Opportunity
The Ballard Alliance and the Ballard Public Art Committee are working in partnership to incorporate more public art to the streets of Ballard through the Utility Box Beautification Project. By covering these permanent, nondescript elements of the street with artwork, we can create a more interesting pedestrian experience, promote community identity, and deter graffiti.
We are looking for an artist to provide multiple (2-3) digital designs for the vinyl wrappings that will cover the utility boxes for 5-10 years. The wraps consist of five panels, one of which will include a map that highlights places to shop and dine in Ballard.
About the Project:
Along Market Street, between 17th and 24th Ave- nue, there are six large metal Seattle Department of Transportation signal boxes. These utility boxes are necessary for controlling electrical equipment and can be transformed from being anonymous elements of the urban landscape to displays of artwork and neighborhood identity by having them covered in digitally designed vinyl wraps.
These wraps not only bring an element of public art to the street, but they greatly reduce the amount of graffiti on the boxes and the maintenance hours required to clean them. The wraps themselves consist of five panels, each panel must be digitally designed in order to be professionally printed on heavy-duty vinyl.
Utility box decoration can be seen in many other cities like Spokane, Renton, Olympia, and Tacoma, and various neighborhoods around Seattle like First Hill, Fremont, West Seattle, U-District, and South Park.
Qualification Details
Inquiry contact:
All inquiries must be directed to our Point of Contact:
Kiana Ballo
Community Development Coordinator
Kiana@ballardalliance.com
Submission Requirements:
Deadline for submittals: January 14th, 2018
This is an open competitive process.
To submit your application for consideration please include the following:
• A cover sheet with your name, phone number, email address, and website (if applicable)
• A resume that includes your exhibition history, past projects, and/or experience with cooperative community-driven projects (max 2 pages)
• A minimum of three examples of previous work with brief descriptions
• A statement of interest including your vision for the utility box designs and your artist commission fees
Evaluation Criteria:
• Artistic quality exemplified in previous work
• Ability to think and work in a scale appropriate for outdoor public artwork
• Ability to convey community identity through art
• Ability to relate to multiple audiences (pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, drivers)
• Ability and willingness to create utility box wrap designs according to the community’s needs and the project budget
• Finalist entries may be subject to public vote on design
Address for Submitting Qualifications:
Please email PDF submissions to our point of contact: Kiana Ballo -Kiana@ballardalliance.com
Submittals by mail accepted if postmarked by January 14th, 2018 sent to the following address: Ballard Alliance
C/O Kiana Ballo – Ballard Public Art Committee 5306 Ballard Avenue Suite #216
Seattle, WA 98107
• Please print submittals double-sided and minimize the use of non-recyclable materials
To learn more, please see:
http://www.visitballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/RFQ-Utility-Box-Project.pdf
