Art Bus RFQ: Info Session Video & Transcript

Natasha Jensen: So I’m Natasha Jensen. My pronouns are she and her.

Tiffany Wollman: I’m Tiffany Wollman, also she/her.

Natasha Jensen: And we work for the Calgary Arts Development and are the Public Art Project leads for the Art Bus project. We’re also joined by our Pattison colleague, Roxanne Trudel, the bilingual creative director who will be answering technical design questions regarding the call.

The purpose for this session is to provide an overview of the Art Bus project and the role of the artist on this project. We will also be going over the application process and answering any questions you may have. We will not be going over every detail in the program application. There is a lot of information in the guidelines, so please make sure to read them carefully before you apply.

If you do have questions, feel free to add them in the chat throughout the meeting and we can go over them at the end of the session.

Tiffany Wollman: All right. I’d like to honour our land acknowledgment. We acknowledge that the land we gather on, Mohkinsstsis, is the ancestral territory of the Siksikaitsitapi — the Blackfoot people — comprising the Siksika, Kainai and Piikani Nations, as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina Nation and the Îyârhe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki and Goodstoney First Nations. Today this land is home to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government Districts 5 and 6 as well as many First Nations and Inuit peoples from across Turtle Island. We acknowledge that there has been art, music, dance, storytelling and ceremony on this land since time immemorial, and it is in the spirit of this land and its people that we do our work. Let’s get started.

Natasha Jensen: So for this presentation, we’re going to be doing things a bit backwards. We’re going to be talking with Pattison’s creative director Roxanne first, who will answer any technical questions that you have regarding the templates or file structures. So Roxanne will be our main design consultant throughout this program. So if selected, you’ll be working quite closely with her. And I’ll let you take it, Roxanne.

Roxanne Trudel:  Hi everyone, I won’t keep you too long. I’m not sure if any of you have looked at our templates at all. I don’t want you guys to get too overwhelmed with the technical, it could be a little overwhelming looking at it all. I will be here to help you guys through the whole process. Just something to keep in mind, you’re working with a very horizontal canvas. The blue line around the entire bus is what you need to work within. We have the pink line, which is where it will get cropped off. The artwork will be placed in the templates and you guys will be able to see what everything looks like. The specifications of the canvas is roughly 32 inches by 7 inches at 900 DPI.

So the artwork will need to be at a higher resolution. That’s something we can check for you guys. I believe you will get assistance as far as scanning or providing the proper files. On some of the windows, you notice there’s like a little asterisk. The yellow ones is just showing that it’ll be a perforated material, so it could be a little darker and you’ll see through it. Around the window areas, the gaskets are cut, so if there’s any text, it could be compromised in those smaller areas. And then there’s also windows that are labeled where you can’t cover at all. I see that there’s a question here. Can I see the pink and blue lines? Do you have that on your presentation posted right now?

Natasha Jensen: Yes, we can see the Calgary Transit bus and you do see the blue lines around it.

Roxanne Trudel: You see the crop lines all around the bus. There’s a blue thin line, and then that’s just to show the area, you have to kind of create the area to see that. Okay, perfect. Other than that, I can’t really think of anything else. I have provided Photoshop files, if ever you guys do want to try to work within those parameters, the resolution and file size is created exactly the way it needs to be created.

And then that’s it for me. Do you guys have any other questions or anything like that? Can you guys think of anything else that might be useful? Will the colour be accurate? So the colour, I guess it depends on how it’s, I guess it depends on what the medium is and how you’re getting it scanned. Colour proofs could probably be provided if ever colour is something important for you. Does that answer your question at all?

Natasha Jensen: And if the images are digital, the artist could provide Pantone colours?

Roxanne Trudel: Oh for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Okay. And, sorry, just another note. We don’t print in Pantone colours, we print in CMYK. Okay, but if you provide us with a Pantone swatch, the printers would be able to try, like they would match that Pantone swatch the best they can.

