An Artistic Partnership with the City of Bloomington
and the Downtown Bloomington Association
The Mission: To develop multiple downtown Bloomington Illinois mural projects which will promote the creative expression of local artists and provide an enriching visual experience to residents and visitors of Bloomington.
Sites: The murals will be placed on various locations in partnership with building owners and the City of Bloomington. Artists may apply to be considered to paint these murals according to the following information.
Artist Eligibility: McLean county resident artists, age 18 or older and artists who gave time and talent to the Main and Market street mural in the summer of 2012 are eligible to apply.
Criteria for Artist Selection:
Art will be reviewed for Artistic Merit, Appropriateness to Public Presentation and Originality.
The selection panel, consisting of the Downtown Bloomington Association Mural Committee (a sub-committee of the Design Committee) will review all applications and renderings to determine up to three finalists who will be awarded the opportunity to display their concepts to the panel.
Artistic Theme: Themes are deliberately open ended to encourage artistic interpretation, and produce the widest diversity of ideas and visual impact possible. All proposals will be for original work. No copies allowed.
Panel Meeting and Notification: The selected finalists will make themselves available to discuss the project scope and their concept prior to award notification as needed by the selection panel. Artists will be notified of their review and final selection by e-mail and US mail.
The chosen artist must sign an agreement set up by the Mural Committee, which will include agreed upon finish date, and stipend. The artist must present (his/her) own original art which reflects the work that accompanied their application.
Agreed upon awards to the artist will be based upon scale of work to be produced, location of mural, and related issues.
Materials and Location: Obtaining all paint necessary for the execution of the mural shall be the responsibility of the mural committee. High quality paint is the only medium accepted for the mural, and should be of a quality to withstand weather conditions for a reasonable amount of time. Choice of primer, paint and final coating will depend on the site location.
Bloomington Mural Project Procedure for selected artist for the above mural
Requirements for the final artist to complete the project:
1. Mural must be original and must reflect the application rendering
2. This mural will be painted in a selected studio setting on primed polytab fabric with the paints provided.
3. Paint the mural using all safety precautions and sign your work in bottom right corner
4. Contact the Tricia at the DBA (829-9599)when finished with the painting.
5. The final protective coat and mounting to the site will be done by other than the mural artist.
Location of the 2nd mural for Summer 2014:
This site for the second mural is on Center Street, on the west wall of the Center for Human Services (108 W Market).
Option One – two separate, but related, murals in the two blank spots at the bottom of the wall. The north spot is 10.4’ high by 8.2’ wide. The south spot is 7.2’ high by 18’ wide. Total for the two spots is 206 square feet.
Option Two – a creative use of the whole side of the building. The entire side of the building is 63’ 7’ long and the height varies as it goes uphill. The design would need to work around nine windows and one door.
Committee Program Schedule for the above site:
Deadline for artist's submission: Monday, Sept. 8, 2014
Selection of finalists: Monday, Sept. 15, 2014
Final Selection/artist notification: Monday, Sept. 22, 2014
Artists must complete painting by- Monday, October 20, 2014
Any delays must be for good cause and be approved by the mural committee.
For questions or more information call Doug at 309.829-0011 or e-mail doug@mcac.org
ARTIST INFORMATION for Center for Human Services site:
Artist Application Procedure:
1. Please complete the application below. Applications will not be accepted after the deadlines.
2. The stipend for the above mural will be $1,400 to $1,600 for Option One. The stipend for Option Two will be negotiated, depending on the design of the selected artist.
3. Include a scale rendering of the proposed mural to be completed with your application following the general dimensions given above.
4. The proposed mural design must be an original work by the artist who is submitting.
5. Submit the application online or mail to McLean County Art Center address below.
Bloomington Mural Project Procedure for selected artist for the above mural
Requirements for the final artist to complete the project:
1. Mural must be original and must reflect the application rendering
2. This mural will be painted in a selected studio setting on primed polytab fabric and paints provided.
3. Paint the mural using all safety precautions and sign your work in bottom right corner
4. Contact the Tricia at the DBA (829-9599) when finished with the painting.
5. The final protective coat and mounting to the site will be done by other than the mural artist.