Call for Proposals: Public Art & Youth Residency Opportunities, Strathcona Wilderness Centre

Call for Artists: Temporary Public Art Commissions & Activate Youth Residency Development Opportunity at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre

Strathcona County Public Art invites artists and artist teams to apply for two temporary public art opportunities at the Strathcona Wilderness Centre, a year-round destination located east of Sherwood Park. Surrounded by natural landscapes, the site includes hiking trails, picnic areas, wildlife viewing, campgrounds, and a public lodge, offering a rich setting for site-responsive and environmentally engaged creative work.

This combined call includes two separate commissions:

Temporary Public Art Commissions (2 projects) – $10,000 each
Activate Youth Residency (1 project) – $10,000

Artists may apply to one or both opportunities but must clearly indicate their interest.

About the Site

The Strathcona Wilderness Centre is a place of seasonal change, recreation, learning, and connection to land. Visitors engage with the site through walking, gathering, observing, and experiencing the rhythms of the natural environment. Artists are invited to respond to this context; ecological, social, and sensory, through thoughtful, site-aware proposals.

Opportunity 1: Temporary Public Art Commissions
(Two projects will be selected – $10,000 each)

Overview
These commissions support the creation of temporary, site-responsive artworks situated within the Wilderness Centre. Projects should invite visitors to experience the site in new ways, encouraging curiosity, reflection, and engagement with the landscape.

Approach
Artists may propose a wide range of approaches, including:

Sculptural works using natural or fabricated materials
Environmental or land-based installations
Trail-based interventions or dispersed works
Artist-designed seating, gathering elements, or markers
Sound-based works or listening experiences
Self-guided tour formats (maps, prompts, QR-based works, narrative pathways)
Social practice or participatory experiences
Walking-based artworks, performances, or seasonal activations
Projects may be object-based, experiential, or time-based.

Artists are especially encouraged to consider:

Use of natural or site-derived materials
Works that evolve with or respond to seasonal change
Subtle or embedded interventions that reward close observation
Projects that create slow, reflective, or sensory encounters

Project Goals

Animate the Wilderness Centre through creative, place-based work
Encourage new ways of experiencing trails, landscapes, and shared outdoor spaces
Explore themes such as ecology, time, movement, observation, care, and human relationships to nature

Opportunity 2: Activate Youth – Public Art Residency
(One project – $10,000)

Overview
This residency supports an artist to work with youth to develop an ecologically or nature-focused creative process, culminating in a final public artwork connected to the Wilderness Centre.

Approach
The selected artist will:

Design and lead a youth engagement process (e.g., workshops, outdoor sessions, creative labs, walks, or storytelling activities)
Introduce a creative skill, material, or way of working (e.g., environmental art, sound recording, sculpture, mapping, photography, writing, etc.)
Develop a final public artwork informed by the process
Engagement may take place outdoors at the site or in partnership with a local youth-serving organization.

Final Artwork
The resulting work may take many forms, such as:

Small-scale sculptural installation
Audio work or sound-based piece
Installed or distributed trail-based elements
Textile, printed, or panel-based work
Digital or hybrid formats
Artist-designed interpretive or experiential works
The final project should meaningfully reflect the youth engagement process while remaining artist-led and cohesive.

Project Goals

Cultivate meaningful youth engagement with art and environment
Encourage creative exploration of ecology, place, and belonging
Support youth as contributors to public space and cultural life

Budget

Each opportunity has a total budget of $10,000 CAD. Budgets are inclusive of all costs:

Artist fees
Materials and fabrication
Travel and accommodation
Installation and deinstallation
Documentation
Community engagement (if applicable)
Insurance and permits (if required)

Artists must propose projects that are feasible, durable for their intended duration, and low-maintenance.

Site Considerations
All projects must:

Be appropriate for a public, outdoor, nature-based site
Avoid interference with trail use, visitor safety, maintenance, or wildlife
Be safely installable and removable
Require minimal or no ongoing maintenance by County staff
Final siting and installation details will be confirmed with Strathcona County.

Eligibility

Open to Canadian artists and artist teams working in: visual art, public art, craft, media, sound, performance, socially engaged practice, design, or interdisciplinary approaches.

Priority may be given to artists with connections to: