.

• How long will my posters stay up?

The length of time a poster stays on a wall depends on many factors, such as the texture of the wall, the weather, and how accessible to passersby it is. Acrylic medium can sometimes be added to the glue to make it stronger but can possibly leave traces on the wall.

Documenting the Action
• What are Installation Images?

Installation Images are photos and videos that document the installation of your posters, your pasting, and the community’s interaction with it. 

You can also include recorded testimonies, quotes, news articles, and stories told by the participants, or any additional content that may bring your Action to life on your Action page.

• What is Behind the Scenes footage?

Images that document your process. Take photos and videos of your photoshoot, your glue making, your pasting prep, and all of the stages you go through to create your installation. Documenting the ‘behind the scenes’ of your action is a great way to show the evolution of your Action and share your experience with a wider community!

• How should I address the press?

Make sure you read the press guidelines before talking to the press and send us your article or press release to be reviewed by our team before they are published.

Photobooth Trucks
• What is a Photobooth Truck?

Photobooths truck Actions bring the printers directly to the streets – allowing the public to participate instantly and for free! Participants enter the Photobooth and our camera snaps their portrait. Within one minute, a black and white poster is printed. Participants then take the posters to paste in a public space in their home communities.
You can learn more about Inside Out Photobooth Trucks here.

• Can I get a Photobooth truck for my Action?

Scheduling depends on budget, location, and availability. Please keep in mind that we do not have the means for the trucks to travel for free, and additional fees do apply. You can inquire about getting a Photobooth Truck for your Action on our dedicated page.

JR
• Can JR help us paste/speak at our event/meet us?

Your Group Action should put your community forward, so as not to take the attention away from your community, JR does not participate in Group Actions on that level. Inside Out is about highlighting the message behind the posters and using JR’s past projects as inspiration, not about JR himself. We credit all Actions to you, not JR.