Does the image have to be one solid image? I guess it depends on, sorry, I’m just reading. Does the image have to be one, sorry, my, yeah…

Natasha Jensen: That would be more of a, that depends on your proposal Corey. Right. But this, the vinyl wrap is offered to both sides of the bus and the back.

Roxanne Trudel: Yes, we will, you guys could provide the artwork and we can place it on the template for you.

Natasha Jensen: Awesome. Are those all the questions we have?

Heather Campbell: I see there are a few more questions in the chat. And one of the questions was, is there a link to the specifications? And apologies, this is Heather speaking. Is there a link to the specifications? I just I can’t remember if it was in the call or not.

Okay. So there’s a link to the specifications in the call. Another question that came through was can we just submit the artwork and you can place it on the template? Yes, yes. Okay. And I was just answering a message directly, but maybe it would be good for other people to know what type of files are acceptable for when they’re submitting their artwork.

Roxanne Trudel: If it’s like, if it’s created digitally, a vector or EPS file would be the highest resolution possible. We work in Photoshop usually, so a photoshop file, a high-res JPEG, a high-res TIFF would be acceptable as well, a high-res PDF.

Heather Campbell: Perfect. Thank you. Another question is, technically you can have more than artwork in that case. Maybe I didn’t understand the whole question there.

Natasha Jensen: Ideally the whole bus is an artistic concept, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t propose multiple styles, it depends on how you would like to work within this project.

Heather Campbell: Another question is the application is asking for up to 10 images. Are the images to see our artistic style or are the images supposed to be the actual bus submission or actual submissions for the bus?

Natasha Jensen: It’s a great question. The 10 images, because this is a request for qualifications, we’re seeking to see if you’re qualified to be able to take on a project like this. And no, we do not want to see a final pitch because that’s too much work.

Heather Campbell: And so that’s another question is they’re asking about when is the proposal submitted? And so it’ll be after you’re selected, you will work on your proposal and with the project team. And if you want a template to fill in, that is something that can be supplied.

We’ve got another question asking how many artists will be chosen?

Natasha Jensen: That’ll be five.

Heather Campbell: Perfect. I think that’s all of them. If I missed any, please don’t hesitate to put it in the chat again.

Natasha Jensen: Thank you, Heather, and thank you so much, Roxanne. And it was really lovely to see you again.

Roxanne Trudel: Yeah, no problem. Thank you for having me, you guys. We’ll see you soon. Okay. Bye.

Natasha Jensen: Okay. We’re going to continue. Thank you for letting us do this backwards, and then we can continue. So now we’ll go on with the rest of our presentation. If you do have any additional technical questions, please email Tiffany and I and we can connect you with Roxanne. For your reference. Here is our contact information. The slides will be up at the end as well. If you’d like to take a screenshot or write it down, it will also be included in the guidelines and you can reach out to both of us with any questions about our best project, the application process, or more information about the Calgary Arts Development.

Tiffany Wollman: All right. Our Vision: We are going to start with some information about Calgary Arts Development and the Public Art program. Calgary Arts Development has created a strategic framework that supports and nurtures diverse art and artist-led city building to foster not only a resilient and sustainable arts ecosystem, but also to achieve a truly equitable, inclusive and accessible city where everyone belongs.

Our overarching vision is a creative, connected Calgary through the arts, where everyone is empowered to live a creative life. Our mission: The arts have the power to create vibrant communities and bring together design diverse voices and perspectives. We support artists in the development of their skills and the expression of their creativity. Calgary Arts Development supports and strengthens the arts to benefit all Calgarians. As the city’s designated Arts Development Authority, we invest and allocate municipal funding for the arts provided by the City of Calgary and leverage these funds to provide additional resources to the arts sector.

Our programs support hundreds of arts organizations, individual artists and artist collectives in Calgary.

Natasha Jensen: As the arts development authority, we are uniquely positioned to deliver/create future public art programs built upon knowledge of, and strong relationships with the arts community. As of 2021, Calgary Arts Development is engaged in a multi-year transition with the City of Calgary to take over as operator of the Public Art program.

