Call to Artists: RFQ for Recycled Street Sign Sculpture
Beginning March 15th, 2020, The Arts and Culture Board for the City of Georgetown, TX is accepting qualifications from artists for the commission of a recycled street sign sculpture in the Texas Cultural District encompassing downtown Georgetown. The Board is seeking artists with demonstrated experience in repurposing used materials – including de-commissioned street signs and traffic signs– into sculptural works of art.
Submission Deadline: April 15th, 2020
ELIGIBILITY: This opportunity is open to all professional artists over the age of 18.
BUDGET: Up to three finalists will be selected by the Georgetown Arts and Culture Board to develop concept proposals for this project. The total project budget for the selected commission is $7,500. Each finalist will be paid a $500 stipend for his/her proposal. The selected artist will be paid $6,000 for the commissioned work. Artist will be responsible for their own travel costs, housing, fabrication equipment, and personal liability insurance.
INSTALLATION DATE: Installation will take place by September 15, 2020.
APPLY: Full submission guidelines can be found here: Call to Artists_RFQ_Street Sign Sculpture; Applications will be submitted through Submittable.com; no application fee required.
The submission form will open on March 15, 2020. Click on the following link to submit: https://artsgeorgetown.submittable.com/Submit
SELECTION: The artists selected by the Georgetown Arts and Culture Board to present a design proposal will be notified by April 24th, 2020.
Questions: Contact Amanda Still at 512-930-8471 or Amanda.still@georgetown.org
Please click here to view the full submission guidelines, project schedule, and other info: Call to Artists_RFQ_Street Sign Sculpture
Welcome New Arts & Culture Board Members
The Georgetown Arts & Culture Board bade farewell to four fantastic board members at the February 2020 board meeting. The four board members who completed their two terms include Timothy Fleming, Linda Wilde, Carol Watson, and Laura Sewell. All four outgoing board members were instrumental in developing and expanding the Georgetown Public Art Program and brought such a varied breadth of knowledge, professionalism, and expertise to the board. They will be missed!
The four new members to join the Arts and Culture Board include Jessica Meurer Sobhani, Artist/Muralist and East View High School art instructor; Sonya Robinson, Senior Director of Foundation Relations at Southwestern University; Marissa Elena (Gomez) Palmer, Artist and Senior Risk and Compliance Analyst at HomeAway; Gaby Shultz, Artisan/Founder at Artisans’ Workbench.
Returning board members include Board Chair Jane Estes, Writer and Founder/General Manager at Lark & Owl Booksellers; Sharon Snuffer, Arts Patron and Collector; Susie Flatau, Artist and Vice President of Georgetown Art Works.
Pictured above from left to right with Utility Box Art, “Cloudy Day” by EVHS student Kayla Moore: outgoing board member Timothy Fleming, new board member Jessica Meurer Sobhani, artist Kayla Moore, returning board member Susie Flatau, outgoing board member Laura Sewell (bottom), returning board chair Jane Estes (top), outgoing board member Carol Watson, and outgoing board member Linda Wilde
“Preserving History” by Norma Clark and Devon Clarkson
Arts and Culture Grants Awarded in the 2020 Round One Cycle
At the January 2020 Board meeting, the City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board approved $11,309 in grants to local nonprofit organizations and schools. The grants will help fund local arts and cultural events that include visual art, music, film, literature, and cultural dance and crafts programming in Georgetown.
The events and programs funded in this grant cycle include:
SU Native for the 16th Annual Southwestern University Spring Powwow – $2,000
Georgetown Art Works for Critters: Our Animal World – $1,900
Congregational Havurah Shalom for Anne Frank: Let Me Be Myself Exhibit – $2,000
Texas Bach Festival for 2020 Texas Bach Festival – $1,500
Georgetown Festival of the Arts for Star Spangled Banner – $2,409
GTX Film for 2020 Film Festival & Conference – $1,500
Funds are for events and programs taking place in Georgetown between April 2020 and September 2020.
