Call To Artists
Call Summary
Artists who are residents of Maryland are invited to submit qualifications to paint an outdoor mural celebrating Downtown Wheaton and its variety of cultures. The purpose of this project is to help make Wheaton a truly enjoyable place to walk where people can experience art daily. It is intended to enhance our sense of community as well as attract visitors to strengthen our local economy. The deadline to submit qualifications is January 31, 2022 at 5:00 PM.
Three semi-finalists will be paid $1000 each to prepare design concepts. One finalist will be selected to complete their design and install the mural. The projected budget is $32000. The completion date for the mural is September 9, 2022. This project is conceived and run by The Art and Walkability Project in partnership with One Montgomery Green. It is funded in part by the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC). MSAC’s Public Art Across Maryland (PAAM) program is supporting this planning process.
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Project Description
This is a commission for a new outdoor mural of approximately 2000 square feet on the side of an existing building. The building is two stories and faced primarily with glazed brick. The selected artist will finalize their design and provide up to two iterations to respond to comments. The artist will be responsible for materials,
insurance and rental of equipment such as a lift. The artist will coordinate with the property owner who will prepare the wall. The commission includes community engagement which consists of the artist providing a teaching session on-site for several local art students, a presentation for the public and a brief online voice recording about the mural.
The Art and Walkability Project is partnering with One Montgomery Green to commission the mural. The Art and Walkability Project is a local group of residents and business owners promoting walkability using a strategy of incorporating art on surfaces and structures in the public realm. One Montgomery Green (OMG) is a Montgomery County non-profit operating as a 501c3 organization. OMG’s focus is sustainability which includes promoting walkability and reducing dependence on cars. This project is suited to either an individual artist or a team of artists.
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Budget Description
The artist’s commission is for delivery of the mural with community engagement. The projected budget for that work is $32000. The artist will be responsible for materials, rental of equipment, and insurance. The artist will coordinate with the property owner on the wall preparation. If we find we must work with a smaller budget, we will discuss this with the artist. This will occur after we receive all notifications concerning our grant applications and complete our fundraising in August 2022. If the budget is smaller than projected the artist may revise the size and complexity of the design accordingly. Therefore, one of the selection criteria for the final design is mural size flexibility. We want a design that the artist is comfortable modifying to fit a final budget. This is important to us to state here because we are committed to honesty, transparency and paying the artist fully, fairly and on time. We will share our fundraising strategy and progress freely.
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Artwork Goals
The goal of this project is to celebrate Downtown Wheaton and its variety of cultures. It is also to help make Wheaton a truly enjoyable place to walk where people can experience art daily. It is intended to enhance our sense of community as well as attract visitors to strengthen our local economy.
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Artwork Location Description
The mural will be outdoors at 11301 Georgia Avenue which is a highly visible location on a main boulevard running through the center of the Wheaton Arts and Entertainment District. It is one block from the Wheaton Metro Station and two blocks from the new Marian Fryer Town Plaza. The mural will be painted on the side of a corner building marking the entrance to Price Avenue and its variety of local restaurants. The mural will be approximately 2000 square feet in size. The wall is faced with glazed brick and includes a door to businesses on the second floor which has a row of punched windows. The first floor includes a 3-section plate glass window for bakery customers seated inside looking out.
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THE CALL TO ARTISTS
The purpose of the Call to Artists was to generate submittals from many talented Maryland artists. It was conducted to be inclusive, equitable and ensure that our local artists submitted. The outreach for the Call to Artists was energetic. It included distributing promotional business cards, posting custom flyers in each of the eight languages used by local businesses. The Call to Artists was published on PublicArtist.org which is used by the Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) to reach artists in Maryland. We sent notices to regional and local arts organizations, used social media; Wheaton Patch; NextDoor and had help from our friends at Wheaton Arts Parade and contacted Montgomery College. We also sought out local mural artists and invited the to submit their work. Our goal was to attract ten submittals and we received forty.