CALL FOR ARTISTS: HIDDEN WATERS — WATER DROPS

DEADLINE
Friday, August 9, 2024 at 11:59 PM MST

BUDGET
$1,500 commission per artist; Eight artists will be selected

Call for Artists Opens: Monday, July 8th
Application Deadline: Friday, August 9th at 11:59 PM MST
​

LOCATION OF INSTALLATION
North Temple from State Street to 600 W and the Folsom Trail

PURPOSE
A partnership project curated by Seven Canyons Trust and The Blocks Arts District. Funded by: The Blocks, Crocker Catalyst Foundation, Willard L Eccles Foundation, and Utah Humanities.
The Hidden Waters installation will celebrate water in our oasis on the edge of the desert. It will highlight Salt Lake City’s relationship with its hydrology and the stream that built our city. It will highlight a series of narratives based around water, including the Indigenous Peoples of the Salt Lake Valley, the Greatest Snow on Earth, the 2034 Winter Olympics as water sports, stream daylighting, the Great Salt Lake, and more. It will work to culturally daylight the creek—not physically bringing the creek back to the surface. But rather, bringing the idea that the creek runs underneath our city, to the surface of the collective consciousness. Efforts will ultimately build education and stewardship of the hydrology in our city named after water.

ABOUT THIS INSTALLATION
The installation will be initially focused on North Temple where City Creek flows aboveground and then underneath the street in a pipe. It will connect City Creek Park to the Utah Transit Authority’s North Temple Frontrunner/TRAX Station and Folsom Trail corridor at 600 West in Salt Lake City. Efforts will animate the pedestrian environment along North Temple. The installation will consist of two distinctive phases, the first is a series of artist-commissioned Water Drops and the second will be The Source—a large sculptural element serving as a beacon for the project.
Water Drops will consist of a series of artist-commission pieces installed within a standard three-foot by two-foot metal water drop-shape frame. Artist-commissioned elements can include metalwork, stained glass, wood, written words, and more—the creative possibilities are nearly endless. They will be installed on light posts, similar to a street banner. The pieces will create a new “creekside” walk along North Temple as pedestrians discover the next drop.
The Source will be the second phase of the project. It will serve as a large beacon to draw pedestrians into the installation on North Temple. The piece will be placed at a well-trafficked location on North Temple. The vision is to feature a livestream recording of City Creek on the piece within its concrete pipe underneath North Temple. This will bring the audio and visual of the creek back to the streetscape as it did before its burial at the turn of the 20th Century. It will feature the word “water” in the estimated 120 languages spoken in Utah to create a connection to water for our diverse residents. It will include historical imagery, information about past and future stream daylighting: City Creek Park and the City Creek at Folsom Trail project, and a reproduction of the Stansbury map of the Salt Lake Valley from 1852, which includes some of the Native names for the seven Wasatch canyon creeks.


TIMELINE
Call for Artists Opens: Monday, July 8th
Application Deadline: Friday, August 9th at 11:59 PM MST
Application Review: Monday, August 12th to Friday, August 16th
Artist Notification & Contracting: Monday, August 19th
Drop Fabrication/Creation: Monday, August 26th to Friday, October 25th
Drop Installation: Monday, November 4th to Friday, November 8th
Unveiling Walk: Monday, November 11th to Friday, November 15th*
*Exact date to be determined.


DETAILS
Eight selected artists will be paid to design and fabricate a single Water Drop within the standard aluminum water drop-shaped frame. Frames will be roughly three feet high by two and a half feet wide. Two sides will sandwich the artist-commissioned piece inside the frame. Artwork should be duplicated or double-sided and viewable from the front and back. Maximum thickness for the artist-commissioned piece is ½ in and maximum weight is 20 lbs. Artists must ensure the edges of the piece are water resistant. If deemed necessary, pieces may be protected with plexiglass, a clear enamel, or non-sacrificial anti-graffiti coating.
Artists should consider future maintenance in design and fabrication. If the artist-commissioned piece is damaged, artists may be asked to make major repairs or full replacement. Additional funding is available to support this.
If selected, artists will pick up the Water Drop frames and will be responsible for installation of the artist-commissioned piece inside. Pieces will then be dropped back off for installation on the identified street light posts.
Artists will be expected to join an unveiling walk between Monday, November 11th and Friday, November 15th. Exact date and time will be coordinated with chosen artists to find a time that works best.

FOR MORE INFO VISIT THIS WEBSITE:
https://sevencanyonstrust.org/blog/call-for-artists-water-drops