The City of Red Deer is seeking skilled Canadian mural artists to complete nine new murals in downtown Red Deer as a continuation of the Meet the Street arts and culture initiative. In addition, the City is seeking property owners that wish to contribute to the project by providing spaces for the murals in historic downtown.
In 2021, the inaugural Meet the Street created opportunities for 15 new murals in Red Deer’s downtown area. The murals were painted by 14 artists during the summer, and a festival was held in September to celebrate their completion. The project began with visual and safety improvements to two central alleys that included installation of full spectrum lighting and music speakers.
Meet the Street 2022 will include nine new murals in underutilized spaces in historic downtown. The spaces selected for murals will have place-making methodology applied to assist in transforming these areas into welcoming community spaces. Organizers are seeking building owners (or tenants with permission from building owners) to partner on the transformation of nine sites over the summer of 2022, including:
Meet the Street 2.0 Transformation Challenge
Five locations will be selected for the Meet the Street 2.0 Transformation Challenge, a placemaking challenge that invites building owners to participate with community groups and volunteers to transform a space. Participants will attend placemaking sessions with Community Development facilitators to identify and work with building owners to create a plan to beautify and improve the selected sites. Plans will incorporate a new mural and other placemaking initiatives such as clean-up, urban gardening, creation of social space, or other creative ideas. The project team will match building owners up with a professional mural artist, oversee the mural production, and support building owners in the implementation of the placemaking project.
Community-based murals and mentor/mentee murals
In addition to the five Transformation Challenge sites, Meet the Street is expanding its scope to include two community-based murals (mural design and production lead by a professional artist and painted by volunteers) and two mentor/mentee murals (mural design and production lead by experienced artist supported by an emerging artist). The project team is seeking four professional artists to lead these projects, two emerging artists and two community groups to assist and collaborate, and four property owners to provide wall space.
Ideal candidates for this project own a building or business in a highly visible downtown location in need of beautification, are willing to contribute resources (such as financial or sweat equity), are excited about community collaboration, and are open to exploring new concepts. Those interested are asked to provide an Expression of Interest to the City. More information is available at www.reddeer.ca/MeetTheStreet.
Artists and artist collectives representing a variety of styles, disciplines and cultural backgrounds are invited to apply. Consideration will be given to artists based in Alberta. Application guidelines are available at www.reddeer.ca/MeetTheStreet.
Artist submissions and expressions of interest from business owners may be submitted online prior to the deadline of Thursday, March 24, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Successful applicants will be contacted by April 30, and projects will be completed between July and September 2022.
“Following the huge success of Meet the Street 2021 we’re excited to announce the concept for part two, which will further enhance the vibrancy of Red Deer’s downtown,” said Bobby-Jo Stannard, Community Development Superintendent. “By introducing a transformation challenge, mentor/mentee murals and community-based murals, the project team aims to encourage collaboration and community involvement in the activation of downtown. We’re looking forward to partnering with the downtown community to realize the vision of a vibrant and attractive downtown.”
Meet the Street festival will be held during the 2022 September long weekend. Festival updates will be shared in the coming months.
Learn more about the Meet the Street arts and culture initiative on The City’s website, www.reddeer.ca/MeetTheStreet
For more information, contact:
Corporate Communications
The City of Red Deer