We are creating a Public Art program that is engaging, relevant and accountable. This program can reflect the rich diversity of the city, including connecting with Indigenous voices to tell the past, current and future stories of Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. Our intent is to foster meaningful connections and dialog between artists and community, utilizing art in the public realm to reflect Calgary’s diverse stories and values.

Calgary Arts Development’s Public Art role is commissioning new artwork through open competition programming. For example, youth programs, artist development and temporary exhibitions, building public art awareness and activating the public art collection, while the City is responsible for Public Art collection, conservation and maintenance activation of public art collection.

Tiffany Wollman: EDIA/Commitment to Equity: Calgary Arts Development is committed to working with communities that have historically been underserved. We are guided by the core principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility. We are committed to the process of eliminating institutional racism, ableism and barriers in our programs, policies and practices by centring the creativity and leadership of those communities most impacted by structural inequities. Our commitment outlines a vision for a city where Calgarians of all backgrounds can access and participate in art as part of their everyday lives.

The four pillars of this vision are:

1. Equity. Creating equitable access for Calgarians who have had less opportunity for philanthropy and governmental support due to systematic barriers that exist in our community.
2. Diversity. Support artistic endeavors that reflect our diverse community and in supporting the work of artists of diverse backgrounds.
3. Inclusion. Engaging a wide variety of voices and perspectives in shaping and furthering the work that we do.
4. Lastly, Accessibility. Eliminating systematic barriers that prevent people who encounter physical, mental or cultural barriers to spaces, programs and services from participating in the arts.

To honour lived experience and the intersectional and unique experiences of different people and communities, we follow a ‘nothing about us without us’ policy. So if you are creating work about a specific community, that community needs to be actively engaged and consulted and there needs to be a clear, intentional and reciprocal relationship.

 Aligning with our commitment to EDIA, we will strive to work with applicants in a one-size-fits-one way. If you have any concerns about how your practice or concept fits into our application process, please reach out.

There are things that we will not tolerate, such as hate speech, cultural appropriation and active exclusionary behaviour. So please be aware that applications or concepts that contain this will not be accepted.

Natasha Jensen: So, Calgary Arts Development is committed to open, fair and transparent processes. There are two policies available to anyone who may need support to apply to this program, the Accommodations and Accessibility Policy and the Application Assistance Policy. We will work one-on-one with the applicants who experience barriers to access to develop accommodations that suit their unique abilities and situations and continually seek to learn and address inequities in our programs and processes.

We can provide funds to support application assistance. For example, we can help cover the cost of translations of written material into other languages, including ASL, transcriptions, verbal meetings, or audio and video recordings into written documents, language interpretation for meetings and application writing assistance. So if you’re looking for assistance or have questions about eligibility, please reach out before applying.

You can also email the public art team at publicart@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or you can reach out to Tiffany and I directly. Please reach out as early as you can so we can provide appropriate support. Booking translators, for example, can take two weeks or more.

Our application assistance program requires a one-time approval, so if you were granted an accommodation for this application, you will be pre-approved for any future applications with the Calgary Arts Development. If you are facing any barriers to complete or submit an application, reach out to us and we can help. You do not need to tell us specific details about the barriers you are facing. Only that you are looking for accommodation.

Tiffany Wollman: Here’s a quick overview of the Art Bus project timeline: Applications are accepted until June 12 at 4:30pm MT. We encourage submitting your application as early as possible. Late submissions will not be accepted. All applications will be reviewed and evaluated in June 2024 by an assessment committee of peers and experts on this project. The five successful applicants will be notified July 8. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email.

If selected, Art Bus artists will be expected to begin working and develop their bus designs by July 15. Depending on availability of artists and City Transit, there will be engagement opportunities to visit the bus depot and learn more about the behind the scenes of the public transport system. There will be a check-in at the end of July to confirm proper file sizes in anticipation of the final design, as well as concept approval.

Final artwork files are submitted to Pattison on August 30. The busses will get wrapped in vinyl middle of September. Fun fact is that the process of bus wrapping happens at midnight. Okay. And then at the end of September we will have a celebration date and activities are to be determined, and the busses will run for 12 weeks from when they are wrapped.

