Call for Artists - Parkette Mural

Please note that the Call for Artists - Parkette Mural deadline has been extended. All submissions must be received by Friday, August 2, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. 

Project Summary

The City of Brantford seeks to commission a muralist or mural collective to create a mural on the west wall of the Brantford Public Library (173 Colborne Street) in late summer/early fall of 2024. Eligible artists are invited to respond to this call by providing an application which should include details as requested in this Call for Artists.

The commissioned artist will be selected through an open stage juried process. The project budget of $15,000.00 CAD (inclusive of HST) includes all costs directly associated with the artwork: including taxes, artist fees, production, materials, equipment rental, installation, and other professional services, insurance, permits, travel and other incidental and production expenses. It is the City of Brantford’s intent to utilize the entire project budget to complete the Parkette Mural.

Background

This mural is part of a larger project to create a community performance stage to enhance community wellbeing and create space for live music in the downtown core, while also beatifying and developing an under-utilized space. This mural will create a visual element and backdrop for the artists performing on the new stage. All applicants should be aware of La Landscape de Kanata, a public art piece installed adjacent to the proposed mural wall. The successful mural will be one that works with this public art piece to enhance and compliment the space to create visual cohesion in the parkette. This area will include a performance stage, picnic tables and development of the garden landscaping directly under the mural wall. Learn more about La Landscape de Kanata.

Mural Location

The project location is on the west side of the Brantford Public Library (173 Colborne Street). The surface area of the mural location is approx. 796 sq ft. The wall substrate is painted brick. 

Artist Qualifications

A successful artist or artist team will be selected based on qualifications demonstrated from their submitted application. Which include:

• Previous artistic excellence demonstrated through previous samples of work
• Letter of intent
• Past experience of managing and facilitating projects or public art competitions of similar scopes and sizes
• Assessment and review of references

The artist/artist team selected by the jury as the winner and approved by City Staff will enter into a contract with the City to create the final public artwork.

Application Requirements

Professional artists/artist teams are invited to respond to this Artist Call by submitting a single PDF document. This PDF document should be labelled with the name of the artist and project (Name_Brantford_Parkette_Mural.pdf). The successful muralist/group must score a baseline of 14 points out of 20 to be eligible for consideration.

The single PDF document should include the following:

• Letter of Intent: Suggested two-page in 11-point font. Outline of artistic experience, ability, approach and interest in this project, and community, highlighting relevant experience. While proposals are not accepted at this stage of the competition, we encourage artists to speak to the artwork themes in this letter.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV): Suggested 3-page maximum. Detail professional experience as an artist, past public art experience, and other information relevant to this Artist Call. If applying as a team, provide one CV per team member.
• Artistic Support Material: Suggested of ten (10) images of work. For each image, a title and image number should be provided. If applying as a team, please only submit a total of ten (10) images.
• Support Material List: A written list that clearly outlines the Artistic Support Material (above) with corresponding titles and numbers. Include the following details in order of: Title, date, location, commissioning agent (if applicable), budget, dimensions, medium/materials and a brief description of the works (Suggested 50 words each).
• References: Names and contact information (current email and phone number) for two (2) references (preferably from recent public art projects) with their role and affiliation listed. 

Note: If applying as a team, please list team members and submit required credentials for each. Please also only provide the contact information for the designated lead contact person. The contract will be between the City and the lead contact person for the collective/group.

This project has a tight turnaround time to ensure 2024 installation and will require the selected artist/artist team to complete the proposals and project components within the above timeline.

How to apply

Submissions must be received by Friday, August 2, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. EST. Late applications will not be accepted. Applications must be uploaded below as one .pdf not exceeding 50 MB in size. Emailed, faxed or mailed applications will not be accepted. It is the respondent’s responsibility to ensure the application package is complete and submitted by the posted deadline.

Questions and requests for clarification will be received at culture@brantford.ca until July 26, 2024 at 12 p.m. EST. Any answers to questions that require additional information will be posted here, please check back regularly during the dates of the Artist Call. We thank all interested artists for their time, only the successful artist will be contacted. If you have any questions, please contact culture@brantford.ca. 

Submit your application