As calendars turns to 2021, the City of Nanaimo’s street banners will be turning to 2121.
The city is seeking submissions for its 2021-22 street banner design program, with this year’s theme asking artists to consider what Nanaimo might look like in 100 years.
City of Nanaimo culture coordinator Allison Collins said the idea came from conversation with Culture and Events manager Julie Bevan over the Reimagine Nanaimo public engagement campaign, which asks residents what they want the future of the city to look like.
Aside from a few design parameters, Collins said “we wanted to open it up to people’s imaginations.”
“I hope that people really take the spirit of the theme and run with it and think about not just … what the community looks like now, but really where they would like to see it in 100 years,” she said. “I think that’s a really exciting time scale to be thinking of. The world is changing so fast right now that so many things could happen and it’s really exciting to think about all the creative solutions we might come up with.”
Artists have until midnight on Feb. 16 to submit up to three designs for consideration. The selections will be made based on originality and creativity, quality of presentation, uniqueness of style, connection to the theme and ability to be legible when displayed on lamp posts.
The chosen banner design will be revealed in March and the winning applicant will receive a $2,500 honorarium.
The banners will hang from lamp posts in the downtown, Old City Quarter and along Bowen Road, Third and Pine Streets from May until the end of October. The following spring they will be displayed once again along Brechin, Rutherford, Turner and Mostar Roads and at the northern city limits.
More information about the program can be found here. Questions may be addressed to the city’s culture and events department at cultureandevents@nanaimo.ca or 250-755-4483.
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