Call for Submissions - Indigenous Artist Design

We are at a moment in history when it is truly time to focus on repairing the relationships between immigrant Canadians who have settled here over centuries and the First Nations people who have walked these lands. 

We wish to begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional lands, referred to as Treaty 4 Territory, the original lands of the Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Dakota, Nakota, Lakota, and on the homeland of the Metis Nation. We respect and honour the Treaties that were made on all territories, we acknowledge the harms and injustices of the past and we are committed to move forward in partnership with Indigenous Nations in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.

The City of Yorkton is inviting designs for new bike lock stations that will be installed in the downtown.  We invite artists to submit one or two potential designs for the bike lock station. With this call, the City aims to work with Indigenous artists to create an increased cultural presence and art in the community – and more specifically in our downtown area, while also providing a functional installment for people to lock their bike to. 

Background information

The City currently has a few bike lock stations installed in the downtown that were originally introduced by the Yorkton Active Transportation Collaborative. As part of the Downtown Parking Review 2021, it was identified that additional bike lock stations are needed to encourage people to bike more during our summer months. 

Designs will be reviewed and selection recommendations will be made by a selection committee consisting of local organizations with interest in the project. 

Project goals

With this project, we are hoping to improve community health (both mental and physical) by creating low cost options for outdoor activity - specifically cycling.  At the start of the pandemic, we could see the increased use of bikes throughout the community and it showed that the downtown was severely lacking places for people to lock their bikes.  After completing a Downtown Parking Review and hearing from Yorkton residents and other local groups with an interest in the downtown or business community, we wanted to move forward with adding more bike lock stations in the downtown.  The City saw this as a great opportunity to also include some functional art that is reflective of Indigenous people in our area!   

Resources

• Attachment 1 is the current bike lock stations that the City has.  The current bike lock stations can be viewed near the following addresses in Downtown Yorkton:  29 Betts Avenue, 5 First Avenue North, 19 Second Avenue North, and 8 Third Avenue North. 
• Attachment 2 is the template for the design. The template is to scale and the entire lock station is 18” in diameter. 
• Attachment 3 shows the space available for the artist to design. 

Questions can be directed to Nicole, by telephone at 306-828-2425 or by email at nbaptist@yorkton.ca.    

Specifications and criteria for design

1. Must be creations or collaborations led by an Indigenous artist.
2. Must be a design that can be translated into metal (not overly intricate).
3. Limited colour options available (ex. detailed colour work will not work, but different pieces could be painted one colour). Potentially colours could be incorporated on the outside circle as well.   
4. No sharp points or protrusions can be left that could cut someone using the bike lock station. 
5. Spaces identified on the template in Attachment 3 are available to use for design. 

Further requirements and information

1. The artist with the selected design will need to be available in March 2022 to work with the City to finalize the design that will be sent to the manufacturer. 
2. The artist with the selected design will be paid $1,000 upon final delivery of design.
3. The successful artist will relinquish legal ownership of their design upon receipt of payment. The legal ownership of the design will be that of the City of Yorkton and may be used to reproduce more bike lock stations in the future.
4. The City of Yorkton reserves the right to withhold awarding the design to any of the submissions at their discretion.
5. All artists who submit will be notified, regardless if they were successful or not. 

Submissions can be made to the following:
By mail:
City of Yorkton – Bylaw Division
Box 400 Yorkton, SK S3N 2W3
Attention: Nicole Baptist

By email:
nbaptist@yorkton.ca

Submissions must be accompanied by the following information:
Name, mailing address, email (if available), and phone number. 

Please note: A maximum of two designs can be submitted by each artist.