Art Bus RFQ 2025

Natasha Jensen: OK. Thanks, Tiffany. So hi, everyone. Welcome to the online information session for Art Bus Request for Qualifications call. First, we’re going to go over some housekeeping before we get started. Just so everyone is aware, we are recording, and we also are recording the Q&A, which will be, and the recording will be available on the website within two weeks.

Please make sure, sorry, please make sure when the presentation starts to turn off your video and leave your microphones off while the presentation is in progress, and if you do have any questions or concerns throughout the presentation, please put it in the chat or privately message Heather Campbell and she can answer those questions for you.

And this is my colleague, Tiffany Wollman, and I’m Natasha Jensen, my pronouns are she and her.

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

Natasha Jensen: And we work for the Calgary Arts Development, are both public art project leads for the Art Bus project. The purpose of the session is to provide an overview of the Art Bus project and the role of the artist on this project.

We will also go over the application process and answer any questions you may have. We will not go over every detail of the program application and there are a lot more information in the guidelines, so please make sure to read them carefully before applying. If you do have questions, feel free to add them in the chat.

Tiffany: All right, our land acknowledgement.

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 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.

Natasha: Thank you, Tiffany. So, Public Art. We can define public art as art in public realm that is initiated and led by an artist, but we also have to include the importance of context in creating art for the public realm. Public art responds to the place where it’s situated, it’s histories and communities that surround it and interact with it in its landscape and natural environment.

If you have any questions about the Art Bus program or application assistance, please feel free to contact us. This slide will be up at the end as well if you would like to take a screenshot or write it down. It’s also included in the guidelines and there’s also a staff page on our website where you can find us as well, and you can reach out to both of us with any questions about the project and application process or more information about Calgary Arts Development.

Tiffany: Calgary Arts Development: 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 is the arts have the power to create vibrant communities and bring together diverse voices and perspectives. We support artists in the development of their skills and 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 sectors. Our programs support hundreds of arts organizations, individual artists and arts collectives in Calgary.

Natasha: As the arts development authority, we are uniquely positioned to deliver and create a future public art program built upon our 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 must reflect the rich diversity of the city, including connecting with Indigenous voices to tell the past and current stories of Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. Our intent is to foster meaningful connections and dialogue with artists and communities, 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 calls, competition programming, for example, youth programs, artist development and temporary exhibitions, building public art awareness and activating the public art collection. The City of Calgary is responsible for the public art collection, observation and maintenance and activation of the public art collection.

Tiffany: Calgary Arts Development is committed to working with communities that have historically been underserved. We are guided by the core principles of EDIA: 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, create and participate in art as part of their everyday lives.

The four pillars of this vision are:

Equity. Creating equitable access for Calgarians who have had less opportunity for philanthropic and governmental support due to systematic barriers that exist in our community.

Diversity. Supporting artistic endeavors that reflect our diverse community in supporting the work of artists of diverse backgrounds.

Inclusion. Engaging a wide variety of voices and perspectives in shaping and furthering the work that we do.

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, the intersectional and unique experience of different people and communities, we follow and Nothing About Us Without Us policy. So if you were creating work about a specific community, that community needs to be actively engaged and consulted, and there needs to be a clear intention 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 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.

We also have great application assistance. Calgary Arts Development is committed to open, fair and transparent processes. There are two policies available for anyone who may need support to apply to this program, the Accommodation and Accessibility Policy and the Application Assistance Policy. [Note: These policies have now been combined, outlining the supports available to applicants into one policy — the Applicant Support and Accessibility Policy].

We will work one-on-one with 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 materials into other languages, including ASL, transcription of verbal meetings or audio and video recordings into a written document, language interpretation for meetings and application writing assistance.

If you were looking for assistance or have questions about eligibility, please reach out to us before applying. You could email the Public Art team at public.art@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or you can reach out to us directly. Please reach out to us 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’re granted an accommodation for this application, you will be pre-approved for any future application with Calgary 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 barriers you were experiencing, only that you were looking for accommodations.

Without further ado, in case you haven’t seen the Art buses that are out in the city right now, here’s an example of them. So they’re wrapped on all three sides.

Natasha: So exciting.

Tiffany: Yeah. We’ll jump into the timeline.

Natasha: Yeah. So with this timeline, with this project, the work will be taking place over Fall so that the buses can be implemented in summer. Applications are accepted until December 4 at 4:30pm MT. We encourage submitting your application as early as possible and late submissions will not be accepted.

