The San Benito County Arts Council seeks local artists or artist teams to submit their qualifications to create and install a site-specific mural on one of five utility boxes along Highway 25 in Hollister, California.
This project is part of a State Highway Beautification Project, sponsored by the California Department of Transportation and the Clean California Program.
Launched by Governor Newsom as part of his California Comeback Plan, Clean California is investing $1.1 billion for state and local governments to clean up trash and debris statewide, beautify community gateways and public areas along highways, streets and roads, and to provide good jobs to thousands of Californians.
This Clean California Beautification Project is located along Highway 25 near the east entrance to Pinnacles National Park, in the community of Hollister, in San Benito County. This bypass route serves as the “main street” through multiple residential neighborhoods, and retail and industrial developments. This project is an opportunity to soften the stark appearance of the many sound walls along this corridor by adding landscaping to increase shade and reduce urban heat island effects, to suppress weeds and discourage graffiti, and to add seasonal color, resulting in a more aesthetically pleasing, vibrant and comfortable pedestrian and bicycling environment. It is also an opportunity to add aesthetic and artistic elements which enhance pedestrian scale and create a more distinctive community identity which highlights the cultural heritage of the area.
The San Benito County Arts Council and Caltrans have commissioned artist James Peterson of Art Contraptions to create and install a site-specific outdoor sculpture at the corner of Meridian St. and Highway 25. The sculptural piece will be installed in Spring 2023 and will include aesthetic elements that reflect and enhance community identity, as well as integrate with the overall goal of this Caltrans project to beautify the route and encourage pedestrian and bicycle usage for local residents and visitors. As part of this beautification project, the project team is currently seeking local artists/artist teams to create and install 5 Utility Box Murals along this stretch of highway between Santa Ana Rd. and Sunnyslope Rd.
The budget for this project is $1,500 per Utility Box and is funded through Clean California. Artists aged 18+ and based in San Benito County are eligible to apply.
Interested artist applicants are encouraged to attend a virtual Artist Workshop on Thursday January 5th at 5 pm hosted by the Arts Council to review the submission process and help artists prepare a successful application. Attendees may register for the free online event HERE.
All applications to the RFQ must be submitted online via the Arts Council’s online RFQ Submission Form. The deadline for the online submittal is 11:59 pm, Sunday, January 15th and final selected artists will be notified by January 20th.
*Before beginning an online application, please carefully read and review the complete Utility Box Mural Project RFQ HERE.
The online submission form is NOW CLOSED.
For more information, please contact the Jennifer Laine, Executive Director, at 831.636.2787 or at info@sanbenitoarts.org