Description

The St. Helena Chamber of Commerce and the St. Helena Beautification Foundation committee is working with a volunteer committee comprised of property owners, gallery managers, members of the St. Helena beautification committee, PR professionals, and passionate residents, to bring public art to St. Helena. St. Helena’s Historic Shopping District has five high-end art galleries in a three-block radius, but no existing public art murals. The committee’s mission is to bring public art to St. Helena that celebrates St. Helena’s history and highlights its culture, in a bright and progressive fashion. With a goal of three murals in five years, the art murals are meant to enhance the character of St. Helena’s historic downtown district and create an entertaining and walkable art experience for the public.

The mural will be located on the exterior wall of a two-story downtown hotel that has high visibility for through traffic. The building (image below) has wood siding and will require a scaffolding for installation. Important elements: The mural itself should be photo-worthy, demand the attention of both pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and provide sense of place. The highly visible art mural should represent the City of St. Helena, honor its historical significance of being the “roots of Napa Valley”, and bring vibrant energy to St. Helena's historic shopping district. It's important the piece is not only impressive but also feels timeless and can relate to people of all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities.

The commissioned artwork should achieve the following goals:
--Celebrate St. Helena’s history, natural beauty, cultural heritage.
--Express the “roots of Napa Valley” narrative (the importance as St. Helena is why Napa Valley is here today).
--Photogenic and share worthy. The mural should demand a social media photo opportunity.
--Bright colors, whimsical, creative, & innovative.
--With little to no art in public spaces in St. Helena, it is important this mural be engaging, thought-provoking, and representative of St. Helena’s diversity.

Artist eligibility opens August 4th, 2023. . Eligible artists must reside within the Western United States. Artist must be 21 years and older by the time of installation. The selected artist must be available to begin work Summer of 2024, pending weather.

Budget: Project budget is $10,000 inclusive of all materials, lift/scaffolding rental, installation, and any supplies needed to complete the project. Additionally, a budget has been established to pay semi-finalists a proposal fee of $350. Lodging will be provided for the selected artist, outside of the project budget. Travel and meals are to be provided by artist. Artist will need to provide personal proof of insurance if selected as a finalist.

Artist Selection Process:

--Submissions will be reviewed and evaluated by St. Helena’s volunteer “art curator committee”.
--The art curator committee will select 2-4 semi-finalists by majority vote based on the quality of the artists/artists teams past work and application.
--Selected semi-finalists will be put under contract to prepare a detailed design and budget proposal. Selected semi-finalists will be given a proposal fee of $350.
--Art curator committee will review all conceptual designs and select one finalist based on a majority vote.

Application documents are to be submitted digitally through Dropbox, following the title directions above. Submission Deadline- completed applications must be received by Friday, September 29th, 5:00pm PST.