The City of Peterborough’s Public Art Program is continuing its efforts to make Peterborough the public art capital of Ontario with two new calls for proposals for projects in downtown Peterborough: a new mural at the YES Shelter for Youth and Families on Brock Street, and artwork for the new plaza at Aylmer and Simcoe Streets beside the renovated Peterborough Public Library.
As a result of previous calls for proposals under the program, two murals have already been installed under the Hunter Street Bridge (by Toronto artist Kirsten McCrea and by Edmonton artist Jill Stanton), and another mural has been installed on a building on Simcoe Street near Alymer (by Peterborough artist Alex Bierk).
Another proposal was issued this past April for a UN Peacekeepers monument to be installed at the new Charlotte Street Urban Park at the Louis Street municipal parking lot (where the Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market is held during the summer months). The finalist for that project is expected to be announced this month.
The mural project at the YES Shelter for Youth and Families is the first of two public art competitions to create outdoor murals this summer. It’s the second phase of a five-year initiative, conceived in partnership with the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), to commission public art murals on private sites in the city’s core. The projects are intended to generate and continue interest and awareness of public art in the downtown.
The first mural by Peterborough artist Alex Bierk, “Passing Cloud” was installed last year on a building near the southeast corner of Simcoe and Queen Streets in downtown Peterborough.
The YES mural project, which has a total budget of $19,500, is open to professional artists working in Peterborough, Northumberland, Durham, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton, Hastings, Lennox & Addington, Frontenac, or Prince Edward Counties.
The application deadline is midnight on Friday, July 14th, with the mural scheduled for completion and public launch in September. For more details and to submit proposals, visit publicartprogrampeterborough.submittable.com.
The public art project for the Aylmer and Simcoe Plaza is open to professional artists and designers who are permanent residents of Ontario and has a total budget of $50,000. The submission deadline is midnight on Thursday, July 13th, with the project expected to be completed along with the plaza itself in the fall of 2017.
Details of the call for proposals are available at akimbo.ca/107625. All proposals must be be submitted at publicartprogrampeterborough.submittable.com.
