The Heights Merchants Association is looking for an iconic public art piece for its Gateway Project at the northwest border of Burnaby.
On Oct. 24, the association issued a request for proposals for the piece, which would be located near the corner of Hastings Street and Gamma Avenue.
The piece would be at the end of a Flatiron-like mixed-use development called Montage, which is being developed by Epta Properties.
"It's really taking advantage of that pointed end and doing something interesting with it," said Isabel Kolic, executive director of the Heights Merchants Association. "And as people come around the bend on Hastings Street, descending into the Heights with the city and the mountains as a backdrop, that building will look like the gleaming prow of a ship with our public art right at the forefront. So I think both the building and the art will be a striking entry point for visitors to the Heights."
The association has wanted to erect a public art piece in the area for about 20 years, according to Kolic.
"This is probably going back to the late '90s, that they had an idea to have something that would be an iconic landmark to welcome people into the area, particularly on Hastings Street, as people are coming through in the mornings and the evenings and so forth," she said, adding the association has been trying to find a location and raise money for the piece since then.
"This is something we've been quietly revving up our engines about for the last couple of years," she said, adding the City of Burnaby, Epta Properties and the association came together on the project.
"The gist of it is, the HMA and Epta got together with the city, and Epta graciously contributed a very prominent part of their property, which is at the very end of the Heights, to serve as a site for a piece of public art," Kolic said.
The city has helped guide the association on the project, which is on a larger scale than anything they have worked on before, Kolic explained.
Darrin Martens, curator at the Burnaby Art Gallery, helped the association draft the request for proposals and connected them with his contacts in the art world, she said.
"Darrin recommended what a respectable artist's honorarium should be to attract high-caliber submissions," she added.
Martens and Ian Wasson, an urban design planner with the City of Burnaby, recommended what the budget should be, according to Kolic.
The budget is $110,000, including an honorarium of $30,000 for the artist.
The gallery and the association will be funding the piece, Kolic said.
"We've been putting money aside," she said. "We'll also be doing some fundraising as soon as we have our vision, when the one we select has been identified, then we will be able to approach partners who can help us pay for it, to make it a reality."
The only parameters for the project at this point are the physical limitations of the area - the Gateway can be no taller than two storeys, or 5.18 metres, high, according to the request for proposals.
"We're really keeping our minds open on who this attracts and what kinds of ideas this attracts," she said. "We hope that different people, different artists, will be intrigued by different elements in the RFP and we'll get a variety of submissions."
The call for expressions of interest and artist qualifications is open to local and regional artists until Dec. 7 at midnight.
For details and a copy of the request for proposals, go to www.burnabyheights. com/news/heights-public-art-rfp.
