Deadline May 03, 2026 Applications Closed Easy Application

Artist Call for Entry

Chattanooga: Westside Mural

Presented by Public Art Chattanooga

Submissions for this call are closed.

Chattanooga: Westside Mural

About this call

OVERVIEW
The City of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Housing Authority are seeking artist qualifications for a new mural in Chattanooga’s Westside neighborhood. Qualified artists should be willing to collaborate with the assigned Creative Strategist and incorporate community input in the design of a culturally relevant and site specific mural. The mural will transform the newly renovated James A. Henry school into a vibrant community focal point. This opportunity is open to all professional artists and designers over the age of 18 who currently reside in the United States. 

Call to Artists Release | March 20, 2026
Deadline for Submittal | May 3, 2026
Evaluation of Responses (Artwork Selection Panel) | May 11 - May 15, 2026
Recommendation of Selection Panel | May 15, 2026
Chattanooga Public Art Commission Action | May 28, 2026

PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Westside, a historic inner-city neighborhood, is situated between Chattanooga's downtown core and the Tennessee River. While the downtown and riverfront areas have experienced substantial growth over the past two decades, the Westside has been largely bypassed by this revitalization. The Westside's historical isolation from essential services, amenities, job opportunities, and water access stems largely from its physical separation from the growing downtown. This separation was initially caused by the construction of Highway 27 during urban renewal and exacerbated by the surrounding industrial development that expanded along the riverfront.

To address these challenges, the Chattanooga Housing Authority, the City of Chattanooga, vested stakeholders, and residents collaborated to develop the One Westside Plan. This plan aims to capitalize on major public investments in housing and infrastructure within the neighborhood and surrounding areas, ensuring these efforts lead to a sustainable and equitable future for all Westside residents. The One Westside Plan utilizes the area's existing strengths to transform the neighborhood into a vibrant, interconnected community, delivering lasting physical, social, and economic advantages for everyone who lives there.

A significant milestone was reached in July 2024 when the Chattanooga Housing Authority (CHA) and the City of Chattanooga secured a $50 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. This grant will fund the transformation of College Hill Courts and the surrounding Westside neighborhood. The redevelopment initiative includes creating 1,126 new apartment homes, 40% of which will be market-rate, thereby fostering a truly mixed-income community. Beyond housing, this historic investment is set to inject economic development, infrastructure improvements, and essential services into the community. 

Public art has been central to the Westside community since the late 1990s, with three large-scale murals implemented by the community on the James A. Henry building. Art and creativity also played a key role in the One Westside Plan, where local artists helped gather and interpret community history through various art forms. 

Public art and specifically, the new James A. Henry Hub mural was identified as a priority during the One Westside community informed planning and design process. The mural will be the first public art project implemented with Choice Neighborhood Grant funding during Phase 2 of One Westside plan implementation.

LINK to learn more about ONE Westside developments: https://onewestside.org/
LINK to learn more about the Westside Evolves Planning process: https://chcrpa.org/project/westside-evolves-rooted-in-history-poised-for-future-success/.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
A new mural inspired by the community will be placed on the James A. Henry “Hub,” replacing the murals that were removed in the redevelopment of the building and maintaining the iconic and motivational presence of public art in the heart of the community. This location will be especially appropriate and inspiring as the building will function as a Head Start day care and hub for art, culture, and educational services. It has been home to the SPLASH Youth Arts Workshop and will continue to provide art programs in the new enhanced space.

Artwork Location:
The mural will be located on the west wing of the James A. Henry building, replacing the previous mural on the facade. The dimensions of the wall space are shown below and measure approximately: 26’ h x 34’w with a roof pitch height of 10’ 11”. The mural wall has been prepped and finished by the construction contractor with a weather resistive expanded polystyrene board and a base coat of portland cement and reinforcing mesh, covered with an acrylic finish coat.

Building construction is now complete. The mural on the right has been removed and the wall is prepped for a new mural.
Architectural drawing showing location of the mural on the right.
Mural wall and dimensions: 25’ 10” h x 34’w with a roof pitch height of 10’ 11”
Artwork Vision:
The experiences, values, and aspirations of the Westside community should inspire a public artwork that honors its unique people and sense of place. The public artwork should reflect the spirit of Westside residents and draw on local narratives to speak to the range of cultural identities that exist within the neighborhood.   

Artwork Goals: 
The artwork goals will be further defined by the selected artist in collaboration with the Westside lead Creative Strategist and creative engagement sessions with the community:
  • Encourage and reflect the new James A. Henry building’s identity as a community hub for arts, culture and educational opportunities
  • Thematically, represent the values and aspirations of the Westside community
  • Create an iconic and motivational moment of vibrancy in the heart of the Westside community
Artwork / Design Parameters:
The artwork must not obstruct pedestrian right of ways and must meet the safety standards of the City of Chattanooga. As this is an intensively used public space, artwork elements must be constructed of durable materials that are highly resistant to theft and vandalism, as well as appropriate for Chattanooga’s four season climate. 

PROJECT SCOPE

Budget:
The total project budget is $40,000. 
The budget includes an artist honorarium of $35,000 which shall include artist fees for design development, creation and installation of a site-specific, community informed mural. A $5,000 paint materials and supplies budget is provided by the City of Chattanooga’s existing contract with Sherwin Williams. The project budget should include all costs related to travel, lodging, design, materials, shipping, site preparation, security, lighting (if applicable), equipment for installation, insurance, permits, assistants, installation support, and other relevant costs relating to the production of the artwork. No additional funds are available.

