Transit Art Project
Public transit suffers from an image problem. People often look down on public transportation in general and the bus in particular is not only seen as slow, inconvenient, and uncomfortable, but it can be tremendously boring as well.
Visual campaigns can be invaluable for engaging the public and working to change common perceptions of public transportation. A good visual campaign should have three fundamental goals: encourage use of public transit, to increase community engagement around public transit, and to support the local arts community.
Art can transform civic spaces, foster shared community interactions, and celebrate unique stories and collective history. Furthermore, high-quality art and design can improve the customer experience and increase ridership while creating a sense of identity and adding vibrancy to transit systems.
With this project, ModeShift will solicit proposals from local artists to design art, poetry, and/or interactive images that will be installed for public display on the top advertising cards of the public transit buses themselves and at various bus shelters throughout the city. Artwork may be new work created or it can be existing original work of the artist that is adapted for this project.
A minimum of five (5) and a maximum of eight (8) local artists will be selected for this project.
Selected artists are being asked only to submit print-ready images – crisp 150 dpi to-size pdfs. Any work installed on buses must be 11” tall and either 17, 24, or 36” wide to properly fit into the interior advertising spaces. Additional flexibility in size will be allowed, based on discussions with the transit operator, for bus shelter installations.
Artists shall be paid a flat fee of $300-350 for each selected design, depending on the size and complexity of the work.
All printing and installation will be handled by ModeShift Kalamazoo and the transit operator.
We're currently looking for a dedicated volunteer to spearhead this grant application for vibrant art installations on buses and at transit stops. If interested, please contact us HERE!
