Arts Council invites students to decorate city roadsides

The two sites are near Broadway Boulevard and Euclid Avenue, and on West Silverlake Road between Interstate 10 and Mission Road.

Commissions for the Broadway Boulevard project range from about $17,000 for a 420-square-foot area to nearly $100,000 for a nearly 2,400-square-foot wall space.

The Silverlake Road project will bring a total commission of $60,000. The money will be given to the artist or artists to cover all costs for the project.

"It is a really open project. There are absolutely no preconceptions about what can go on them," said Beth Hancock, public arts specialist with the arts council.

Both sites are highly visible and provide a good opportunity for the selected artists to show their stuff, she said.

Jennifer Van Brocklin, an architecture senior, said she had never heard of the council's open call to artists, and was surprised when her architecture 401 class project became the council's choice for a new northwest neighborhood center.

The project was assigned to one-fourth of her class and when they displayed their suggestions at the center, the council showed interest in her idea.

Van Brocklin said if more UA students knew about the council's open call to artists, more would submit - and perhaps win the bid.

"It's probably the best experience I've had," she said, suggesting any University of Arizona art student with an idea should give it a shot.

"You really get to see all sides from the financial end, who you go through and who you need to contact to how things are really put through," she said.

The experience may be invaluable, but the cost is a lot of hard work.

"It's a really big commitment," she said, adding that you are responsible for everything from hiring a contractor, to paying taxes, getting insurance and dealing with the city.

She said Hancock is very helpful to students who may not know their way around the bureaucracy.

Although students may compete against architectural firms or out-of-town artists, it is still worth a try, Van Brocklin said.

"Most of the people that do it, it is their first (public) project," she said.

There are 70 completed or in-progress public art programs in Tucson, Hancock said, all of which are open to any local artists.

The Broadway site comprises four wall spaces along the traffic interchange, and each site is distinctly configured, Hancock said. Proposals for all of the walls, or any number of them can be submitted by individuals or groups.

The Silverlake project encourages "Imaginative artwork for the exceptionally diverse streetscape environment which includes everything from roadside accommodations off I-10 to light industrial, commercial, agricultural, residential, office and prison uses," states the Call to Artists release.

Hancock said normally the council receives 20 to 30 applications for a project but expects more for these high-visibility projects.

She has only received one or two submissions so far, but she said most proposals come in the day of the deadline.

The arts council is a non-profit organization that not only manages public art programs, but also sends artists into Tucson schools to teach children about art.

Interested artists should attend the pre-submission meetings.

The meeting for the Broadway project will be Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson/Pima Arts Council, 240 N. Stone Ave. For the Silverlake project the meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Pima County Parks and Recreation, 1204 W. Silverlake Rd.

For more information contact Beth Hancock at 624-0595, extension 21.