Natasha Jensen: So the Calgary Arts Development invites artists and artist collectives to submit qualifications for an opportunity to wrap the exterior of one of five public transit busses with new artwork. This means we are looking for local artists who can respond to proposed themes throughout their work, through their work have demonstrated artistic skills and approach needed to deliver compelling design for this project.

These busses will be in service for 12 weeks, about three months, in fall of this year. This project will also end in December. In addition to the exterior bus wrapping, there are interior display opportunities that could share, that could share information about the artists and the reproduction of their pre-existing work. This portion is a fantastic opportunity for thousands of public transit users to read about your intention with the design on the public wrap and your artistic practice.

We welcome artists in any stage of the career residing in Calgary/Mohkinsstsis or surrounding communities, and who have a connection to Calgary to apply.

Tiffany Wollman: Here are some examples provided by Pattison of what the full vinyl wrap will look like with the appropriate cut out sections. So you see the bus drivers’ window is cut out bigger, like the air intake and outtake is exposed and cut out, the windows are perforated.

Natasha Jensen: Good looking bus.

Tiffany Wollman: Yeah, the front of the bus is still the Calgary colours, but yeah, we hope that helps. All the lights and reflectors for safety won’t have the artwork on them.

Natasha Jensen: So up to five artists and artist collectives will be selected through this request for qualification. Selected artists will work with the Calgary Arts Development to develop and refine an original artwork in response to one of the following themes that consider the multiple contexts of Calgary and the communities the bus will connect with:

• Honouring Indigenous stories and perspectives.
• Share stories and Indigenous cultures, traditions and histories.
• Share contemporary Indigenous perspectives and ideas.
• Explore paths towards reconciliation and inspire dialog, understanding and change. Another theme is public transit as a social space. Social Space. Explore the social dynamics of public transit as a shared space, where people from diverse backgrounds come together to create moments of interaction, connection and community building.
• Reflect on the role of transportation and community in shaping urban landscapes and connecting communities.
• Share stories of your community. Delve into your experiences of how you relate and connect to the community around you.
• Celebrate diverse communities and rich cultural histories.
• And lastly is bring beauty, joy, whimsy and hope. Share a sense of whimsy, pride and joy with Calgarians and visitors.

Tiffany Wollman: Program Goals:

• Provide opportunities for artists of all levels to share their artworks and stories.
• Bring public art into a variety of areas and communities that may not historically have as much public art.
• Educate Calgarians about what public art can be and how it can change the landscape.
• Create connections between different areas in our city.
• Provide pedestrians and drivers with an engaging visual art experience.
• Enhance the overall experience of people who use public transportation.
• Celebrate Calgary’s cultures, communities, histories, geography and diversity.
• To provide a temporary and impactful public art experience for all Calgarians.

Natasha Jensen: So the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, we’re going to go over that a bit. The artwork will then be enlarged and printed onto vinyl and wrapped on the exterior of the bus and all works artworks must adhere to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and be approved by the Calgary Arts Development, the City of Calgary and the Calgary Transit.

In addition, the artworks will not be approved if:

• Artwork does not comply or respect with cultural protocols.
• Artwork that uses or presents indigenous culture, materials, traditions, knowledge or stories without express permission from the community and/or a clear connection to the original originating community.
• Artwork that willfully or in bad faith promotes intolerance, hate, hatred or hate speech to incite violence or harm.
• Artwork that encourages activity that is illegal or contravenes provincial and federal law or municipal bylaws.
• Artwork promoting contests or competitions or fundraising activities undertake undertaken to raise funds on behalf of political party or charity.
• Artwork related to a campaign for specific political candidates or party in an election and Artwork that would be construed as advertising.

The artwork needs to abide by the Canadian codes of advertising standards because this project is on the City of Calgary property. This means selected artists will be sensitive to following these standards, to ensure artwork is appropriate to a general audience.

