Call for Expressions of Interest: Bloomberg Art Grant – York Street West Asphalt Art, Ottawa

Image credit: Bloomberg Philanthropies

Call for Artists: Bloomberg Art Grant – York Street West Asphalt Art, ByWard Market, Ottawa

Submission Deadline: November 28, 2025, 12pm (noon) ET

The City of Ottawa ByWard Market Public Realm Office, the ByWard Market District Authority, the City of Ottawa Public Art Program, and the Ottawa Art Gallery (Project Team) are seeking an expression of interest from professional visual artists for the design and execution of an asphalt mural on portions of York Street West at Sussex to ByWard Market Square.

Funded through the Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative, the mural must be an ambitious, arts-driven street design with the goal of catalytic improvements to a key location in the city.

Project Requirements

The completed works of art shall:

• Remain for a 2-year period (2026-2028) at the site location and must be installed using highly durable materials that are suitable for the environment and require minimal maintenance/renewal, conducted by the artist or a local team as chosen by the artist.
• Demonstrate contemporary artistic excellence.
• Show sensitivity to the surrounding community and address site characteristics.
• Be conceptually appealing.
• Not obstruct pedestrian flow or parking regulations.
• Be engaging for users.
• Comply with all City of Ottawa bylaws.

Eligibility

This Expression of Interest is an equal opportunity, open to all professional artists with experience in creating temporary and permanent public art and working with multidisciplinary teams. City of Ottawa, ByWard Market District Authority, and Ottawa Art Gallery employees are not eligible to apply.

The Project Team supports cultural activities that are inclusive of Ottawa’s diverse communities, including people from diverse ancestries, abilities, ages, countries of origin, cultures, genders, incomes, languages, races and sexual orientations. Applications from First Nations, Inuit and Métis are welcome and encouraged. The Project Team recognizes both official languages (English and French) as having the same rights, status and privileges.

Aerial view of York Street West.

Compensation

The total commission budget for this project is $70,000 in Canadian Dollars (CAD), inclusive of Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), and must include all costs required to design, fabricate, transport and install the public art. This budget also includes any travel expenses incurred by the artist or artist team. However, the commission budget does not include any operational, administrative, jury, or advertising expenses incurred by the Project Team.

The artist’s commission fee will cover all ongoing maintenance costs for the two-year term, including materials, supplies, and, if applicable, travel and accommodation required to maintain the artwork. Specific maintenance requirements and responsibilities will be detailed in the contract or statement of work provided to the selected artist or artist group.

Up to five artists or artist groups will be selected from the Expression of Interest phase to advance their concept to the design and mock-up stage. The chosen artists or artist groups will each receive $1,500 honorarium for their concept(s).

Selection Process

This project will be awarded following a two-stage competitive process as follows:

Expression of Interest: Stage I
Expressions of Interest will be evaluated by a Peer Assessment Committee, who will shortlist between three to five artists or artist groups to move forward to Stage II.

Request for Proposals: Stage II
The shortlisted artists will be given an honorarium of $1,500, inclusive of HST and a detailed Terms of Reference for preparing proposals, drawings and budgets for Stage II of the competition. A technical review of proposals will be requested before the final submission date.

Shortlisted artists are required to provide materials for a virtual public open house to present their designs to the public. In addition, shortlisted proposals will be posted online for comment by the public. The Peer Assessment Committee will consider all comments received from the public during this consultation.

At a date following the virtual public open house, artists will be invited to meet individually with the Peer Assessment Committee to present their proposals and answer questions.

Schedule
Full process schedule can be accessed by applying on our website.

Top view of York Street West.

Submission Requirements

A complete submission to admin@bmda.ca must include all requirements as listed below:

• Support material may be written in English or French.
• Written documents must be submitted as a single PDF file.
• Submissions must be received by the deadline of Friday, November 28, 2025, at 12:00pm (noon) ET.
• Late or incomplete submissions will not be reviewed.
• All submissions to be sent to admin@bmda.ca.

The Project Team will send you a confirmation email when your application has been received and processed. If you do not receive an email from the Project Team two weeks after your submission, please contact us for confirmation at 613-244-4410.

All participants will be notified of the results of the selection process by email.

How to Submit

Please review the full details and submit your Expression of Interest via the website.

Submission Deadline: November 28, 2025, 12pm (noon) ET

For additional information or questions, please contact:
Victoria Williston
victoria@bmda.ca | (613) 875-8830

ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA)
55 ByWard Market Square
Ottawa, ON K1N 9C3
www.byward-market.com
info@bmda.ca
(613) 244-4410

Facebook @bywardmarket
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Accessibility: The BMDA is partially accessible. For more information, visit www.byward-market.com.