A key active transportation link between upper and lower Hamilton will soon become a creative canvas.
The city is seeking expressions of interest from street, mural and graffiti artists, to create a series of murals along the 2.7 kilometre Keddy Access Trail.
“Especially with the pandemic, people are really hungry to be together in public spaces,” says project lead Jen Anisef. “We are definitely in a moment right now, where we’re going to be seeing more and more mural projects, and other types of public realm projects.”
Artists have until June 30 to submit their ideas.
The Keddy Access Trail runs up and down the escarpment on Hamilton’s Claremont Access, spanning Hunter Street in the lower city and West 5th Street on the Mountain brow.
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“This is a great opportunity for emerging artists, for example, for some of the smaller murals that are on the barrier wall,” says Anisef. “Also there will some larger projects, columns underneath the underpass, for example, that’s a really fabulous canvas for potentially more established artists.”
Anisef expects residents will be able to view the installations.
“We expect for maybe three to four days in the summer, we’re going to bring all of the selected artists together to actually paint,” says Anisef, “the public will be invited if they want to watch.”
Mural commission fees for the artists range from $2,500 to $18,750.
The city is investing $180,000 into the project, through the Ward 2 and Ward 8 capital reserve budgets.
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