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Public Art

The City of Lethbridge supports the acquisition of public art which is a vital part of our community’s culture. Public art creates a distinct and vibrant legacy for our residents, and it:

  • Builds a visually rich environment
  • Encourages the growth of a culturally informed public
  • Plays a role in attracting creative businesses and workers to our city
  • Provides arts opportunities that are freely accessible to all

Public art collection gallery

Lethbridge is home to an impressive and ever-growing collection of public art. View a gallery of our public art collection online.

Virtual tours and interactive maps

Check out the following interactive maps and virtual tours of the public art located throughout the city.

Current calls for small projects

We enable small public art projects to provide opportunities for local artists and organizations to engage, enhance, and inform the community with their own creative artwork. Past and ongoing projects include utility box wrapping, construction fencing public art and murals.

View our current calls for local artists for these types of public art projects.

The Public Art Committee reviews applications and selects artists for small public art projects.

Large public art projects

View our bid opportunities to find current calls for submission for large public art projects.

In accordance with certain public trade agreements, the City and other municipalities in Canada cannot limit a request for proposals for a large public art project to only local artists. This means that although our local artists don’t receive preferential treatment for Lethbridge projects, they still benefit from being able to compete for projects across the country.

Large public art projects are also highly specialized which means that there may not be many local artists with the necessary skills and experience to execute a project. Our Public Art Small Projects program is designed to give local artists opportunities to gain experience with public art so that they can compete for larger opportunities if they want to.

How we select artists

The Public Art Committee assembles an ad hoc selection committee to select artists for large public art projects. Each selection committee is unique and includes:

  • A member of the Public Art Committee
  • A local artist
  • A technical advisor
  • An individual connected to the project/site
  • A member of the general public

The selection committee reviews all submissions, selects an artist for a project and then gives their recommendation to Council.

Learn more about how we select the committee roster or contact us at publicart@lethbridge.ca with questions.

Public Art Policy and Master Plan

Our Public Art Policy serves as a framework to direct the acquisition of public art, the public art governance structure and the management of public art collections. The policy is funded by 1% of community services capital projects (Section D) from each Capital Improvement Program (CIP). It also establishes the Public Art Committee as an advisory body to guide further development of policies and guidelines.

The policy works alongside the Public Art Master Plan to develop public art and offer a vision statement and values.

Public art budgets

​Most high-budget Public Art projects are large-scale pieces of art that can require a large budget. These projects are essentially small construction projects that involve design, fabrication, and installation and often take 12 to 16 months to complete. The majority of the budget for each project goes to materials and labour with the artist only receiving a small fee for creative time and effort.

Public Art Work Plan

To increase transparency, Council approves public art projects before they are initiated. Our 2022-2025 Public Art Work Plan includes information on in-progress public art projects and outlines project to be started in 2022 to 2025.

Public Art Committee

Learn how Lethbridge’s Public Art Committee helps ensure that the goals of the Public Art Policy and vision of the Public Art Master Plan are accomplished.

Public Art FAQs

The City of Lethbridge Public Art Committee provides leadership and support to the City in the coordination and implementation of the Public Art Master Plan and Public Art Policy. The Art Committee is an administrative committee of the Recreation and Culture Department at the City of Lethbridge. 

The Public Art Committee operates in an advisory capacity, reporting its activities to City Council as required. All Committee members are volunteers and the Committee meets approximately six times a year.

The Committee includes three public members. If you are interested in being notified of vacancies on this Committee, please contact publicart@lethbridge.ca.

 

The City of Lethbridge enables small public art projects designed to provide Lethbridge and area artists and local organizations with opportunities to engage, enhance, and inform the community. 

 

The City is bound by certain public sector trade agreements for high-budget Public Art projects. In accordance with these trade agreements, the City cannot limit a request for proposals for a piece of Public Art to only local artists. While these trade agreements mean that Lethbridge cannot directly award to local artists all of our contracts for high-budget Public Art projects, it also ensures that other municipalities (who adhere to the same trade agreements) must make their opportunities open and available to all artists. This means that our local artists, while not receiving preferential treatment for Lethbridge projects, benefit from being able to compete for projects in Lethbridge and across the country.

One other important thing to consider is that Public Art projects are highly specialized. For example, the piece being installed in ATB Centre's Aquatics Centre requires the use of industrial-grade materials that can withstand the humidity/chlorine present in a pool environment. There are very few local artists who have the experience necessary to successfully execute highly specialized Public Art projects. We are working to help our local artists become more experienced. Our Public Art Small Projects program is designed to give local artists opportunities to gain experience with Public Art so that they can compete for larger opportunities, should they so desire. We currently have several local artists working to install small Public Art projects in our community.

 

Most high-budget Public Art projects are large-scale pieces of art. The budget for a Public Art project may seem high if you are thinking that the piece is a small painting to be hung on a wall, similar to what you might see in a gallery or museum.  For example, the piece being installed in ATB Centre's Galleria and Gymnasium involves ten distinctive painted panels. The five panels facing into the Galleria are approximately 8 metres high by 5 metres wide. The five panels facing into the Gymnaisum are approximately 3.5 metres high by 5 metres wide.

Another thing to note is that Public Art projects are small construction projects – they involve design, fabrication, and installation. Large public art projects often take 12 to 16 months to complete – they are major projects! And the majority of the budget for each project goes to materials and labour, with the artist only receiving a small fee for creative time and effort

 

​Small Public Art Projects are selected through an Expression of Interest and Committee review.

Large Public Art Projects are selected by an ad hoc commissioning committee assembled by the City's Art Committee. Each selection committee is unique. A selection committee includes a member of the Art Committee, a local artist, a technical advisor, an individual connected to the project/site, and a member of the general public. A selection committee reviews and evaluates all submissions, selects an artist for a project, and then puts forward a recommendation to City Council to commission the selected artist.

 

The City of Lethbridge Art Committee establishes project-specific commissioning committees for public art projects on an ad hoc basis. Commissioning committees are tasked with reviewing and selecting projects. The City of Lethbridge Public Art Committee maintains a roster of artist representatives and community representatives available to serve on project commissioning committees. The City of Lethbridge Public Art Committee strives to engage a wide spectrum of artists and community members in art selection processes.

View the Public Art committee commission roster or contact publicart@lethbridge.ca.

 

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