All applications will be reviewed and evaluated in December 2024 to January 2025 by an assessment committee of peers and experts on this project. The seven successful applicants will be notified within the first two weeks of February, and unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email.

The seven selected Art Bus artists will be expected to begin working February 15 to develop their bus design by mid-April. Depending on availability of the artist and city of transit, there will be an engaging there will be an engagement opportunity to visit the bus depot and learn more about the behind the scenes of the public transportation system.

Final artwork files are submitted to Pattison mid-April and the buses will get wrapped in vinyl at the end of May. In June there will be a celebration, and the buses will be running for 12 weeks when they are wrapped.

So with this program, Calgary Arts Development invites artists and artist collectives to submit qualifications for an opportunity to wrap the exterior of one of seven public art public transportation buses with new artwork.

This means we are looking for a local artist or artists who have a connection to Calgary who can respond to the proposed theme through their work and have a demonstrated artistic skill and approach needed to deliver a compelling design for this project.

These buses will be in service for 12 weeks, about three months in the summer of 2025.

In addition to the exterior bus wrapping, there are interior display opportunities that can share information about you as an artist and this can be by reproduction of their pre-existing work. This portion is really fantastic because thousands of public transportation users are going to be reading your intent with your design on the bus route as well as your artistic practice. And we welcome any artist at any stage of their career residing in Calgary/Mohkinsstsis or surrounding communities who have a connection to Calgary.

Tiffany: Project goals. With this program, we want to:

• Provide opportunities for artists of all levels to share their artwork 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 a 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
• Provide a temporary and impactful public art experience for all Calgarians

Natasha: So up to seven artists and artist collectives will be selected through this RFQ. Selected artists will work with Calgary Arts Development to develop and refine an original artwork in response to one of the following themes that considers the multiple contexts of Calgary in their communities the buses will connect with.

That first thing being: Honour Indigenous stories and perspectives. Share stories of Indigenous cultures, Indigenous culture, traditions, and history, share contemporary Indigenous perspectives and ideas, explore paths for reconciliation, and inspire dialogue, understanding, and change.

The second theme is: Public transportation as 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 shaping urban landscapes and connecting communities.

The third theme is: Share stories of your community. Delve into your experience of how you relate and connect to communities around you. Celebrate diverse communities and rich cultural histories.

And the fourth theme is: Bring beauty, joy, whimsy and hope. Share a sense of whimsy, surprise and joy with Calgarians and visitors.

Tiffany: Eligibility. This opportunity is open to artists and collectives of all experience levels that are local or with a connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis. We encourage submissions from artists who are typically underrepresented, including BIPOC, Black, Indigenous and People of Colour, LGBTQIATS+ identifying individuals, Deaf persons and persons with disabilities.

If you have any questions about eligibility or accessibility accommodation, please reach out to us directly.

I just want you to know, uploaded artworks must be original and belong to the artist. If artworks were done in collaboration with another artist, indicate the name of the collaborating artist or artist and describe your role in the collaboration. Failure to credit collaborators or co-creators and/or upload artworks that do not belong to you and/or infringe on another artist copyright will make your application ineligible for assessment.

Natasha: So the successful artist or collective will be paid $9000 not including GST per Art Bus. The total all-inclusive amount includes all costs associated with engagement, creation and communication for the artwork. That also includes if you are a painter and need to get your work scanned professionally.

In addition, selected artists and collectives will provide transit passes for the duration of the project. All costs associated with the bus wraps are also a CADA cost and not the artist cost. So the actual physical wrapping of the bus is something we cover, not you.

So the selected artists will:

• Participate in an engagement activity facilitated by us, which will probably be a private bust for of those facilities. It was actually a lot of fun this year.
• Create and refine 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.
• Work with Pattison’s design team to adjust their artwork or files 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 pre-existing work and CADA, City of Calgary and Calgary Transit need to approve that work. Artists will supply an installation layout that identifies the order of the artwork and the company text for each interior card.
• Participate in a local celebration of the work in June and possible media opportunities.

The artists will also develop an artist statement, a bio that may be used in communications about the project and we have a really great communications team which can help develop those statements if you need assistance.

You will also work with Calgary Arts Development staff to communicate projects development, participate in an event somewhere in the city, it will be exciting, and possibly provide a brief artist talk about their work. How we did that this year is we collaborated with City Hall schools for the artist to engage with was it Grade 4? 3?

