Request for Qualifications: Underline Mural North Wall
Location of north wall under I-83 underpass for the Request for Qualifications
The Baltimore Underline
The Baltimore Underline is an exploration of how lights can enhance the feeling of safety for vulnerable road users. In collaboration with Central Baltimore Partnership, Station North Arts District, and Formstone Castle, we're using lights to reimagine the I-83 underpass on North Avenue - a nexus of many different transportation modes. This is one part of a larger initiative, multi-year initiative called Made You Look from MICA’s Center for Social Design that aims to make high traffic areas safer for pedestrians, transit users, and bicyclists.
We are currently preparing for the implementation of this LIght Art Project in Spring 2022. Read more about the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) below!
Looking for a Baltimore-based artist or artist team to collaborate with us for a mural on the north wall. Access the RFQ here. DUE NOVEMBER 1st. Artist Fee is $15,500 + materials
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The RFQ asks for:
Contact Information
Statement of Interest
3 - 4 samples of previous work with descriptions
CV or resume of relevant past experience
1 - 2 References
2010: Original Mural by Jerry Butler, 2020: Current documentation of mural with tags
SUMMARY:
Due: November 1st
Budget: $15,500 + materials
Location: I-83 Underpass along North Ave
Made You Look Baltimore, Formstone Castle and the Station North Arts District under the management of Central Baltimore Partnership, seek a Baltimore-based artist or artist team to design and produce a unique, site-specific blacklight mural artwork on the north wall of the I-83 underpass at North Avenue.
A key component of The Baltimore Underline is the use of overhead blacklight effect lighting, provided by Formstone Castle Collective. The selected muralist will work with Formstone Castle Collective to incorporate blacklight enhancements into the design.
BACKGROUND CONTEXT:
On the south wall of the I-83 underpass, is Jerry Butler’s “Social Justice” mural - painted in 2010 in collaboration with local school students from the surrounding neighborhoods. Over the years, it has been tagged and painted over.
As part of The Baltimore Underline initiative, we will be restoring the original mural in collaboration with Jerry Butler. When applying for this RFQ, the artist should consider ways to tie-in their mural design for the north wall with the existing “Social Justice” mural across North Ave, so that it continues the conversation with a thematic connection.
There will be an extensive community engagement process in relation to the mural installations during Fall 2021. The goal of the community engagement process is to organize a reunion with the original artists (then primary school students) and facilitate a discussion about what has changed since 2010. What does social justice look like in 2021, after the Freddie Gray Uprising in 2015 and the Black Lives Matters demonstrations in 2020, versus 2010?
To read more about the process and timeline of the Baltimore Underline, please review the Underline Story