Part of ensuring impact means a shift in how artists are selected. Rather than the past system, where a roster of city staff, community members, creatives, and architectural professionals made decisions in a majority-wins format, EAC now emphasizes the role of curators and subject-matter experts.
“We’ve been working a lot with curators and artists, and bringing them in to not only do the selection, but to also identify artists that may not have applied in the past, that could be ideal for certain projects,” Turnbull said.
The pedway is the second-most recent project commissioned under the Public Realm policy. This can be confusing as the most recently completed project is Play it by Ear in Butler Memorial Park, by Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett of Calgary. That work was a response to a call from 2020, under the former system, and cost $200,000. That number includes consultation, concept proposal, community engagement, design, fabrication, and installation, an EAC spokesperson said in an email.
The EAC usually opens artist calls nationally. International artist calls don’t offer the same bang for their buck, Turnbull said. Its latest call is for locals only, to create vinyl murals for soccer centres in the city to the tune of $30,000.
“It’s a design-only competition, where the artist just has to supply digital images,” Turnbull said. “We’ll actually go through the whole printing and installation process on their behalf … They don’t have to worry about all the project management.”
One of the goals of the 2021 policy changes is to increase diversity among artists selected. Turnbull said 80% of recent commissions, dating back to the 2018-2019 plan Connections & Exchanges, have gone to underrepresented artists such as Indigenous peoples, women, and people of colour. An EAC spokesperson said this figure applies to “anyone on the books” from 2022 to the present.
Not every Edmontonian likes every public art project. But Turnbull thinks the revised model for public art is better equipped to satisfy citizens than the last.
“These are all community members (on the selection team),” he said. “The curators are also citizens that live within the city, same with the people who work at the city.”
The request for qualifications for the soccer murals is open until April 22. An information session takes place at the Prince of Wales Armouries at 10448 108 Avenue NW on April 5 from 2pm to 4pm.