Tiffany: 6

Natasha: 6. So engaging in Grade 6 to talk about their work and it was, it was hugely successful.

The artists’ scope of work and budget does not include printing, installation or maintaining the bus wrap or art artwork reproduction. These tasks are financed separately and managed by us. And just so you’re aware, the final artwork is executed as a vinyl and you’re not painting the bus. That is a question we get asked quite a lot.

Tiffany: Canadian Code of Advertising Standards. The artwork will then be enlarged and printed onto vinyl to wrap the exterior of a bus. All artworks must adhere to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and be approved by Calgary Arts Development, the City of Calgary and Calgary Transit. In addition, artwork will not be approved if:

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

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

In addition, artworks will not be approved if:

• Artwork does not comply with or respect cultural protocols
• Artwork uses or presented Indigenous cultural material, traditional knowledge or stories without express permission from the community, under a clear connection to originate community
• Artwork willfully or in bad faith, promotes intolerance, hatred or hate speech to incite violence or harm.

Sounds like I just repeated myself, but it’s very important.

Here’s another example of one of the current Art Buses by Katie Green. So you see that all sides except for the very front of the bus are going to be wrapped.

Natasha: So, Assessment Committee Process. Applications 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 disciplines, gender, sexuality, age, religious beliefs, nationality, physical and neurological identities, etc.

Assessment committees are held to the Calgary Arts Development Group Agreements, a commitment to open, generous and respectful evaluations and communications. You can read through the group agreements through the link in the guidelines and anyone can participate as an assessor by completing the assessor nomination form online or email. And it’s paid, so it’s a great opportunity.

Submissions will be evaluated on following criteria. The application process is competitive.

The assessment panel will review all eligible and completed applications. Decisions of the Assessment Committee are final, and the panel reserves the right to select no applications.

Committee members will review applications and rate the level to which they agree or disagree the information meets the program criteria listed in the Program Criteria and Scoring selection section of the call based on the following scale:

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

So submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria.

• The most points is the letter of interest, which is 50 points, and that letter should be Max 500 words.
• You’ll be providing a response to each of the following statements.
  • Explain your interest in this community and describe your connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis, specifically how your experience in art practice will contribute to this project.
  • Indicate which theme from the guidelines you have selected and describe how you would respond to that theme and share how this opportunity will support your practice.
• This next one is your CV, 20 points, a demonstration of relevant experience in public art, visual arts and design.
• Images is 30 points, a minimum of five and up to 10 images of existing finished artworks uploaded as individual media files.

The following information must be included in each image:

• Title, date, size and material in a brief description.
• Demonstration that the artist work blends well to the medium and the images must demonstrate artistic skills and approach needed to deliver a compelling design for this project.
• Uploading artworks must be original, belong to the artist.
• If artwork was done in collaboration with another artist, please indicate the name of that collaborating artist. Describe your role in the collaboration. Failure to credit collaborators or your co-creators with images that do not belong to you or infringe that artist copyright will make your application ineligible.

You are responsible to ensure that the submission is received before the deadline.

For any accommodations and application assistance, please reach out no later than 10 business days before the deadline. Any application not received by the closing date and time will not be considered. Do not send materials that have not been requested as they will not be reviewed.

This is a very competitive program, and the assessment panel will review all eligible and completed applications.

Decisions of the selection panel are final, and the panel reserves the right to select no applications.

Tiffany: Now it’s important to talk about what happens for the assessment a little bit.

Each assessor will read, review and rate each eligible application.

The top (TBD) 10 to 20% of scoring applications will be reviewed and discussed in detail by the Assessment Committee over several days.

Assessors are encouraged and supported to recommend and discuss additional applications to be considered for the final selected artist list.

The assessor’s identities remain anonymous and the discussions that occurr during assessment remain confidential.

Natasha: And every applicant will be notified by e-mail of their results. Unsuccessful applicants are encouraged to e-mail the project leads to request feedback on their application within a few weeks after the artists are announced.

Tiffany: Only selected artists will be asked to create a new artwork for the bus exterior based upon the themes indicated in the call.

Any images submitted that are placed on a bus model or template will not be considered in the assessment process. Include a description of your artwork, proposal or vision in your letter of interest.

From last time, these are some general tips that we recommend for a strong application.

