Our Creative Home Mural and Artist Residency Program

Note: the project deadline has passed. Thank you to all who applied. 

Do you want to highlight an artist and celebrate the Year of the Arts in your community?

Our Creative Home is an initiative offered by Municipalities NL and Business and Arts NL to help municipalities across the province create an artist-in-residence program or commission an indoor mural. 

This program offers funding and expertise to help you design and implement a custom program that will reflect your community, engage the public, and demonstrate the vibrancy of our province’s rich artistic heritage. 

Designed to highlight the many ways in which art and artists can bring people together, share stories, and make our province a vibrant place to live and play, Our Creative Home is designed to drive community collaboration and foster opportunities for NL municipalities to champion art that reflects the diverse identities and perspectives of their communities.

Two programming streams will be offered, as follows:

Stream 1 – Artist Residency

Artist residencies are an exciting opportunity to host an artist in your community and give the artist time and space to focus on their creative practice, build their craft, and connect their work with the community. Each residency will be different, depending on both the host municipality and the selected artist. The goal of this program is to have the artist become an active participant in the community and engage residents in the arts through different types of events and community outreach which may feature performances, public presentations, workshops, open studio sessions, etc. over 1-3 months.

Interested in seeing some examples of artist residencies for civic engagement elsewhere? Take a look at these examples in St. John, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Kitchener, ON, and Kelowna, BC

 

Stream 2 – Mural Commission

Commissioning an indoor mural by a local or visiting artist will allow participants to celebrate their community’s creativity and vision by installing a piece of public art that will last for years. Participating municipalities will be guided through the process of establishing a theme for the artwork, selecting an artist, facilitating the painting process, and developing community engagement and marketing opportunities around the artwork. 

 

Project Information

Interested municipalities can submit an expression of interest to participate in either the mural stream or the artist residency stream by May 29, 2024. Up to 12 selected participants will have access to:

  • Up to $10,000 for an artist fee for the selected artist 
  • Individualized tools and guidance to help create, advertise, select, welcome, and support an artist-in-residence project
  • Travel and accommodation fees for participating artists who don’t live in the community
  • Up to $300 in paints for a mural project, provided by The Paint Shop

Participating municipalities will be expected to provide the following:

  • Assign a lead to liaise with project partners and participating artists, and participate fully in the project design, outreach, planning, and delivery
  • Provide space for public engagement activities

Information Session

In the video below, Amy Henderson of Business and Arts NL walks through the Our Creative Home program. 

If you have further questions, email Tobias Romaniuk, communications and marketing officer at MNL. 

Project Timelines:

May 7 at noon, and May 15 at 10 a.m.- online public information sessions for interested applicants

May 29 – application deadline

June 14 – confirmation of results

Frequently Asked Questions

How will the successful participants be selected?

The selection committee will include representatives from each region, and be comprised of professional artists, community organizers, and other stakeholders. 

How will applications be evaluated?

Applications will be evaluated on the following:

  • Suitability of selected location for mural/residency activities. 
  • Geographic distribution of residencies/commissions across the span of the initiative. 
  • Diversity of community size across the span of the initiative.
  • Demonstrated desire/capacity to participate fully. 

When will these projects take place?

These projects will begin in 2024, to celebrate the Year of the Arts. We will work with each participant to identify and work within timelines that suit each individual project. 

We don’t have an artist in mind for this opportunity. Can we still apply?

Yes. Business and Arts NL works extensively with the arts community across the province and will be available to help you spread the word about your opportunity and select the right artist for your project. 

We don’t have a dedicated staff member to support this kind of programming. Can we still apply? 

Yes. While a successful project will undoubtedly require staff support to host public events and share the project outcomes publicly, these projects can be scaled to suit your capacity. 

We’ve never commissioned a mural or hosted an artist residency in the past. Can we still apply?

Yes! Absolutely. Municipalities selected to participate will receive guidance and support from the team at Business and Arts NL to help design a project that is the right scale for your team and community. They’ll share tips and tricks to help make the process work well for you, the community, and the artist. 

How will artists be paid?