Here’s an example of a bus wrap template that indicates where the vinyl, where the rack will be, and where the cut outs for the driver visibility. (inaudible) is going to be really great to help work with that artist’s placement. For art displayed inside the bus 5 to 10 images, a pre-existing artwork will be selected. These images are not required to respond to proposed theme and are instead a way to showcase your body of work. Selected images can be reprinted up to 35 inches width and 10 inches height. Images must be a resolution of 150 DPI be CMYK format can be delivered either as a .tif or .eps file format. If fonts are included and must be supplied as the Mac Postscript type one, true type or open type format, or converted all text to outlines. If colour match is critical, accurate proofs that match the desired colour rendering or Pantone colour references must be provided.

All artworks must be original and belong to the artist. Here’s an example of what one of the final interior panels would look like.

Tiffany Wollman: Project Budget. Artist fee — successful artists or collectives will be paid $9,000, not including GST, if applicable, per art bus. This total all-inclusive amount includes all costs associated with engagement, creation and communication for the artwork. This does not include scanning. In addition, selected artists and collectors will be provided with transit passes for the duration of the project July to December.

Natasha Jensen: So the selected artists will participate in an engagement activity facilitated by Calgary Arts Development. Create and refine an artwork, an original artwork that responds to one of the proposed themes. Submit their artwork for comments, revisions and approval.

Artwork must be original to the artist and created for the purpose of this call. The artist will also work with Pattison’s design team to adjust their artwork to fit the bus and address parts of the bus that need to be vinyl-free.

The bus interior may also display reproductions of the artist’s pre-existing work, subject to approval by the Calgary Arts Development, The City of Calgary and Calgary Transit. Artists will supply an installation layout that identifies the order of the artwork and accompanied text for each interior card. The selected artists will also develop and provide an artist statement bio, and we can work with you to create those if you don’t already have one, and the artist will, these will be used to communicate about the project. And the artist will work with the Calgary Arts Development staff to communicate the project at different levels of the development, participate in celebration events in front of City Hall and provide a brief artist talk about their artwork and involvement in the project.

The artist’s scope of work and budget does not include printing, installing or maintaining the bus wrap and the artworks reproductions. These tasks will be financed separately and managed by the Calgary Arts Development. And just so you are aware, final artwork is executed as a vinyl wrap and you are not painting a bus.

Tiffany Wollman: Eligibility. This opportunity is open to artists and collectives of all experience levels that are local or with a connection with Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. We encourage submissions from artists who are typically underrepresented, including BIPOC, Black, Indigenous and people of colour. LGBTQIA2S+ identifying individuals, d/Deaf persons and persons with disabilities. If you have any questions about eligibility or accessibility accommodation, please reach out to us directly.

Files for Bus Wrap. Artists are expected to work closely with Calgary Arts Development Public Art Project Team, staff from the City of Calgary and Pattison’s design team. Artworks will be subject to approval at various stages throughout development by Calgary Arts Development, the City of Calgary and Calgary Transit. Selected artists must use the provided template and work closely with Pattison’s graphic designers to ensure they are preparing files that can successfully convert into exterior vinyl bus wrap.

Vinyl styles must have a resolution of 900 pixels per inch, be in CMYK format and be delivered in either active or .eps file format. If files are included, they must be supplied in that postscript type one draw type or open type format or convert all packs to outlines. If color match is critical accurate proof that matches the desired colour rendering or Pantone colour references must be provided.

Natasha Jensen: So the application to the program will be reviewed by an independent assessment committee made up of artist peers, community members and subject matter experts. The membership of the Peer Assessment Committee will be chosen through public nomination and staff expertise. Assessment committees are chosen to represent the broad diversity of Calgary and its artistic communities, including but not limited to artistic discipline, gender, sexuality, age, religion, beliefs, nation, physical and neurological identities, etc.

Assessment committees are held by the Calgary Arts Development’s Group Agreements, a commitment to open, generous and respectful evaluations and communications. You can read through the group agreements through the link in our guidelines. Anyone can participate on a Calgary Arts Development Assessment Committee by completing the assessment nomination form online or by emailing the Public Art at Calgary Arts Development dot com email.

