ART4TRAILS | My Site

Art4Trails is a public art initiative to promote local artists and enhance our public parks by installing original art along Rochester’s bike trails. Since its inception in 2016, their juried art competitions have commissioned 13 permanent and 16 temporary sculptures and unveiled the work of 24 local and regional artists.

Call for Art Proposals 2024

Art4Trails public art installations on Rochester bike trails

Rochester Art Center is seeking proposals for three temporary outdoor, site-specific art installations at three locations along the bike trails near downtown Rochester as part of the Art4Trails program. One proposal for each site will be selected and the artist will be awarded $3,000 per site, with $1,500 distributed upon selection and $1,500 after installation.

Artwork will be installed between June 1 and June 20, 2024. Applications open September 30, 2023, and close November 30, 2023 at 11:45 pm.

Rochester Park and Trail system

The Rochester trails provide a convenient way to do activities such as inline-skating, biking, running and walking – either for getting to work and back or simply for recreation and exercise. Rochester has 85+ miles of trails available for pedestrians, bikers, wheelchairs and strollers. Art4Trails site locations for temporary sculptures can be found here. They are at Silver Lake Park by the old fire station, Mayo Park East by the playground and on a river landing near the waterfall sculpture at the end of 3rd St SE.

Eligibility

Artists 18 years of age or older living in Minnesota and neighboring states are invited to submit proposals individually or collaboratively. Students who do not meet the age requirement can participate by having a teacher or guardian sponsor a proposal. Priority will be given to one student/mentor application if it meets the selection criteria. Priority will also be given to artists who have never been chosen to receive an Art4Trails award before.

Selection Criteria

Proposals will be judged based on artistic merit as evidence by representation of past work, the proposal itself, and other supporting materials. Priority will be given to artists who have never been chosen to receive an Art4Trails award before. A selection committee consisting of working artists, curators, arts professionals and a representative of the Parks and Recreation Department will review and select proposals by January 1, 2024.

Please review the entire Call For Proposals: Click Here for pdf | Click Here for Word Doc

Link to application: https://forms.gle/wZ2uNwev35zXTgD78 | Click Here for pdf version

Map of installation sites: Click Here

Sample budget: Click Here

ANNOUNCEMENT
Art4Trails Utility Boxes Mural Project

August 17, 2023 - A selection committee of artists and community members gathered last week to review 15 high quality artist proposals for the Mayo Park utility boxes. We are pleased to announce that Samantha Reiter-Johnson will be creating a set of murals inspired by plants that will be on view starting September 15.

Samantha is a self-taught artist and plant enthusiast who combined her passions for art and nature to form @chlorocreations. Using primarily colored pencils, Samantha applies the same attention to detail in her drawings as she does in her day job as a cell biologist.

Special thanks to: Brooke Burch, Mary Ellen Landwehr, Mike Nigbur, Kaitlyn Walsh, Margaret Weglinksi and Bharath Wootla.