Public Art Call: Lakeview Digital Murals

Artscape Atelier is inviting artists to submit a Proposal for a rotating series of Digital Murals as part of Lakeview Village, Mississauga’s new waterfront development. The digital exhibit will be an evolving space representing diverse artist and community voices and stories

Artscape Atelier is a social enterprise dedicated to creating opportunities for artists to meaningfully participate in city-building and shape vibrant and inclusive communities through site-specific public art, public realm and creative placemaking interventions.

Opportunity  

Lakeview Village is breathing new life into Mississauga’s waterfront, creating a vibrant community  with views and connections to Lake Ontario. In the first phase of development, a field of “one  million sunflowers” was planted alongside a 1600ft of muraled construction hoarding, and an ethereal metal sculpture, called ‘The Light Within,’ by Ryan Longo, as a place for the community to gather on the Lakeview Village site. In this next phase of development a Discovery Centre is being built on the site for the community to engage and explore what this site will transform to over the next 5-10 years.

We are inviting artists and/or arts collectives to submit their portfolio and conceptual direction for a Digital Mural, located inside the Discovery Centre (located on Hydro Road and Lakeshore Road East).

The screen has a 16:9 aspect ratio LED display (2.5mm pixel pitch, HD resolution) and measures at 6 meters (19 feet 6 inches) wide, and 3.38 meters (11 feet) high. Therefore the completed image resolution size should be no smaller than 1920 pixels across x 1080 pixels down. The screen is located above the reception desk at the South entrance/exit of the building. Ideally, the Digital Murals should welcome and engage the community to this site and transformation. The visual below shows the interior of the space and the location of the proposed screen above the reception desk. Please note that the image displayed is only a placeholder.

The Digital Murals may become part of Lakeview’s permanent collection and the screen displaying these could be relocated on the site as it is developed over the next decade.

Site Details  

Built on the site of the decommissioned OPG coal-fired power plant, Lakeview Village will  transform former industrial lands into a vibrant waterfront community, connecting Mississauga to  this portion of Lake Ontario for the first time in decades. This 177-acre redevelopment project will  shift the way people live, visit and experience the waterfront, through four major park systems,  3.5km of new waterfront trail, a vibrant square for pop ups, markets and festivals, a fully integrated transit, pedestrian and cycle network, a year-round multicultural hub with recreational programming, direct access to the new 64-acre Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area, housing options for all, and a curated collection of shops, restaurants,, and the Innovation District — a 20-acre tech and research centre, with a unique cluster of businesses, organizations and a talented workforce driving innovation. Learn more here.

The Lakeview Village Discovery Centre (location indicated on image above) is a space designed to embody “life by the lake” – the experience of being immersed in a natural environment and being by the water – with a sense of discovery at its core. Using minimalist design, earth and cool tones and natural materials, the space evokes the spirit of Lakeview Village:

1. Water, nature and fresh air drive the experience
2. Celebrating the views and proximity to Lake Ontario
3. Bringing people to understand the new connections to trails, the lake, to people and to programming.

The space will be used as a sales centre and community hub for activations and programming, art and educational exhibitions, food, cultural and music experiences, and as an immersive and interactive centre for engagement and awareness surrounding the Lakeview Village Master Plan, including its commitment to sustainability, innovation, and the long-term partnership with Artscape Atelier.

The Discovery Centre user experience is incredibly diverse. With a range of ages, needs and mindsets. The creative expression must consider the need for this digital mural to not distract or disrupt the user experience. It should embody the serenity and harmony that life by the lake brings. It should feel like a breath of fresh air, it should awaken the senses, it should celebrate water and nature.

Consider the following use cases:

• Event Space – Social: be it a VIP sales event or a celebration of the Chinese New Year. The Discovery Centre will host large scale social events
• Event Space – Business & Government: The Discovery Centre will be a place where thought leaders and business leaders can come together for economic and tech summits, workshops on sustainability and resilience, press events and announcements tied to the development, the City of Mississauga and beyond.
• Community Gathering:
  • Young people for a STEM camp or nature workshop to learn about the Great Lakes and/or conservation practices
  • Local recreational organizations that will access and congregate in and around the Discovery Centre.
  • Educational workshops, Artist in Residency learning
• Retail Foreshadowing: from time to time there will be activations that will reflect our future retail experiences:
  • Farmers Market on a Saturday am
  • Retail pop up or artisan’s market
  • Food Truck alley

Thematic

We invite artists to consider the Discovery Centre as a site that connects humans to the environment in a harmonious, interconnected and playful relationship with each other.

