The City of Airdrie is looking for committee members to help choose a piece of art to commemorate the 2014 Alberta Summer Games, which were a big success for the community.
According to Michael McAllister, City of Airdrie community development co-ordinator, the Legacy Art Committee will be tasked with determining the criteria for submissions from artists and will have final say on which piece of art is chosen.
“It’s similar to what we’ve done in the past with a lot of our public art pieces around Airdrie,” he said.
“(For) the legacy art piece from the centennial in front of City Hall, we had a community committee come together to assist with the request for proposals, look at some of the criteria for evaluation and then ultimately having the final say with selecting the final submissions.
“It’s a little different than how other communities in the region do things. We really rely a lot on community involvement. There’s no staff that are involved with the actual scoring of the submissions, so it’s all done by (the) community. We’ve found that’s been a very successful model for doing these kinds of projects.”
McAllister said the 2014 Alberta Summer Games art piece will be installed at Genesis Place Recreation Centre, as that was the home for the games.
Whether the piece will be install inside or outside of the facility has yet to be determined.
The committee will be comprised of two community members, one youth member, one member of City council and two members who were involved with the 2014 Alberta Summer Games on a planning level.
“We’re hoping for a youth athlete who was involved in the Summer Games,” McAllister said.
Those interested in being considered for a spot on the committee are encouraged to email [email protected] and include a short biography and their interest in art.
McAllister said the committee will begin meeting early in September and members can expect to volunteer two to five hours a month for the following six months.
Once the committee chooses a work of art, its recommendation will go first to the Community Services Advisory Board and then to City council for approval.
The total budget for the project is up to $80,000 with half funded through the 2014 Alberta Summer Games Legacy Fund and the remainder by the City.
“I think it’s great for the artist, it’s great for the city, it’s great for the community,” McAllister said.
