Closing date: July 31, 2021
Location: Courtenay, BC

Summary
We are looking for artwork submissions from Indigenous artists that will become a mural painted in the heart of our studio. The artwork should represent the themes of community and empowerment. We believe art has an important role to play in building community, promoting dialogue, and enriching our cultural landscape. Your art will be showcased as the main focal point our clients and students see when they enter our studio.  

Wachiay Studio is a screen print shop operating in the traditional lands of the Pentlach and K’omoks Coast Salish People on Vancouver Island. We provide textile, poster, and fine-art printing services for local artists, retailers, and manufacturers, with a particular focus on Northwest Coast art. Founded in 2015, we aim to bring art and economic activity together through education, entrepreneurship, and community building.

What Matters To Us
With the ability to connect art to enterprise, we believe the process of screen printing has a greater purpose than just making cool t-shirts. Wachiay Studio operates using the principles of social enterprise, meaning our activities, and any profits, support our community’s success. Our mission is to support small-scale artists and entrepreneurs, particularly those living in rural and remote areas, to create capacity and self-sufficiency that bolsters local economies and supports healthy communities.

Required Submission Materials
Format:
Length: Maximum five 8.5 x 11 pages
Size: 10 MB maximum
File type: Submissions should be in a single pdf file

Artist Details:
Provide your artist and legal name(s), email, phone number, and address (including current residing country/province)

Please include pronouns and how you identify (including as much detail as you would like to share)

Optional: provide the artists’ website, social media (i.e. Instagram) information.

Must include: 
- Concept drawing
- Scale and dimensions of drawing
- Colour scheme
- A short write up about yourself 
- Proposal about your idea and how it represents the suggested theme

Submit all applications and inquiries to: studio@wachiay.org

Application deadline: July 31, 2021

Each respondent is solely responsible for ensuring that their response is received at Wachiay Studio before the specified closing and time. Proposals received after the specified closing and time may not be considered.

Note: Should the proposal requirements for this call be a barrier to you submitting your application, please contact us at studio@wachiay.org before July 31, 2021.

Selection Process
Our staff will evaluate all responses. Evaluation criteria for our mural will include the following:
- diversity of style; artworks of all schools, styles, scales, mediums and tastes will be considered

The successful artist will be advised they have been selected for the project by July 31, 2021. The artist may choose to participate in the painting of the mural, or the studio staff will oversee painting themselves. 

Project Details
The available wall space is 27’ x 14’ however the size of the mural is flexible and does not have to take up the entirety of the space. The rest of the studio is painted in the colour Repose Gray, SW 7015. Further details will be given to the successful candidate. 

Qualifications
This opportunity is open to Indigenous applicants currently residing in British Columbia. We will supply all labour and materials to bring your art to life, therefore you will not be required to attend the studio in person unless by your personal request. 

Reimbursement
Paid opportunity (tell us what you think you should receive).

Submit all applications and inquiries to: studio@wachiay.org

Application deadline: July 31, 2021