Introduction
The City Avenue Special Services District (City Ave District) seeks artists for a public art project, involving wrapping windows throughout the District with vinyl artwork, adorned with custom, locally made graphic artwork. These wraps will be installed on the windows of vacant or inactive ground-level storefronts across the City Ave District, spanning from Presidential Boulevard to 63rd Street, and including parts of both the City of Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township. The project website houses a digital copy of this document, as well as frequently asked questions, which can be found at CityAve.Org
Opportunity and Project Goals
By placing new artwork around the community, City Ave District hopes to continue enlivening and adding meaning to public spaces and providing important and lasting cultural attractions for City Ave District residents and visitors. Ground-level vacancies and inactive windows can often have significant impacts on a sense of community, acting as gaps which interrupt the continuity and cohesion of a commercial corridor. By beautifying these spaces, we hope to have two meaningful outcomes: The first is to temporarily add beauty to otherwise empty spaces, thus contributing to the social value of the space. The second is to support property owners by drawing attention to their buildings and making them easier to lease. Once a space is leased, the vinyl wraps will be removed. Specific terms of the removal are to be included in a service agreement between City Ave District, the artist, and the owner.
Submitting Artists should be able to successfully create digital designs which can be printed onto our vinyl wraps. Designs will vary in scale and detail, and can be abstract, surreal, or realistic in nature. Selected artist(s) may be expected to work with City Ave District and the building owner to fine-tune their final designs.
This RFD is being offered to professional graphic artists or teams of artists interested in becoming eligible to design publicly funded vinyl wraps across the City Ave District. Qualifications and proposals will be reviewed and scored according to the submission requirements shown in this document.
