Call for Artists: 2SLGBTQIA+ Celebration Banner Project – Uptown Waterloo

The Uptown Waterloo BIA is seeking artists who are part of, or who share a commitment to supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ Community to create diverse and supportive spaces through a banner art project. We are currently looking to work with local artists to create designs for a series of banners which will be installed on poles within Uptown Waterloo.

Selected artists will receive $650 for their final banner design.

This project is happening in conjunction with an initiative by the City of Waterloo. The City is installing banners depicting the Progress Flag and reinvigorating the rainbow crosswalk on Willis Way.

Design Goals & Principles

The goal of the Uptown Waterloo 2SLGBTQIA+ Celebration Banner project is to showcase the work of local artists while celebrating the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, fostering a sense of pride, acceptance, unity and belonging. The project is intended as a platform to share space, raise awareness and foster understanding and community.

The overarching theme for this project is: What does it mean to be accepted as I am/who we are? Guiding principles and questions within this theme that will inform the selection process include:

What does it mean to feel:

  • Respected
  • Safe
  • Seen
  • Represented
  • Loved
  • Welcome
  • A sense of belonging
  • Free
  • Celebrated
  • Healing
  • Included

Within the broader theme of being accepted as we are, we also invite artists to explore:

  • The experience of intersectionality.
  • How do we belong to a place, and how do we relate to the space that we’re in?
  • How does the presence of queer symbols create safe and supportive spaces?

Application Requirements

To be considered for this banner project, artists must submit:

  1. Rough sketch showing an early idea for the design.
  2. Written statement of up to 100 words outlining the initial concept for the proposed banner design, including a brief overview of the piece to be developed explaining how it is directed to or reflective of a commitment to supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
  3. Artist bio: tell us as much or as little as you want of who you are in relation to the community.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT

Selection Process

A panel of individuals from organizations that provide representation across the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and allies will compose the selection committee. Submissions will be evaluated using a comparative assessment, based on:

  • A strong connection to the project theme and guiding principles
  • Work showing a clear sense of ‘voice’ and originality
  • Demonstrating an understanding that finished work will be used in a public space over an extended period of time

Selected artists will be paid a flat fee of $650 for the design, which the Uptown Waterloo BIA will use to display on the banners, website, social media, and other BIA communication materials. The designs will not be reproduced anywhere else unless with permission from the artist, and will not be used for profit of any kind.

Timeline

  • April 5 – 12: open call for artists
  • April 13 – 17: committee selects finalists
  • April 18: all finalists notified
  • April 18 – 30: artists work on final design
  • April 30: final designs submitted
  • May 1 – 19: print & production
  • May 20 – 26: installation week
  • May 31: unveiling event

Applications are strongly encouraged/priority will be given to equity-deserving groups of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community including but not limited to Black, Indigenous and racialized folks, trans and non-binary folks, queer identifying people, people with disabilities, youth (39 and under), newcomers to Canada, unhoused people, and all other intersecting identities and experiences.