Calgary, AB,
27
May
2020
|
09:59
America/Denver

Calgarians’ input wanted to shape new direction for public art program

The City is moving forward with plans to transition the public art program to an external organization, and we’re seeking input from Calgarians to help shape the future of public art in Calgary.

“Calgarians are very passionate about art and continuing to make Calgary an inviting and vibrant place to live and visit,” says Jennifer Thompson, acting manager of Arts and Culture at The City of Calgary. “It’s important we understand the expectations and priorities of Calgarians when it comes to this new direction for public art in our city.”

Calgarians can participate in an online survey starting today until June 30. For those who’d like to go a little more in depth, you can attend one of three online sessions on June 16, 17 or 18.

Information collected from Calgarians and the arts community will be used to build the procurement process to find the best external organization to operate Calgary’s future public art program. We expect to release the Request for Proposals in early fall 2020, and a final decision to be made by the end of the year.

For more information on the new direction of Calgary’s public art program visit Calgary.ca/publicart

To take the survey and sign up for an online session, visit Calgary.ca/engage

Background information

On September 30, 2019, Council directed Administration to hire a third-party consultant to review the public art program and examine options for the program to be managed by an external organization, with the hopes of reducing red-tape and providing a direct connection to the community.

The consultant’s findings were shared publicly at Council on November 25, 2019.

On April 6, 2020 Council approved that Administration should proceed with next steps to move the public art program to an external organization. These steps include:

  • Engagement with the public and arts stakeholders on what they’d like to see in a future public art program
  • Developing a procurement process to select an external organization to operate the future program

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