Black Lives Matter Murals Project
The deadline for the two request or qualifications have been extended to June 30, 2021 and the deadline for the two request for proposals have been extended to July 7, 2021.
Pink Flamingo’s Black Lives Matter murals series opens two requests for proposals and two requests for qualifications on June 2, 2021, to be completed in Calgary this summer.
Oki, Danit’ada, Aba Wathtech, Tawnshi. We recognize this mural takes place on land with a deeply rooted history with the Nations of Treaty 7.
As we organize this project we acknowledge the Blackfoot, Stoney Nakoda, and Tsuut’ina Nations, as well as Métis Region 3, as communities who continue to protect and take care of the land for generations to come. We hope this mural creates a space for us to remember our past, respond to our present, and look towards the future, and we thank the Indigenous community for their work and knowledge.
Supported by The City of Calgary, Calgary Arts Development, Beltline Urban Murals Project, artist Katie Green, and in partnership with Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Pink Flamingo is working to bring four Black Lives Matter-inspired murals in the summer of 2021. The intersectional mural series will celebrate the under-represented marginalized communities in Calgary.
Council voted to fund the murals as part of Calgary’s commitment to anti-racism in June of 2020. Following community consultation done via survey and direct engagement with community organizations, we are pleased to announce a request for proposals (RFPs) and requests for qualifications (RFQs).
Our RFQs and RFPs are for murals that will be dedicated to Black youth, Black elders, urban Indigenous citizens, and QTBIPOC, respectively. Based on our jury’s deliberations, shortlisted artists will be asked to submit a design in the following weeks for mural sites TBA.
This first-of-its-kind project demonstrates The City of Calgary’s commitment to anti-racism and public art. It will employ and represent BIPOC Calgarians in a way that has never been done before. It is led by the populations it aims to represent.
We are pleased to partner with Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) on this endeavour.
Pink Flamingo has spent months working alongside the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) on its anti-racism efforts. We welcome the organization’s genuine interest and support in our murals project. As one of the largest arts organizations in the province, it’s important that CPO truly represents the population of the city it calls home. This project begins to bridge the gap between two artistic cultures that have historically been separated.
The CPO has provided a new commissioned work by composer Laura Hawley to be performed by its chorus. Artists are asked to consider the music in their submission, and the ways in which street art and classical music have been kept apart by systemic racism. The CPO will take video footage at each mural site during its creation as part of this project.
By allowing the mural artists to honestly respond to CPO’s commission, this collaboration shows us a genuine representation of what is possible when these two artistic practices are invited to collide.
Both the request for proposals and requests for qualifications can be found at pinkflamingo.ca.
Artists will be chosen between June 30 and July 14. Submissions will be reviewed by a jury of community members who represent diverse lived experiences in Calgary. All murals will be installed by September 2021.
Pink Flamingo continues to welcome community input. Find our engagement surveys on Linktree. Artist submissions may be addressed to pinkflamingomurals@gmail.com BIPOC artists are eligible to propose artwork for the mural. In addition to a fair fee for their work, selected artists will receive materials, equipment and personnel support from Pink Flamingo and its partners throughout the implementation process.
About Pink Flamingo
Pink Flamingo is a Black-led advocacy organization that uplifts the QTBIPOC community in our city by creating events, workshops, education, and safer spaces. Pink Flamingo proudly employs BIPOC visionaries.
Pink Flamingo partnership initiatives have created a vast network of artists and organizers of diverse experience, including an ambassador program that provides access to far-reaching corners of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community. Pink Flamingo is also connected to VOICES, Treaty 7’s coalition of Black, Indigenous, and racialized 2SLGBTQIA+, by representation of leadership on its board. Pink Flamingo has brought events to life and built artist networks with arts groups like Femme Wave, Sled Island, Vogue YYC, Snap Canada, and Umoja Sessions.
Submissions and/or questions should be addressed to pinkflamingomurals@gmail.com.
For more information, visit pinkflamingo.ca.
In line with our mission to support underrepresented voices and strive for equity, we are working to support community members who are disabled, Blind, have low vision, are Deaf, hard of hearing, neurodivergent, and/or immunocompromised. To learn more about accessibility options available (including alternative ways to apply) please contact us at pinkflamingomurals@gmail.com.
