The City of South Milwaukee is seeking artists’ proposals for a hand-painted mural on an exterior wall at 1029 Milwaukee Avenue.

The building is located in the heart of the downtown. It’s adjacent to the long-running South Milwaukee Downtown Market, “Da Crusher” statue and new Bucyrus Commons outdoor event space where the community and visitors will come to gather for various events.

The building is ideal for a mural for its prime location and the facades massing, that is void of design features, architectural detail and windows.

Theme

For this project, the goal of the mural design is for bringing the community and attracting visitors to the downtown and representing new beginnings for the City of South Milwaukee. Beautification and “surprise and delight” is best suited for these goals leaving the project neutral in subjects such as social, cultural and political issues.

Location

The building is on the southeast corner of Milwaukee and 11th Avenues. The project façade is on the side of the building, along 11th Avenue and will be viewed by pedestrians and westbound drivers on Milwaukee Ave. Milwaukee Ave is a two-lane road with a posted speed limit of 25 mph and is the city’s main street.

Size

• Façade dimensions: approximately 115’ x 24’ 2,760 SqFt west facing wall, fronting 11th Ave, without windows *Mural proposals are not required to utilize the entire wall space
• Façade materials: Unpainted brick, in good condition

Artist Information and Application

Applicants may be an individual, artist, or group of artists.

Submittals:

One or more preliminary concepts that can be a drawing, painting, graphic design or other medium

• A brief description of your past experience creating murals
• A statement of the anticipated materials for the mural and whether you plan on painting directly on the wall surface or utilizing panels
• Estimate expenses broken down by artist fees, supplies and equipment, and wall preparation
• Provide up to 6 JPG images of your past work; if more than one artist, submit 6 images per artist

Approval Process

A selection committee chooses an artist based on concept, scale, response to theme, and other factors. The final design is approved by the selection committee and final budget by the common council.

Budget

A commission up to $50,000 is available for the chosen artist to prepare the area, create and install the work. Artist is required to provide all supplies, materials and insurance to complete the work, including a scissor lift, bucket truck and/or scaffolding, if needed.

Important Dates

• Monday, March 13th Deadline for receipt of concept
• Monday March 27th Notification of selected artist
• Friday April 28th Final design completed
• Monday June 5th Artist may start the mural installation on or after June 5, 2023
• Friday August 25th Mural completion date

Contact

Submit proposals to Ericka Lang [email protected], Call 414-762-2222 ext 135 with any questions.

Please provide all submission materials by email in a single digital PDF file. Individual mural images may also be provided in jpeg format.