Artist Call for Three New Airport Artworks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WACO, TX – The City of Waco and Creative Waco are seeking artists and community members to help create artwork that will welcome people from all over the World to a refurbished Waco Regional Airport.
January 21, 2022 – Creative Waco has posted an artist call for three new airport artworks plus an opportunity for community members to welcome residents and visitors alike with words of greeting in multiple languages.
Waco is home to people with diverse cultures and traditions from all over the World. As a part of the Waco Regional Airport update, Creative Waco is encouraging community members to submit the message “Welcome to Waco” in their cultural language of origin – whatever that might be. A local designer will be commissioned to incorporate the phrase into artwork covering the corridor linking the Arrival Lounge to the airport’s Main Concourse.
“We want to create ‘wow’ factor for anyone arriving in Waco it’s your first time or if you’re coming home,” said Mayor Dillon Meek. “If we can do that with amazing artwork and a warm welcome in the hundreds of languages of origin that make up our community, that makes a powerful statement that Waco is a city with deep roots, high aspirations and wide horizons.”
There are three additional opportunities for artists to submit artwork proposals for the airport.
The Main concourse will house a ceiling-mounted sculpture in the building’s largest and tallest space. The second piece will be a mammoth-themed bas relief or wall-mounted sculpture in the Departure Lounge honoring Waco Mammoth National Monument and the Waco Mammoth Site, the nation’s first and only recorded evidence of a nursery herd of ice age Columbian mammoths. The third artwork will be an interactive Waco-themed mural located in the Main Airport Lobby which will be the first impression created on arrival a last iconic photo opportunity upon departure.
“Public art turns functional spaces into inspiring, inviting, memorable places,” said Creative Waco’s Executive Director Fiona Bond. “We are honored to partner with city of Waco to find the right artists and ideas for the airport, and especially glad that local artists and designers will be prioritized for these career-launching opportunities.”
Local artists or artists with ties to Waco and McLennan county will be prioritized. Proposals for the Ceiling-Mounted Sculpture, Mammoth sculpture and the Waco-themed mural will be accepted until Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.
The “Welcome to Waco” design proposal will be announced at a later date, but Creative Waco is accepting “Welcome to Waco” phrases from community members now.
Details on each project in English and Spanish can be found at creativewaco.org/project-calls, and at publicartist.org.
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About Creative Waco
Creative Waco is Waco’s local arts agency. The nonprofit organization exists to grow and support the artistic and cultural life of Waco
Contact:
Kennedy Sam
[email protected]
254-717-7040