CALL TO ARTISTS Commercial Alley - City of Victoria
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Commercial Alley
CALL TO ARTISTS
The City of Victoria is located on the homeland of the Songhees and Esquimalt People.
Images: “What If”, Emily Thiessen, 2020 Commercial Alley installation
PROJECT BACKGROUND:
In June 2014, an outdoor art gallery was established in Commercial Alley. Located in the 500
Block of Yates and Bastion Square, Commercial Alley is part of a network of alleyways that
cross the downtown core. Commercial Alley is a working space, providing vehicle access to
businesses and organizations including the Victoria Youth Empowerment Society and the
Renaissance Book Store. It also provides a walkway between El Furniture Warehouse
restaurant and Lucky Bar on Yates and Bastion Square.
An annual Call to Artists is posted inviting local artists to re-imagine the alley as a site for
artistic and creative expression.
OPPORTUNITY OVERVIEW
The City of Victoria is launching a Call to Artists for artists, residing in the Capital Region
including the Gulf Islands, who are interested in presenting work for display in Commercial
Alley. The artist selected to present work in Commercial Alley will be contracted from March
2021 to August 2022. Artists who identify as part of the Indigenous, Black and People of Colour
community are encouraged to apply. A Selection Panel will choose the approved artists for this
competition.
The work will be presented as a series of four, 4 x 8 feet plywood panels. The City of Victoria will
supply the four ready-to-hang plywood panels, weatherproofing of the finished work,
installation and strike of the work. The artist chosen for the project can cut and reshape the
panels within structural limitations. To help inform your proposal, please see the attached
diagram of the hanging system used for this project.
The chosen artist will receive an artist fee of $3000 which includes a $250 transportation
stipend. The artist chosen will be paid an artist fee and may apply for a shipping stipend for
related costs of moving the art to and from the location. The opportunity is open to individual
artists, collectives and/or groups. The outlined fee is set and is to be divided among the
number of artists participating.
EQUITABLE APPROACH
Opportunities to participate and be accepted for public art commissions are not evenly
distributed with many people facing significant and complex barriers. These challenges are
often cultural, physical, systematic, or a combination of these, and more. The representation of
artists and administrators on the Selection Panel who identify as part of the Indigenous, Black
and People of Colour community, intentional distribution of the call to marginalized artists and
encouraging artists who identify as part of the Indigenous, Black and People of Colour
community to apply are ways the City is undertaking this work. City staff will continue to learn,
respond, examine and adapt our practices as we move forward doing this important work.
Please read the City’s cultural policy statement, guiding principles and values that guide our
work. Read the Create Victoria Arts and Culture Master Plan and Cultural Policy Statement
SITE CONSIDERATIONS
The outdoor gallery allows for four plywood panels to be displayed on the west wall of the
Victoria Youth Empowerment Society building year-round. Each of the four panels is 4 x 8 feet.
Proposed Content must be suitable for the general public. Designs must not include:
• Language or imagery that includes profanity, incites or is motivated by hatred against
any identifiable group*
• Language or imagery that convey or portrays drug and/or alcohol use
• Acronyms, explicit and/or encrypted signatures
• Artwork must be contained within the maximum panel size of each of the four panels at
4 x 8 feet at designated locations on the Victoria Youth Empowerment Society wall in
Commercial Alley
• Artists are encouraged to consider the sensitivities of at-risk youth, due to the proximity
of the Youth Empowerment Society
*identifiable group means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion,
national or ethnic origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or mental
or physical ability.
ARTIST ELIGIBILITY
This competition is open to artists who are residents of the Capital Regional District (including
the Gulf Islands). We encourage a diversity of applicants, including but not limited to race,
ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age,
disability, socio-economic status, class, and religion.
COMPENSATION
The selected artist will be paid an artist fee of $3,000 which includes a $250 transportation
stipend.
SELECTION CRITERIA
An artist’s Expression of Interest will be evaluated on the basis of:
• Appropriateness to the public realm.
• Content must be suitable for the general public
• Artistic merit of the artwork
• Work that is strong in concept and execution, appealing to a diverse audience.
• Work that is high quality, dynamic and can utilize display space to its fullest potential.
• Proper use of the design sketch template and site considerations were taken into
account
SELECTION PROCESS
A selection panel of qualified individuals will review the submissions based on the project
objectives and selection criteria.
SUBMISSIONS
You may use WETRANSFER or any other file sharing method to submit your portfolio images to
culture@victoria.ca . Organize your submission into the following files:
1. Application Form
• Contact Information: name, address, phone, email, social media, website,
pronoun preference
• Biography (75 words max). This will be uploaded to the City website if your work
is selected
• Interest in the Commercial Alley Project. Please describe your interest in the
project and what impact it may have for your art practice
• Design sketch descriptions. The description may be uploaded to the City
website if your work is selected
A. Describe your overall design and concept for the project.
B. Include an individual description for each of the four panels
• Five portfolio images descriptions: title, date, material, brief description of the
project and artwork
2. Design sketch:
• Please use the supplied template which includes art for each of the four panels
• Artwork must be contained within the maximum panel size of each of the four
panels at 4 x 8 feet at designated locations on the Victoria Youth Empowerment
Society wall in Commercial Alley
• Artists are encouraged to consider the sensitivities of at-risk youth, due to the
proximity of the Youth Empowerment Society
• If included, the artists’ signatures may be up to 1.5% of panel area (e.g. 70 square
inches on one panel)
3. Five Portfolio Images:
Files must be:
• JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) format
• High resolution and each individual file must be under 5 MB in size to allow for
quality viewing by the Selection Panel
• Please ensure your image files are titled correctly
o Title your images in the following order (01_LASTNAME_firstname,
02_LASTNAME_firstname, up to 05_LASTNAME_firstname)
• Work must be no more than three years old (2018)
Important Notes: Uploading large documents may take significant time, depending on the size
of the files(s) and your internet connection speed. Allocate sufficient time for all uploads to
complete prior to closing time. If you need any assistance with uploading images or
requirements, please reach out to staff. We are here to help.
The City will not be liable for any delay for any reason including technological delays, or issues
by either party’s network. The City will not be liable for any damages associated with
applications not received prior to the closing time.
INFORMATION SESSION & QUESTIONS
Interested candidates are invited to learn more and ask questions at an online information
session on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. To register please email Connor at
ctice@victoria.ca
ESTIMATED PROJECT TIMELINE
Call to Artists Launched February 2, 2021
Info Session for Artists February 16, 2021
Deadline March 1, 2021
Artists selection process March 2 - 15, 2021
Notification to artists Mid-March 2021
Panels available for pick-up Early April 2021
Artist delivers panels to City for Late July, 2021
weatherproofing
Panels installed in Alleyway August 2021
Panels removed and available for artist to August 2022
pick them up
WE ARE LISTENING
Please tell us if you have ideas on how we could make our Artist Calls more accessible to you.
Please send feedback, questions or if you’d like support preparing your application contact:
Connor Tice
Arts, Culture and Events Liaison
250-418-0564
ctice@victoria.ca
DESIGN SKETCH TEMPLATE
Please use the template on the following page for your design sketch. The template includes a
diagram of the hanging system used for this project.You can also read