Projected Project Timeline:
  • June 2026: Artwork Concept Development Phase. Includes in-person site visit and community engagement.
  • August 2026: Artwork Concept Design Presentation to the Community and Artwork Selection Panel
  • September 2026: Final Design Presentation to Artwork Selection Panel
  • September 2026: Final Design presented by PAC Staff to the Chattanooga Public Art Commission for review and approval
  • Fall 2026: Site Prep and Installation

Deliverables:
  1. Plan and co-facilitate one (1) community workshop and/or community engagement activity with PAC to be conducted in the Westside, which will  include a site visit at the beginning of the design development phase.  

  2. Present preliminary artwork concept/s, budget breakdown and materials supplies list for feedback and approval. 

  3. Present final concept and technical details as determined by the Artwork Selection Panel.

  4. Finalize design and technical details.

  5. Artwork installation including site prep, security, and permits. Artist/artist team is expected to be onsite for the installation.

  6. Provide high quality photos of completed artwork suitable for publicity.

  7. Provide a completed Maintenance and Technical Information Form.

Award Info

Project Budget: $40,000

Eligibility Criteria

EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SELECTION PROCESS

Eligibility:
This call is open to all professional artists and artist teams over the age of 18 who currently reside in the United States.  Local artists are strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Deadline:
Applications must be received via the online portal, Artwork Archive no later than May 3, 2026, by 11:59 p.m.  No exceptions.  

Evaluation Criteria:
In preparing responses artists should demonstrate how they propose to meet the specifications as detailed in this solicitation document.  Panelists will use the following criteria in the selection process:
  1. Demonstrates artistic excellence, innovation and originality as represented in past work and supporting materials.

  2. Demonstrates capacity for working in media and with concepts that are appropriate to the project goals and site.

  3. Demonstrates strong community engagement experience, social practice or the ability to incorporate input from local community members including residents, project partners, stakeholders and design professionals. 

  4. Demonstrates interest and capability in creating public artwork in collaboration with the City, Public Art Chattanooga, the design team (if applicable) and other project partners.

  5. Demonstrates experience in successfully completing works of similar scope, scale, budget and complexity, or ability to articulate how he or she would be able to bring the necessary artistic, social and technical skills to this project.

  6. Demonstrates intent to contribute to the local creative economy as an artist who lives or works in the Chattanooga area Thrive Region, or through the artists’ use of local team members or suppliers for an overall project budget re-investment of at least 50% into the local economy.

  7. Is available to perform the scope of the work in a timely and professional manner as indicated by the project projected timeline.

  8. Builds the diversity of the City’s public art collection.

  9. If applicable, demonstrate a cohesive team.
Selection Process:
An artwork selection panel consisting of five (5) to nine (9) members who bring diverse perspectives will evaluate all viable applications.  Panelists may include project architect or lead design professionals, arts professionals, the department having project oversight responsibility, and at least one (1) visual artist and at least one (1) to three (3) representatives from the Westside community.  In addition to the panelists, public art division staff members will serve as non-voting panel facilitators.

SCORING
The minimum criteria that will be applied to the proposal information, in order to assist the City in selecting the most qualified artist(s) for the contract, are as follows:
  1. Applicants will be awarded up to 60 points for Competency for the Scope of Work (Past Work Samples & CV/Resume). 
  2. Applicants will be awarded up to 20 points for Approach to the Scope of Work (Proposal Narrative). 
  3. Applicants will be awarded up to 20 points for demonstrated local creative economic impact (artists who live or work in the Chattanooga, Thrive region: the surrounding 16 counties across northeast Alabama, northwest Georgia, and southeast Tennessee), or artists’ use of local team members or suppliers for an overall project budget re-investment of at least 50% returned to the local economy.
Artist award will be determined based on the selection panel’s evaluation and highest scoring of submissions based on the criteria outlined above. 

Application Requirements

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

These materials are required for your submission to be considered:
  1. Confirm completion of City of Chattanooga supplier registration: https://chattanooga.gov/business/supplier-portal#toc-how-to-register-as-a-prospective-supplier. 

  2. Current Résumé/CV for each team member (two-page limit).

  3. Artist Statement / Letter of Interest briefly addressing three points:
    This document should be no longer than two pages (single-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12 pt. font).  
    1. Your artistic approach to the project. 
    2. Your approach to community engagement. 
    3. Your approach to re-investing at least 50% of the project budget in the local economy. 
  4. Relevant past work samples.  Teams may submit a maximum of ten images.

  5. List of professional references (at least three):  Please include name, address, phone number, and email address for each individual. If submitting as a team, please include at least one reference for each team member.


Rules and Terms

  • The City of Chattanooga and the Public Art Commission accept no responsibility for the loss or damage of artist submission materials.
  • The City of Chattanooga and the Public Art Commission  accept no responsibility for costs incurred by the artist in responding to this Call to Artists.
  • Selected artists/teams will be required to meet contract terms and scopes.
  • It is further understood that all budgets include travel costs. No additional and/or contingency funds will be available.
  • Selected artists/teams must obtain and maintain at their own expense for the duration of the Contract a Certificate of Insurance with insurance coverage levels as set forth in the City Standard TERMS which can be found at the following link: http://www.chattanooga.gov/images/City_of_Chattanooga_-_Standard_Terms_and_Conditions_Revised_7.18.2018.pdf 
  • Respondents to this Call to Artists agree to abide by the terms and conditions of this Call.
  • Eventual design proposals and their copyrights will belong to the artists. The City of Chattanooga reserves the right to use images of the designs and information from the written proposals for review and project promotional purposes.
  • No submitted materials will be returned.

Presented by

Public Art Chattanooga