“Greetings from Georgetown Texas”: Georgetown’s Newest Public Art Mural will be Located at Gus’s Drug
Georgetown’s very first public art mural to go through the Georgetown Arts and Culture Board’s new Commercial Mural Process has been approved by the City and will be implemented on the west wall of Gus’s Drug on University Ave.
Local artist Sarah Blankenship designed the mural and will coordinate with community volunteers to come out and help her paint the mural!
Ark Pharmacies is sponsoring the new public art mural on the side of its business, Gus’s Drug, in Georgetown. Gus’s Drug has been a part Georgetown’s community since 1955, and the business owners would like an opportunity to continue to give back to the community by adding a mural on the side of the business at 702 E University Ave that highlights some of the great aspects about Georgetown. This will remind locals that Gus’s is still a vibrant part of the business community, create visual interest to a currently blank wall and provide plenty of photo ops for locals and visitors.
“Greetings From Georgetown Texas” will be the primary lettering on the left side. Within the letters in “Georgetown”, the following will be highlighted:
G – Lake Georgetown
E – Public Library
O – Blue Hole Park
R – Downtown Buildings
G – Field of Honor
E – Shotgun House
T – Palace Theatre
O – Southwestern University
W – GISD’s Hammerlun Center
N – Williamson County Courthouse
The right side of the building will be simpler, highlighting only poppies with the lettering “Red Poppy Capital”. This is imagined to be a great photo opportunity site for families for many occasions and celebrations.
More information about opportunities for community engagement to help paint the mural is coming soon…
“Preserving History” Mural Dedication on February 15 During a Month of Celebrations and Educational Activities!
On Saturday, February 15, 2020, The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board and numerous members of the community celebrated the completed Preserving History Mural by Norma Clark and Devon Clarkson.
The celebration included a Mayoral welcome followed by statements from mural artists and GCCMA; program concluded inside City Hall with refreshments and a viewing of the mural video and slideshow.
Exhibiting Georgetown Art Center artist Chelsey Antoinette also had pieces represented at the celebration by GCCMA Heart of the Headwrap workshop attendees. The workshop was held earlier that morning at the Art Center, and Chesley was in attendance at the celebration to address the significance of her artwork.
The month of February featured collaborative events that included the dedication of the “Preserving History” mural. Collaborative events and educational activities were also hosted by the Georgetown Cultural Citizen Memorial Association, The Georgetown Art Center, and Lark & Owl Booksellers. Please visit the arts calendar of events or click here for more information!
On Thursday, October 24th, 2019, the Arts and Culture Board hosted a community painting party for community members to come out and help paint portions of the mural. It was a huge success in engaging the community to tell an important Georgetown story.
The “Preserving History” mural by Devon Clarkson and Norma Clark was awarded a grant by the Texas Commission on the Arts in September 2019 and began production at the back of City Hall in late October 2019. Because the mural also forms a backdrop to the Historic African American Shotgun House, the Arts and Culture Board worked with the non-profit that operates the Shotgun House – Georgetown Cultural Citizen Memorial Association – to identify a theme that is important to the surrounding neighborhood and the constituents of the GCCMA. After reviewing several resources on the history of the neighborhood and meetings with GCCMA, a major theme that emerged was preserving history during a time of integration. While the major achievement of integration was the equality of access to services and educational opportunities to all groups of people in the community, another consideration was the importance of preserving history and culture during this period of major growth and change. When facilitating any growth and innovative changes within a community, such as the creation of public art murals and the construction of innovative programming spaces, it’s important to honor the culture and history of the area. The theme of integration can be applied to all scenarios that require a collaboration between different groups across generations and cultures: from integrating schools, to making way for rapid growth and development within a City, to the collaboration between artists of different levels of experience and styles.