The Digital Murals should inspire and link the relationship between humans and the living world; particularly elements such as water, plants and wind should be considered. We strongly encourage bringing the natural world into the Discovery Centre building within the mural theme, to reflect the land it is placed upon. Still images and animated works will be considered.

Artistic Medium  

This is a purely Digital medium, however the natural world and our connection to it should be considered and explored in the concept. The image can be a static 2D/3D image and/or have animation/movement components. If animated the animation should last no longer than 1 minute max.

Animations should be consistent with the Discovery Centre experience

Animations experience:

• Consider a calm, restorative experience
• No flashing lights or beams of light that can be distracting or create issue for those with issues associated with aggressively active light sources
• No aggressive movement
• No distracting pulses
• Should consider how content/creative can mimic natural behaviour of the environment: water, wind, birds soaring.

There are no colour restrictions, however artists should look to complement the site with their installation (i.e. Lake Ontario, surrounding greenspace, nature). A full brief on colour theory and interior design elements can be provided at the start of creative process.

Eligibility  

This is an open call to any artists with experience creating Digital Murals/printed works. Artists from the Mississauga community are highly encouraged to apply, but all artists will be considered.

Budget  

The budget for this project is $3,562.50 + HST (CAD) per artist/digital mural (there will be a total of 4 artist spots to create their individual digital murals) and is inclusive of artist fees, technical consultation, project meetings, site visit, concept development, purchase of relevant materials, engineering fees, fabrication and digital artwork delivery and documentation rights of completed artwork. It is up to the artist(s) to break down their budget, including their artist fee.

Submission Requirements  

Artists are invited to submit their proposal on Submittable HERE. The application requests the following:

• Artist(s) CV
• Conceptual Direction, Artist Statement & initial Sketch
• Up to 5 images of past work, all supported by a written list of artist’s name, title of work, medium, dimensions, location and date
• References: include contact name, title, organization, telephone number and email address for two references who can speak to the artist’s artistic practice and/or experience in public art projects

If you face any personal barriers in responding to this call, please reach out for dedicated assistance. Artists will have the option to submit a video in lieu of writing a conceptual direction and artist statement.

Selection Process  

Submissions to this Call for Proposal will be reviewed by a jury of qualified persons, including arts professionals, Mississauga community members, and the Lakeview Community Partners Limited team, to select an artist(s) for commission.

The jury will evaluate applications based on:

• Artistic excellence and merit of artist(s) past work
• Strength and imagination of initial concept
• Demonstrated ability of artist(s) to execute project within budget and timeline set out

Following the proposals submissions and Jury selection meetings, Artscape Atelier will notify the selected 4 artists for commissioning their individual digital murals. Artist(s) will develop their final proposal in collaboration with the curatorial team at Artscape Atelier, and project team at Lakeview Community Partners. Artscape Atelier reserves the right to select and retain the artists deemed most appropriate for the project at its sole discretion.

Anticipated Schedule (times in EST)

Terms and Conditions  

Artscape Atelier (the “Organization”), at its sole discretion, may request clarifications or request  additional information, as deemed necessary to evaluate the submissions. The Organization

retains the sole discretion to determine whether a submission is responsive and if the

prospective Artist or Artist Team is capable of performing the Work. The Organization reserves  the right, at its sole discretion, to determine the number of pre-qualified Artists or Artist Teams.  The Organization reserves the right to not proceed with awarding a contract.

Documentation Rights 

Artscape and Lakeview Community Partners Limited reserve the right to publish photos and videos of the chosen artwork/s as part of communications, archival and marketing materials.

Additional Information 

For additional information or questions, please contact Kyla Radoja, Public Art & Partners Manager at Artscape Atelier, kradoja@artscape.ca