• Make sure your Smart Simple Artist profile is complete and up to date.
• Read the entire call or guidelines.
• In your letter of interest make sure to address all the points or questions found under the sorry found under the program criteria and scoring tab, so those were those five questions and Tasha spoke about earlier.
• Select a theme from the themes provided.
• Submit an up-to-date curricula Curriculum Vitae.
• Provide clear images that demonstrate your unique style, approach and artistic skills to highlight your ability to succeed in this project. You may want to include artwork image. Sorry, you may want to include artwork images demonstrating experience working in public art, creating large scale art, working with digital files and or creating art with horizontal formats.

Natasha: Here’s some of the buses this year. We just like bragging about them because they’re just, it’s really amazing.

So 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. Artists will be subject to approvals at various stages throughout the process, and there’s multiple parties who are approving the work, so that’s why we also need artists who are really skilled at following deadlines.

• Selected artist must use their provided templates to work closely with Pattison’s graphic design team to ensure they are preparing the files that can be successfully converted into an exterior bus wrap.
• Final files must have the resolution of 900 PPI pixels per inch, be in a CMYK format, and be delivered either in a TIF, EPS file format, or PDS.
• If fonts are included, they must be supplied in a Mac Postscript type 1, True Type or Open Type format, or convert all text to outlines.
• If colour match is critical, accurate proof that matches desired colour rendering or Pantone colour references must be provided.

The template files required to create the artwork will be provided to this successful selected artist. This isn’t part of the application process and you do not need to worry about it, it’s just something we want to bring up to ease any anxieties around technology with this project because Pattison does provide some really amazing PDS Photoshop files that the artist can work on.

Tiffany: Part of this project is that the selected artists will have access to Pattison designers for technical support. They’ll be providing a Photoshop template file, which will be one you’ll be submitting in the final deadline.

I think this is stuff we can talk about later.

Natasha: Yeah, yeah.

Tiffany: But yeah. So this this slide just demonstrates where the vinyl will be going. So the pink dots are those are the windows that the bus driver, they will not have the vinyl because bus driver needs to see a lot of the lights and air vents, a lot of things.

Natasha: It’s a little bit more clear in this next… Yeah.

Tiffany: And also there’s also not everyone works digitally. So if you do want to create something non-digital, it will need to be scanned at a high resolution and you will need to work with a large format scanner with places like Resolve, but this is a large format scanning fee, is, that’s not part of, it’s not financially covered by CADA.

Another thing to mention is that if you’re used to working in Procreate, Procreate does not go up to 900 DPI, so there are just a few like technical considerations to consider when applying for this program, and feel free to reach out to us with more questions.

This is a great example of roughly the best dimensions, and again shows where the vinyl goes and it doesn’t go. So all the pink and red is vinyl, but it’s pink because you still need to see out of the window, so it it’s perforated.

Oh, sorry, another thing to mention is that the template provided by Calgary Arts Development and the City of Calgary logos will need to be included on the passenger side and the back of the bus. We will also recommend that the selected artists include their signature or name on the passenger side and back of the bus.

These are the interior card files. For artwork displayed inside the bus, four images of pre-existing artwork will be selected. The fifth interior card will be a CADA-designed card with a headshot of the artist and bus design information. These cards will then repeat four times in the bus for a total of 20 cards.

These images are not required to respond to a proposed theme and are instead a way to showcase your body of artwork.

Selected images can be reprinted up to 34 inches wide and 10 inches high.

Files must have a resolution of 150 DPI and be CMYK format and be delivered in either a TIF or EPS file format. The fonts are included. They must be supplied in Mac Postscript type, One True Type or Open Type format or convert all text to outlines if colour match is critical.

Accurate proof that matches desired color or rendering or Pantone colour references must be provided.

All artworks must be original and belong to the artist.

Natasha: Yeah, so this is an example of what Pattison might provide to help for a template for the interior card so you can also see where the bleed lines are. One thing to mention with the interior cards is that it doesn’t have to be a pre-existing work or previous work. Someone like Lyndon Navalta created new work for the interior cards that expanded the work on the outside, which was about native plants in Nose Hill, so inside was an expanded explanation about what’s on the outside, and so that worked very well.

Another example is Paityn Savoie, her interior panels included a poem written by their sister and was a repeated visual motif inside. So rather than showcasing previous work, it was a new and different kind of experience inside the bus.

So we are open to suggestions that aren’t pre-existing work, but that process will still have to go through an approval, but we’re open to alternative ways to approach the interior cards.

Tiffany: Just to clarify again, you do not and will not have a template for the bus for your application, but if you have technical questions, please let us know.