Mary Smith Bailey was chosen as the subject of the “Preserving History” mural because she was an important local figure who helped steward many children in Georgetown through a period of historic growth and change. In 1953, Mary Bailey founded The West Side Kindergarten, the first preschool in the area to offer educational preschool services to non-white children. She believed that “preschool children benefit most from an educational environment that helps them develop self-confidence, the ability to get along with and help others, and the desire to learn. Today, hundreds of students and many changes later, the Mary Bailey [Head Start] Center continues to teach Georgetown children of all races the importance of learning”. (Histories of Pride, Thirteen Pioneers Who Shaped Georgetown’s African American Community)
Local portrait artist, Devon Clarkson, will paint the image of Mary Smith Bailey as the focal point of the mural. Devon’s experience includes local art exhibitions, as well as being the selected poster artist for the 20th Anniversary Red Poppy poster. Norma Clark, a local artist and graduate from Southwestern University, will create a montage of inspired abstract images that can be recognized as children and students participating in athletic and educational activities. Norma is an established professional artist whose experience includes numerous solo and group exhibitions across Central Texas. The collaboration of these two artists represents the integration of different artist styles to create something innovative and new while honoring and preserving culture and history.
Call for 2020 Round One Grant Proposals Now Open
The Georgetown Arts and Culture Board is now inviting grant proposals for art, music, theatre, dance, and cultural heritage events and programs taking place in Georgetown between April 2020 and September 2020.
Nonprofit organizations, schools, informal arts and culture organizations, and individual artists who are creating public art, arts and culture programming, or an event open to the public are eligible to apply. The City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Board considers all applicants without attention to the following – which includes but is not limited to – race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. Organizations that received grant funding in the previous grant cycle for events and programs occurring between October 2019 and March 2020 are not eligible to apply. Grants awarded last cycle averaged $1,000 per award.
The grant proposal form for events and programs occurring between April 2020 and September 2020 will be live at 12:01 am on December 1, 2019 and will close at 11:59 pm on December 31, 2019. Click here to go to the form:
For more information, please visit the grant page.
Sheraton Hotel Permanent Collection
Awards Announced in 2019-2020 City Sculpture Tour
The City of Georgetown Arts and Culture Board has awarded Marble Falls sculptor Dan Pogue the First Prize award in this year’s 2019-2020 City Sculpture Tour, a juried year-long outdoor exhibition in the historic Downtown Georgetown Cultural District. Pogue won for his piece “One Trick Pony”, a cast bronze sculpture inspired by carousel ponies. The sculpture is located at the corner of Austin Avenue and 6th Street.
Second Prize went to Anthony St. James for his piece “Remember When,” a giant steel bicycle crafted from steel, stainless steel, and antique industrial wheels. This piece is located in front of the Georgetown Public Library 8th Street entrance.
Sculpture Tour artists and their awards are:
First Prize:
Dan Pogue, “One Trick Pony”
Second Prize:
Anthony St. James, “Remember When”
Honorable Mention:
Anthony St. James, “Cloud Kaleidoscope
Mary Paige Huey, “Garden Femme”
David Southerland, “Healing Hand”
Cindy Debold, “In and Out of the Box”
Steve Parker, “Lo Fi Cycle”
John Mark Luke, “Wastin’ Away Again”
Laura Sturtz, “Cheshire Cat”
Laura Sturtz, “Hands”
Cindy Debold, “Joy”
Jay Schaan, “Quest for Knowledge”
Laura Sturtz, “High Stepping Dancer”
The City of Georgetown Arts & Culture Board selected 11 of these 2019-2020 Sculpture Tour pieces from a total of 20 pieces submitted for consideration by 14 artists. Two sculptures, “Hands” by Laura Sturtz and “Quest for Knowledge” by Jay Schaan, were part of the 2018-2019 Sculpture Tour and will remain into the 2019-2020 tour due to popularity. All Sculptures in the current tour will remain on exhibit through October 2020.
To view an interactive map of the Sculpture Tour, click here.
An open Call for Entries for the annual City Sculpture Tour is posted from June 1st to August 1st every year.
“Quest for Knowledge” by Jay Schaan
“Quest for Knowledge” by Jay Schaan is part of the City’s permanent art collection and is located outside the Eighth Street entrance to Georgetown Public Library.
