Create a Gigantic (Printed) Mural for Harvard Square

DEADLINE TO APPLY: June 15, 2020, 5 p.m. EST

GET PAID: $9,000

Would you like to create a monumental (printed) mural for Cambridge’s Harvard Square? We invite you to submit images of past work and biographical information to be considered. See details below. (No proposals at this time.)

Cambridge Arts is looking for an artist (or artist team) to create a design for several hundred feet of vinyl construction scrim that will surround Harvard Square’s Out of Town News Plaza as it is reconstructed over the next couple of years.

The plaza is a highly visible triangular open space bordered on two sides by Massachusetts Avenue and on the south side by a sidewalk connecting JFK Street and Brattle Street with Dunster Street.

To protect pedestrians and workers, the work zones of the construction site will be marked by chain link fencing. To beautify the site, the City of Cambridge will cover the fencing with a series of vinyl scrim panels, printed with the commissioned artwork. The City is looking for an artist to create a mural that is responsive to the vibrant character of Harvard Square and provides an uplifting moment in the heart of the City for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers passing by.

The design will need to be visually impactful for pedestrians viewing it up close as well as for those viewing it from a distance. The fencing system will be modular and will be arranged in different configurations over the course of construction, so the design will also need to be modular. The selected artist will need to convert their design into digital files suitable for scrim fabrication.

BUDGET: The artist fee for this public art project is $9,000. This is a design fee only. The City will pay for fabrication and installation.

TIMELINE: One artist will be selected in June 2020. Preference will be given for artists based in Cambridge or the surrounding region. The selected artist will develop a design in partnership with City staff and stakeholders and will provide design files that will be used to integrate the final imagery into the fabrication of the scrims. Subject to COVID-19 guidelines, the scrim will be installed early fall of 2020.

HOW TO APPLY:

Submit images of past work and biographical information at http://cac.slideroom.com.

If you are not in our artist registry, registration is free and easy – upload digital files of work samples and complete the form for artist information. Once you are in our registry you will be considered for the Harvard Square Plaza scrim project as well as for future public art commissions administered by the City of Cambridge.

If you are already in the registry, you must send an email noting your interest in this project to Hilary Zelson, Public Art Administrator: hzelson@cambridgema.gov.

For technical support using Slideroom, please e-mail support@slideroom.com. For other questions, please contact Hilary Zelson at hzelson@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4388.