Natasha: OK, now we’re going to watch a video, which will also be on the website, about going over the process of how to apply online. And this was created by the public art coordinator, Helen Hu.

Helen Hu: (video) 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: Awesome. Well, thank you Helen for that awesome video. And also a friendly reminder, if you accidentally submitted your application before you finished it, it’s totally fine. I’ve done it before too. Just e-mail us and we’ll be able to release it as long as it’s within before the deadline.

So yeah, please take a screen cap of our contact information and if you have any questions or need help completing the application, please contact us.

Calgary Arts Development is committed to open, fair and transparent processes, so if you have any questions, 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 that we can provide the best support as possible, and we can provide feedback on your application up to 10 days before the application deadline and the deadline is December 4.

Tiffany: We will also be hosting open office hours online Monday, November 18 from 11am to 1pm on Zoom. If you have any questions or like feedback on application, the link for the Eventbrite is just in the chat. You don’t have to come for the full two hours, you can come and sit, listen, other people ask questions. You can come in for 5 minutes or the whole 2 hours, whatever you need to support your application.

Natasha: All right, so that’s it and we will go to questions. Let’s see if there’s ones in the chat already.

Heather Campbell: Hey, this is Heather speaking. I’ve answered a couple of the questions, but maybe I’ll just read out the ones I haven’t if that’s helpful.

Natasha: Yeah, that is helpful.

Heather: OK, so one of the questions was for the brief description section, is that writing alternative text for accessibility or should we provide info about its process or where it was exhibited?

Natasha: Is that for the when you’re writing a description about images or is that the letter of intent?

Heather: That’s a good question. I’m not quite sure, but maybe we can just clarify. So there, when you’re upload an image, you can press that. What is it? It’s like additional information where you should put in like the title of the work, the size of the work, and anything else that’s like relevant in there.

You could put any like pertinent information that you think would be helpful to kind of understand what the assessment committee is looking at, but you really are only required to put it put in kind of it’s mostly for context building so people understand what they’re looking at. But for the yeah. So, I hope that’s helpful. Maybe let us know if there’s more to the question.

Natasha: Yeah, a great question. Do you want to read out another question to us?

Heather: Yeah, love to.

The other question is, if we plan to apply this to this project as a team, should we register a new account for the team to apply and include information of both of our team members?

Natasha: I’m assuming that’s two artists who are collaborating for the first time and not as a collective?

Heather: That’s what I’m reading.

Natasha: What we have seen in the past is one person will apply from their account and then when you’re uploading like, a CV, make sure that both CVs are attached as one PDF.

But yeah, two people who are collaborating can apply together, which happened this year, Rory and Polly are were, and still are, an artist collective. So we encourage artist collectives or collaborative work.

Heather: And when they’re working as a team, they should have a new account for that. Is that, is that you’re saying?

Natasha: No, But I like your answer better.

Heather: I believe you still need to have like a main contact person. And so I think that as long as it’s really clear, like if you if you already have an account and you’re playing as a collective, I think you do just you would have to like, as Natasha was saying, like re upload a new CV, that one PDF with both sets of information and just be super, super clear that like you are applying as a duo and that so I think you could do either.

But either way, you would have to have like a main contact person and you just want to make sure it’s really clear to everyone who’s reading your application that you are a collective, so yes and both.

Natasha: So reach out if this is something you would like to continue to talk to us about.

Heather: Yeah, another question that came through. So if you’re a comic artist and one artwork that you would be uploading is like a 5-page PDF, does that count as like one example of art or would each page count as an individual art?

So like you can upload up to 10 images, so would five of those images be used up by one comic book? Like would each page count as its own artwork or could she upload, or they, could they upload a like a PDF in an image spot that has multiple pages?

Natasha: I would suggest because the assessors might be looking at 200 applications that might be happening in this project that you don’t want to be putting too much work into on the assessors that you want to show very quickly what your work is about and what they’ll be getting.

I know sometimes with comics, to get the whole scope of the work, you want to read it from start to finish, but that’s might be unreasonable, not unreasonable, but that might be too much to ask of the necessary to read your comic, so I would say just put one image, one page of like the best work that’s really clearly representing what you think the project will be.

Heather, do you have anything to add to that?

Heather: No, no, I think that that I think that’s how I would answer it too.

And if it’s, you know, if there’s a, you know, you only get ten images, but you could have a couple that are from one section of a comic book or, you know, it can be, you know, but just be really, try to show artworks that will give an idea or impression of this is the type of, this is the approach I would take to design the bus. So, you know, showing things that are very similar to this, your current style and how and the artwork that you would be wanting to show on the bus.

