The City of Nanaimo and the Nanaimo Lions Club are hoping to add a splash of colour to the Lions Pavilion in Maffeo Sutton Park.
Last week the city announced that it is asking artists to submit designs for a mural to decorate the structure’s southwest-facing “main approach wall” with a maximum budget of $5,000.
The Lions approached the city to collaborate on the project to beautify the building and will be sharing the cost.
According to the city’s request for proposal document, when the pavilion was first built that wall was obscured by landscaping, but for the past 10 years the 2.8-by-1.25-metre slab of grey concrete has been in plain view.
Artists, both amateur and professional, have until Aug. 28 at 3 p.m. to submit up to three designs each in person, by mail or electronically. The Lions prefer the murals adhere to a harbour theme that highlights distinct downtown buildings, but other concepts may also be put forth.
A city-formed selection committee will review the submissions. The document notes that the proposals “should demonstrate imagination, originality, excellence and artistic merit, consider the site’s location, context and audience, be safe for long-term exhibition in high traffic outdoor public space, be vandal and theft resistant and resistant to year-round weather conditions, including proximity to exposure to a marine environment.”
Based on the success of this project, the Lions may be interested in adding murals to the structure’s remaining walls as well.
The request for proposal document is available here.
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