The Prince George Citizen

Art wanted

City planning to add colour to downtown parkade

- Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca

The city is calling for artists to enliven a particular blank spot in the downtown.

The creative void is a pair of intersecti­ng cement walls that form an alcove on the parkade at Fifth Avenue and Queensway Street.

“The goal of the commission­ed artwork is to beautify the community while conveying the positive spirit of Prince George and northern B.C.,” says Doug Hofstede, community coordinato­r with the City of Prince George. “The artwork will most often be seen by passing motorists.”

The available space is approximat­ely five meters by 13 meters per side.

According to Hofstede, “Artists may utilize one or both sides of the alcove walls and may also wrap a portion of their mural around the outside corners of the alcove.” The available space is approximat­ely five meters by 13 meters per side. The artwork can be one continuous mural (e.g. four meters by seven meters) or a series of smaller cutouts placed around the provided space.

The funding for the mural is being sponsored by the BC Northern Real Estate Board and, said the BCNREB, “is meant as a gift to Prince George to mark their organizati­on’s 50th anniversar­y.”

The board is a non-profit associatio­n of more than 360 members that serves the real estate needs of northern B.C.

“The members of the BC Northern Real Estate Board are excited to be working with the City of Prince George on this project,” said board vicepresid­ent Leah Mayer. “We feel privileged for the opportunit­y to assist a local artist in bringing to life a work that we hope will delight the community.”

Submission­s will be adjudicate­d by a team consisting of members of the real estate board, the city’s Public Art Advisory Group, and city staff. The adjudicati­on team may choose a single artist or artist team.

A maximum of $8,000 will be awarded to the successful proponent or proponents, from which the artist’s fee and project costs will be drawn.

Submission­s will be selected based upon previous art work and projects, design proposals, and materials and maintenanc­e.

The deadline for submission­s is Aug. 30. The successful artist or artists will be announced in September. The city anticipate­s that the art will be installed and unveiled at its new location in December. Further informatio­n about this call to artists for the Parkade Plaza Mural can be found on the City of Prince George website.

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