Artists will be paid their fees and reimbursed for travel costs directly by Municipalities NL. Municipalities will not be expected to incur additional costs related to this project. 

How much travel/accommodation will be supported by this project? 

The travel costs are designed to support an artist travelling from outside of the community in order to paint a mural and so up to $2,300 is available per artist to cover travel to and from the location, and up to five days accommodation/per diem.

Where will murals be located?

An indoor mural in a publicly owned central community meeting space (community centre etc.) is recommended in order to ensure the longevity of the artworks. 

What kind of spaces should we make available for an artist residency?

Artist Residencies for Civic Engagement can be designed to serve any community, in any space. Think about how you’d like to engage your community, and if there’s a central space that would make sense to host public events like readings, artist talks, concerts, or other presentations and performances. Other residencies offer artists space like a studio or workspace they can use for the duration of the residency (perhaps with open studio hours when the public is invited to stop by), or accommodations, but this isn’t a mandatory requirement for a productive artist residency. 

Is this opportunity open to communities that aren’t municipalities?

No, this opportunity is only for MNL member municipalities.

Can we involve other project partners in this project? For instance, can we bring in a private partner to contribute to a more substantial artwork commission?

Yes, as long as the project parameters meet the criteria set out for this project, amplifying this opportunity by including other partners is absolutely welcome.

Are material costs provided for digitally created murals printed on vinyl, or only for painted materials?

The only artists’ materials that are covered by this project are paints provided by The Paint Shop. All other materials will have to be factored into the artist fee.

Are outdoor mural projects eligible?

Because of the harsh nature of our winters in Newfoundland and Labrador, outdoor murals have a much shorter lifespan than indoor works, and are much more expensive and time consuming to maintain. For this reason, outdoor murals will only be considered for municipalities that already have a public art maintenance plan and budget in place.

Who will manage the financial administration of this project?

Municipalities NL will pay artist fees and travel fees directly to the artist. Participating Municipalities will be responsible for stewarding and rolling out the project, and liaising with the artist, but not for payment of artist fees and travel expenses.

Do participating artists have to own a registered business?

No, a large percentage of active artists across the province operate as individual artists and do not have separately registered business. All artists will be eligible to apply for these opportunities.

What is the deadline by which these projects need to be completed?

Projects must be initiated and announced publicly before December 2024 and must be completed before March 31, 2025.

Can we plan a project that involves a group of artists, rather than just one?

Yes, however, the maximum artist fees per project are $10,000, and projects must pay reasonable professional fees to artists, so the scale of the project will have to be carefully crafted in order to make sure that artists are paid sufficiently for their time and work.

Are we required to go through a formal submission process to hire an artist? Or can we start a project more quickly with a local artist we’re already keen to work with?

Business and Arts NL always recommends a thorough selection process in order to ensure that access to opportunities is as equitable as possible. However, if this opportunity might allow a municipality to jump into a project that they’ve already done some research or legwork on, and this project provides the funding and expertise to make it happen, it’s not an absolute requirement of the project to issue a public call for artists.

How much does it cost to maintain an outdoor mural?

Here are two great resources to help you plan a mural project:

https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/care-objects/fine-art/conservation-guidelines-outdoor-murals/caring-existing-mural.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/care-objects/fine-art/conservation-guidelines-outdoor-murals/planning-new-mural.html#a4

Can an indoor mural be located on private property?

If there’s an important community space that serves to bring people together, and happens to be privately owned, that will be considered eligible for this project. If the selection committee suspects that a private business is being given an advantage that isn’t aligned with the goals of the project, that application likely won’t be selected.

Can we submit more than one application?

You can submit one application for a mural, and one for an artist residency.

Can murals be mixed media, or textiles, rather than only painted?

Yes.

Who will have ownership of the mural once it is done? Could we use images of our mural to create a fundraiser for our community?

The artist will retain their moral rights to the artwork. This means that even though the artwork is on the walls in your building, you can’t alter it, or use images of it to make money. However, you can pay the artist a licensing fee to use images of their artwork for these purposes.