Call for Artists – Traffic Control Box Art along Ranch Road 12

City of San Marcos

Entry Deadline: Jan. 17

630 E. Hopkins
San Marcos, TX 78666
PHONE 512.393.8416

http://www.sanmarcostx.gov/486/Calls-for-Artists

The City of San Marcos invites area artists to apply for a public art project to create “Mini Murals” via their original art on three traffic control boxes on Ranch Road 12 in San Marcos. Selected artists’ designs will be digitized and printed on a vinyl wrap.

Artists are invited to submit designs for one box, or all of the boxes as a series; if submitting entries for all three boxes, the City is looking for designs that will adhere to a common theme.

The Traffic Control Box Art program is designed to enhance the city by adding works of art to the streetscape on surfaces that are often targeted by graffiti. Artwork on traffic signal boxes functions as a form of communication to a moving audience with the goal of creating a safe, inclusive, and interesting urban environment.

Project Details and Goals

Successful proposals will foster community pride and convey the sense of the San Marcos Community. Artists should understand that the finished works will be on functioning equipment that will need repair or replacing at some point in the future. We anticipate the average life of the Traffic Box Art to be 5 years. The City of San Marcos reserves the right to replace the artwork at any time and for any reason.

Much like the City’s successful Mural Art Project, the goal of the project is to continue intentionally growing free public art displays in San Marcos while helping to decrease the instances of graffiti on these surfaces by making them artful objects that contribute significantly to the vitality and attractiveness of the streetscape.

The project should meet the following objectives:

• Include all visible sides of the traffic signal box
• Be thoughtful about having large open areas on their artwork giving vandals a space to deface the work
• Adhere to a common theme among all three boxes if submitting designs as a series

Locations
The following Traffic Boxes have been identified for this project (See attached diagrams for dimensions):
• Intersection of Ranch Road 12 and Holland Street
• Intersection of Ranch Road 12 and Hughson Street
• Intersection of Ranch Road 12 and Craddock Avenue
Submissions
To be considered, applicant must submit the following:
• Current resume
• Typed statement briefly explaining your design (one page maximum)
**Artists may submit more than one design proposal. A statement for each design must be submitted.
• Artwork can be new or existing artwork.
• Digital submissions only:
o Artwork that has a full-size resolution of at least 150 dpi (in CMYK format) for production purposes. (For example, if designed at ¼ scale, file should be 600 dpi.)
o Each side of the panels for the traffic box artwork should have at least 1″ – 2″ of bleed on all sides.
o The files can be submitted in a PDF, .jpg or .tiff format. Each file must be a separate attachment—no links to Google documents or other cloud-based services, please
o Naming convention for the files should be: ArtistName.RR12.1,2,3, etc.

Submissions must be sent digitally. Do not send any materials not specifically requested (i.e. photographs, transparencies, DVDs/videos, articles, etc.). If sent, these materials will not be reviewed by the selection panel.

Submit proposals electronically to:
[email protected]
Write “Submission – RR12 Traffic Box” in the subject line of your email

For more information, contact Arts Coordinator Trey Hatt at [email protected] or call 512.393.8416.

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