Traffic Box Call

Boise-Painters, graphic designers, and illustrators are invited to apply for opportunities to design murals for traffic control boxes.  Up to sixteen artists are to be selected and others to be added to a "Registry" for future traffic box projects.

The Mayor's Neighborhood Reinvestment Program, Capital City Development Corporation, and Boise City are providing funding in partnership with the Downtown Neighborhood Association, the West Downtown Neighborhood Association and the Downtown Boise Association to commission up to 16 Idaho artists to design murals for Ada County Highway District traffic control boxes in Boise. Boise's Department of Arts & History is facilitating artist selection process and project management.

The program brings public art to the street, decreases graffiti, and increases the unique character of our city streets. This project was initiated by Downtown Boise Association in 2010 as a model project that paved the way for more boxes at prominent intersections to be made into artwork.

DEADLINE: 4 p.m., Thursday, May 5th, 2011

Artist Application Process:
1.  Artists send in ten digital visual examples of past work (72 dpi jpgs)., letter of interest and resume
2.  A selection committee made up of representatives from stakeholder groups will review the applications and choose up to 16 artists with whom to work.  Additional artists will be selected for Traffic Box "Registry" so that if, in the next year, additional funds are available to transform other boxes, artists from the registry will be selected to create designs.
3.  Selected artists will be paid $1,000 to design one mural each, featuring a community-related theme, using provided templates as a guide. Artists do not fabricate or install the final art on the box.
4.  The fabricator will take the artist designs (which can be prepared as illustrations, paintings, computer designed images, or photographs), transform them into a vinyl wrap, and apply them to traffic boxes.
5.  Artworks will be celebrated with a dedication and walking tours in September.

Send Applications To:
Traffic Box Project
Karen Bubb, Public Arts Manager
Boise City Department of Arts & History
PO Box 500
Boise, ID 83701-0500

QUESTIONS? Call Karen Bubb at 433-5677 or e-mail her at  kbubb@cityofboise.org