Tiffany Wollman: Selection Process. Evaluation — Submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria: Letter of interest will be worth 50 points and there’s a 500 word maximum. In the letter of interest, please explain your interest in this opportunity and your connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. How will your experience in art practice contribute to this project? Talk about your selected theme and why you chose it. Describe how you would respond to that theme. How this opportunity supports your practice. Curriculum Vitae 20 points. It should be a demonstration of relevant experience in public art, visual art or design, including experience providing digital artwork, files. Images will be worth 30 points. Please submit a minimum of five and up to ten images of existing finished artworks uploaded as individual media files.

The following information must be included for each image: title, date, size materials and a brief description. The images help with the demonstration that this artist’s work lends well to the medium and is a demonstration of artistic skills and approach needed to deliver a compelling design for this project. Only selected artists will be asked to create a new artwork for the bus exterior based upon the themes indicated in the call.

Artists are responsible for ensuring that submissions are received by the deadline. Any application not received by the closing date and time will not be considered. Only send images of artwork for consideration. Do not send materials that have not been requested as they will not be reviewed. The application process is competitive. The assessment committee will review all eligible complete applications and assess qualified applicants.

Decisions of the Selection Panel Assessment Committee are final, and the Assessment Committee reserved the right to select no applications. The scoring process and that the committee members follow will review applications and rate the level to which they agree or disagree information meets the project criteria listed in the section above based on the following scale: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. Those are, yep.

Natasha Jensen: These are all in the guidelines.

Okay, So we are now going to watch a brief video provided by Helen Hu, the Public Art Coordinator, to go over the process of how to apply online, and the online application and greater detail. Helen will also be available over email at publicart@calgaryartsdevelopment.com if you have any about Smart Simple.

Helen Hu: I’m going to go over how to apply for a program. We use an online platform called Smart Simple. If you already have an account with us, you can log in right away to start or continue your application by clicking on the log in button here. If you do not already have an account with us, you will need to create one and set up your profile prior to opening an application.

You can do so by clicking Create an Account here. If you’re an individual artist, please select individual artist and likewise for artist collectives, you will need to fill out all the mandatory fields within the form here. Once you are finished, please click I am not a robot and submit. You should receive an email from Smart Simple to finish setting up your password.

The Open Opportunities page will display all the open opportunities available for applying to. You will see a short description of each program listed here and if you would like to download a PDF copy of the program guidelines, click on View. When you are ready to apply for the program, click on Apply to begin your application. You’ll be directed to this page where you will click Begin Application.

You’ll notice that the first tab within the application is contact information. The following section of the application will automatically populate based on the information provided in your profile. It’s important that you keep all of your profile information up to date prior to submitting your application. The portions of your profile that are reported over include the type of applicant you are: individual artist or artist collective. Artist resume or curriculum vitae will be ported over here as well. Your artistic discipline, years of practice and your artistic practice Statement. A common troubleshooting topic is if this area is empty or if your art artist, resumé or CV is not here, it means that your profile is not complete or that you haven’t uploaded this in your profile.

You can do this by navigating to this icon at the top right corner and clicking my profile. You want to make sure that all of this information is complete and that you click on Submit Profile here. The second tab within this application is submission requirements. You’ll be asked how you’re heard about this call. You’ll be asked to include a letter of interest and support material for the letter of interest Please refer to the evaluation guidelines in the call to artists.

There you will see the specific questions that need to be responded to within your letter of interest or support materials. Please make sure you submit a minimum of five images and a maximum of ten images within this media gallery. You can click on Browse Files here or you can drop files within this window. You’ll see the file types that are allowed in here.

Once you have completed uploading all of your images to the photo library, you will need to provide some more information such as the title, your completed size, the medium, and a brief description that includes the location, if applicable. You can do this by navigating to the icon just below the image and it will see properties. The default title will be the file name, but you can change this to the title of your artwork.

