A Call to 2D and 3D Artists: New opportunity for exhibition!

We have some exciting news for artists today! In February we will be partnering with the Greater Columbia Metropolitan Airport for a new arts experience. We are officially issuing a call to 2-D and 3-D artists for rotating exhibition opportunities at the airport!

Artists living in the Midlands will have the opportunity to exhibit their 2-D work on walls between the security checkpoint and the food court at the airport for a period of two months beginning in February, 2014.  3-D artists will be provided the opportunity to exhibit their work in a secured exhibition case at the entrance of the atrium from the ticketing concourse.   Travelers to and from Columbia will be introduced to Midlands artists through their work and will be provided information to contact the artist if they wish to purchase any of the pieces.

“The arts provide a great introduction to our area.  We have such fine artists living here, and exhibiting their work to the traveling public will enhance the travel experience to the traveler and provide exposure to the artist and their work,” said Anne Sinclair, chairman of the Richland-Lexington District Airport Commission.  “It’s a win-win-win situation for the public, the airport, and the artist community.”

Interested artists are asked to submit 3 images representative of their work to Norree Boyd-Wicks, executive director of the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties via e-mail to Norree@SmartArts.info by Wednesday, January 8, 2014.  Artists will be selected and notified as to their exhibition dates.  All 2-D work must be exhibition ready with proper hanging wire and hooks.  All work, 2-D and 3-D must have proper labeling.  Information about the artist and the exhibited works will be prepared by the Cultural Council and provided to those interested in contacting the artist.

We are so excited to be partnering with the Greater Columbia Metropolitan Airport for this project. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate our 30 years of service to the arts in the midlands!

Decker Boulevard Mural: Pre-bid Conference Review

Yesterday we were able to meet with several artists, Councilman Jim Manning, and some staff members from Richland County to discuss the vision for the Decker Boulevard mural project. It was a great chance for artists to come together and hear in further detail how the project idea came about, what it means for the community of the International Corridor, and to ask questions about how the process will work.

We mentioned in last week’s post that we are heavily encouraging student involvement in the mural creation project. Artist Karl Wicks had some great points about this as he has worked with high school students in Columbia on other murals previously. “Getting kids involved creates a sense of ownership and pride in the community. Students really bond to the projects they are involved in and this would be a great avenue to unite kids across cultures, even if they just do something like prep a section of the wall.”

We were also joined by artist Gerard Erley who had some excellent points about uniting a team of artists to create this project proposal, and said it might be a great way to help incorporate the multicultural focus of the mural into the entire process.

Councilman Jim Manning is greatly enthusiastic about the project as well, having been an avid fan of mural art after seeing it frequently on annual road trips with his son. He believes this mural has the potential to be great for the International Corridor as it works towards community revitalization. Manning was able to give us insight into the eagerness of business owners and law enforcement officials to begin the project,

Decker Boulevard’s mural will be a wonderful addition to the multicultural heritage of the International Corridor. Artists, government officials, business owners, students, teachers, and law enforcement officers alike are all united in their enthusiasm to begin. Design proposals are due by Wednesday, December 18th at 4:00 pm. A detailed copy of the RFP can be downloaded here.

We are greatly looking forward to seeing the visions of all of the interested artists and selecting the design that will be proudly displayed on Decker Boulevard!