The next question, they’re asking if we could post the link to the detailed information that we need to like the questions that need to be answered in the letter of intent.

Oh, and Tiffany just did it. Yay. Thanks, Tiffany.

Natasha: Yeah, they’re outlined in the guidelines.

Heather: Another person has asked how assessors are chosen.

Natasha: Yeah, so there are, you can self-nominate as an assessor. They’re nominated internally and yeah, by other assessors nominating other folks. So anyone can be an assessor and we encourage artists and community members to apply.

Heather: Can emerging artists apply even though we may not have a lot of public or large scale work examples?

Natasha: Absolutely. Two of the artists that were selected for Art Bus, Natalia Ionescu and Phoebe Riel, are emerging artists. So yeah, you can. You should absolutely apply.

Heather: How do we apply as an artist group? Is it the same process as an individual artist? Is there something we need to pay attention to and putting our portfolio?

We kind of talked about this, but only so artists and artists collectives are only, are the only ones who are eligible for this. And so when you’re building your, your sorry, if you’re making a new account, I think you can choose one of those and you’ll be able to see this opportunity. But I would just make sure that, as Natasha said, like when you’re submitting your portfolio, you’re really clear of, like, who worked on this artwork? Even if it was if there was two people applying for this and there were three people that did an artwork, being really, really clear of, like, you know, this is an example of how we collaborate. We also had collaborated with this other person, but they won’t be involved. Like, you just want to remove all questions that the assessors may have because then it’s like a weird flag. You’re like, oh, they didn’t talk about this other person. And, you know, that kind of thing can throw people off.

I unfortunately, have another meeting I have to run, to I think, yeah, so oh, no, it’s not until 2:30.

Never mind, I’m good. OK, back to it.

And so could you please post the link for the office hours again? They just missed it when it was posted in the chat before.

Just to clarify, if we want a critique on our application, should we only do so through the open office hours? No, you can do that anytime up to 10 days before the application closes. Yeah, Tiffany’s got that in there. So I would do it by e-mail and they can take a look and give you any feedback.

Sorry, I started answering them.

I’m going to just read them out and you can answer them Natasha.

Kara asks, would you say there’s a stronger preference for horizontal landscape formatted work for this project as opposed to vertical portrait work, or is it more a matter of demonstrating a variety of applicable skills?

Natasha: Definitely the second one. I wouldn’t get too hung up on the orientation, it’s just it is something that can really strengthen your application of, oh, this artist can be really considerate of this canvas because it is a really weird canvas for artists to work on. So having an artist who is really demonstrating that they understand how to work with that composition is a strength.

Tiffany: It was something that did come up in assessment last time where a lot of artists submitted single images or items on the like vertical page and the assessors were wanting to see that they can work horizontally.

Natasha: It’s just hot tips from us to you.

Heather: So let’s see the next one is can emerging artists apply even though we’ve made, oh, did I read that one already even if they don’t have… oh, yeah, I did read that one. Sorry. I think that might be all of them.

Tiffany: Oh, I see another one. Even though it’s a RFQ, so a request for qualifications, would it be helpful to present a concept idea for the project inner letter of interest?

Definitely yes. In your letter of interest, when you’re talking about your theme and how you’re going to approach your theme, that’s where you can express your idea, like your ideas for addressing that theme, like how you’re going to approach it, like, oh, I don’t know how to say that more clearly, but how you would do it, like drawing, like say that in words in your letter of interest. They do want to see that you’ve thought about the concept and theme and put together, start putting pieces together that you’re thinking about it.

Natasha: And be really clear in your letter of intent which theme you’re selecting. We did see a lot of that last year, it not being clear which theme the artist was selecting.

Do we have any more questions?

Tiffany: There’s one from SM.

Natasha: Which one is that?

Tiffany: There’s what if we don’t have work examples in the styles that would be used on the Art Bus? Would you recommend creating work in that style before applying?

Natasha: I’m not sure I understand that question.

Tiffany: I think that’s a hard question. I think it’s the assessors are looking at your body of work that you already have and using those examples of your body of work to put it with your letter of interest and ideas in there to put it together to try and see what it might look like.

So if you’re submitting artwork and you’re going to be doing it in a different style, I don’t. Yeah, it might be, it might, I don’t know, maybe you should be submitting artwork in the style that you are hoping to do the art bus in.

Natasha: I agree.