You can select from the calendar the date that the artwork was completed or dimensions. You can enter the dimensions of the artwork. And if this is not applicable, you can enter not applicable for medium to medium. It is, and you can provide a brief description of the artwork. You have a maximum of 100 words for the brief description.

Once you have completed all the necessary fields, you can click on Save. You’ll need to do this for each image that you uploaded, like to save the progress in your application and come back to work on it at another time. You can click on Save Draft Here and you can always navigate back to your application from the home page by scrolling down to my applications and in drag status I have so I can click on open, and it will take me back to my application.

And here, when you were ready to submit your application, you can click on Save and validate. This will let you know if there are any mandatory fields that you have not yet completed. And when you are ready to submit your application, you can click on Submit Here. There will be a splash page that asks if you are sure you want to submit your application.

There’s a reminder that your profile must be up to date prior to submitting because there are portions that are ported over from your profile.

Natasha Jensen: Awesome. Such a helpful video.

So we can define public art as public in the public realm that is initiated and led by an artist. But we also have to include the importance of context in creating art for public realm.

Public art responds to the place where it is situated, its histories, the community that surrounds it and interacts with it, and its landscape and natural environment.

Tiffany Wollman: Contacts. If you have any questions or need any help completing the application, please contact us. Calgary Arts Development is committed to open, fair and transparent processes. If you have questions, any, and want help with feedback on your application or if it’s your first time applying, please don’t hesitate to contact us as early as you can to ensure we can provide the best support possible.

We can provide feedback on your application up to 10 days before application deadline. And as a reminder, applications close on June 12, 2024, at 4:30pm.

Natasha Jensen: So thank you so much, everyone, for your time. This was this was fun, and we look forward to your applications.

Heather Campbell: Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Natasha and Tiffany. Thank you so much. Goodbye.

When is my application due? 

Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 4:30pm MT. 

Am I eligible to apply to the Art Bus RFQ? 

This opportunity is open to self-identifying artists and collectives of all experience levels who are local or have a connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. Please share and describe your connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis in your letter of interest.   

We encourage submissions from artists who are typically underrepresented, including: BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour), and people who identify as LGBTQIA2S+, d/Deafand persons with disabilities. We will also accept applications from members of Treaty 7 nations living within Treaty 7 territory (Southern Alberta) if they can demonstrate a connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. 

Where do I find the bus template? 

The bus template will be provided to the artists selected to participate in this opportunity. 

Where do I find what to include in my letter of interest? 

What to include in your letter of interest can be found in the guidelines in the section called Program Criteria and Scoring. You can download the full guidelines here. Art Bus RFQ Guidelines 

What are the themes to select from for the Art Bus project?  

A detailed description of the themes can be found in the guidelines in the section called Project Description. The themes for the Art Bus project are: 

• Honour Indigenous stories and perspectives 
• Public transit as social space 
• Share stories of your community 
• Bring beauty, joy, whimsy and hope 

If in this application I am not submitting artwork for the bus exterior, then why am I asked to select a theme and describe how I would respond to that theme? 

The creation of an original artwork for the bus exterior must be in response to one of the themes included in the guidelines. Your application is your chance to discuss, if you were selected for this opportunity, what theme you would choose and how you plan to respond to it. The assessors will evaluate how your artistic practice and history make it a suitable theme to explore and how meaningful and appropriate your proposed response is to your selected theme. 

The images submitted in the application should be what file type and size?  

Image files must be a JPEG format and should be a minimum of 72 dpi. You can submit a maximum of 10 images and the sum of the image files may not exceed 2 GB.  

Can my original artwork for the bus include words? 

If you are selected as an artist for this project, you will be given a template and design parameters to adhere to. The inclusion of words will need to be discussed and approved beforehand.  

Do I need to be a digital artist? 

No, you do not need to be a digital artist. However, working with digital files and submitting them will be required of selected artists for this project. If you are a selected artist, you may work digitally or in another medium that will need to be converted into a digital file to be printed on the vinyl wrap. Being able to work with digital files is crucial for this project, so assessors will be evaluating applicants on their previous relatable experience.