Tiffany: We want like we want, yeah, to express your art style, and this is a giant canvas for you too. So how you like to, how you work for wanting to showcase your work.

Natasha: Yeah, and a strong application shows consistency in the visuals. Consistency, but also visual, visually interesting.

Can you apply for this and be an assessor? Nah, no you can’t be an assessor and be an applicant, but definitely apply as an assessor.

You learn so much about applications and it like as an artist it strengthens my work to apply to as many assessments as possible.

If we have multiple relating images from one project, could I put them in one PDF like a triptych as one image?

You’ll want one image, so you have up to 10 images to show work, if say, like ,you had an exhibition and you want to show a PDF of all of those shows of that work, please don’t do that. Just select ten of your best works that you would like to show.

Tiffany: Sorry Alex, I accidentally gave you, I’ve been meaning to give it to somebody else. You’re asking about the vinyl finishes, matte, glossy, I don’t know, it was glossy, wasn’t it, Natasha? It wasn’t like eggshell…

Natasha: It isn’t like high gloss, it was, it’s called a satin finish. Yeah, because matte would be too scratch, like wouldn’t be resistant to scratches enough. So it’s somewhere in the middle because glossy film would bounce light off too much.

Tiffany: Can I answer this question? How much do assessors get paid? We’re not going to give you an exact number, but they get paid per each application that they read, they each also get paid their CARFAC, current CARFAC fees.

So there is like a day rate and 1/2 day rate that they’re in the meetings and they get paid those rates. Yeah. Everything we do, we go by CARFAC.

How soon will the recording for the info session be uploaded? Within two weeks. It does take us a little bit to do closed captioning, so it won’t be up right away, but when it is completed, it will land on the guidelines page.

OK, any more questions?

OK, well, thank you so much for attending and good luck with your application. And please do reach out to Tiffany and I if you have questions. We are rooting for you all.

So, yeah, thanks so much for joining us.

Calgary Arts Development invites artists and artist collectives to submit qualifications for an opportunity to wrap the exterior of one of seven public transit buses with new artwork. These buses will be in service for 12 weeks in the summer of 2025. In addition to the exterior bus wrapping, there are interior display opportunities that will share information about the artist and reproductions of their pre-existing work. We welcome artists in any stage of their career who have a strong connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis to apply.

Previously successful applicants to this program are not eligible to apply.

Up to seven artists/artist collectives will be selected through this Request for Qualifications. Selected artists will work with Calgary Arts Development to create and refine an original artwork in response to one of the following themes that considers the multiple contexts of Calgary and the communities the buses will connect with:

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

The artwork will then be enlarged and printed onto vinyl to wrap the exterior of a bus for about 12 weeks from the beginning of June 2025 to August 2025.

This initiative provides opportunities for the public to engage with public art in unexpected spaces, bring temporary art into a wide variety of communities, and showcase the talent and diversity of artists with strong connections to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis.

Successful artists/collectives will be paid $9,000 (not including GST) per art bus. This total, all-inclusive amount includes all costs associated with engagement, creation and communication for the artwork. In addition, selected artists/collectives will be provided with transit passes for the duration of the project (February – August).

Please ensure you review the complete guidelines, and you submit all requirements outlined in the Program Criteria & Scoring section to have a competitive application for assessment. 

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 from across Turtle Island.

Calgary Arts Development is 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. Read our full Commitment to Equity statement on our website.

This initiative provides opportunities for seven artists or artist collectives to share their artwork on public transit.

Selected artists will create new, original artwork using a template designed specifically to wrap the exterior of a bus. Additionally, artists may submit their existing artworks that will be reproduced for display inside the bus. The artwork will be installed for approximately 12 weeks from June 2025 to August 2025.

Once selected, artists must propose a new, original artwork for the bus exterior in response to one of the following four themes.

Honour Indigenous stories and perspectives

• Share stories of Indigenous culture, traditions, and history
• Share contemporary Indigenous perspectives and ideas
• Explore paths toward reconciliation and inspire dialogue, understanding and change

Public transit as 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 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

Bring beauty, joy, whimsy and hope

• Share a sense of whimsy, surprise and joy with Calgarians and visitors

For art displayed inside the bus, four (4) images of pre-existing artwork will be selected. These images are not required to relate to a proposed theme and are instead a way to showcase your body of work.

Only selected artists will be asked to create a new artwork for the bus exterior based upon the themes indicated in the call. Selected 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, and art must adhere to the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.

In addition, artworks will not be approved if:

• Artwork does not comply with or respect cultural protocols.
• Artwork uses or presents Indigenous cultural material, traditional knowledge or stories without express permission from the community and/or clear connection to the originating community.
• Artwork willfully or in bad faith promotes intolerance, hatred or hate speech to incite violence or harm.
• Artwork encourages activity that is illegal or contravenes provincial or federal law, or municipal bylaws.
• Artwork promotes contests and competitions, or fundraising activities (e.g., undertaken to raise funds on behalf of a political party or charity).
• Artwork relates to campaigning for a specific political candidate or party in an election.
• Artwork would be construed as advertising.

Selected artists must use the provided templates and work closely with Pattison’s graphic designers to ensure they are preparing files that can be successfully converted into an exterior vinyl bus wrap.

Artists are responsible for ensuring they have the appropriate equipment and software to deliver final files according to the following requirements:

Exterior Vinyl Wrap

• Final files must have a resolution of 900 ppi and be in CMYK format
• Files must be delivered in either a .tif or .eps file format
• If fonts are included, they must be supplied in Mac Postscript Type1, TrueType or Open Type format, or convert all text to outlines
• If colour match is critical, provide an accurate proof that matches the desired colour rendering or Pantone colour references must be provided

Interior Display Opportunities

• Selected images can be reprinted up to 34” Width x 10” Height (86.36 cm Width x 25.4 cm Height).
• Files must have a resolution of 150 ppi and be in CMYK format
• Files must be delivered in either a .tif or .eps file format
• If fonts are included, they must be supplied in Mac Postscript Type1, TrueType or Open Type format, or convert all text to outlines

If colour match is critical, an accurate proof that matches the desired colour rendering or Pantone colour references must be provided. All artworks must be original and belong to the artist.

The selected artists will:

• Participate in an engagement activity facilitated by Calgary Arts Development.
• Create and refine 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.
• Work with the Pattison 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 will display reproductions of the artist’s pre-existing artworks, subject to approval by Calgary Arts Development, The City of Calgary and Calgary Transit. Artists will supply an installation layout that identifies the order of the artwork and accompanying text for each interior card.
• Develop and provide an artist bio and artwork statement that may be used in communications about the project.
• Work with Calgary Arts Development staff to communicate project development.
• Participate in a celebration event and provide a brief artist talk about their artwork and involvement in the project.

Note: The artist’s scope of work and budget does not include printing, installing or maintaining the bus wrapping and artwork reproductions. These tasks will be financed separately and managed by Calgary Arts Development.

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 have historically had access to municipality funded public art.
• Educate Calgarians about what public art can be and how it can change a 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.
• Provide a temporary and impactful public art experience for all Calgarians.

Successful applicants will be selected by a committee made up of artists, arts professionals, community representatives and subject matter experts. If you are interested in participating on an assessment committee, please apply through this link.

Submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Letter of Interest (50 points)
(Max 500 words)

Provide a response to each of the following statements.

• Explain your interest in this opportunity.
• Describe your connection to Calgary/Mohkinsstsis.
• Specify how your experience and art practice will contribute to this project.
• Indicate which theme from the guidelines you have selected and describe how you would respond to that theme.
• Share how this opportunity will support your practice.

Curriculum Vitae (20 points)

• Demonstration of relevant experience in public art, visual art or design.

Images (30 points)

• Minimum of five (5) and up to 10 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.
• Demonstration that this artist’s work lends well to this medium.
• Demonstration of artistic skills and approach needed to deliver a compelling design for this project.

Uploaded artworks must be original and belong to the artist. If artworks were done in collaboration with another artist, indicate the name of the collaborating artist(s) and describe your role in the collaboration. Failure to credit collaborators or co-creators and/or upload artworks that do not belong to you and/or infringe on another artist’s copyright will make your application ineligible for assessment.

Artists are responsible for ensuring that submissions are received by the deadline. For any accommodations and application assistance, please reach out no later than 10 business days before the deadline. Any application not received by the closing date and time will not be considered. Do not send materials that have not been requested, as they will not be reviewed.

The application process is competitive. The assessment panel will review all eligible and complete applications. Decisions of the selection panel are final and the panel reserves the right to select no applications.

Scoring Process

Committee members will review applications and rate the level to which they agree or disagree the information meets the project criteria listed in the section above based on the following scale:

• Strongly Agree
• Agree
• Disagree
• Strongly Disagree