A Sign of Things to Come for International District

The upcoming centennial celebration of historic Route 66 includes redevelopment plans, a new park, and increased art activations along Albuquerque’s Central Avenue. The City’s Public Art and Urban Enhancement Division is now announcing it will place a community-generated public art work at the southeast corner of the new International District Park next to the library. To ensure the artwork accurately represents the surrounding neighborhoods, Public Art is issuing a Call for Artists to participate in a “restorative design” process with community.

Restorative design revitalizes communities by promoting wellness, connection to nature, and the tangible benefits of creating infrastructure for the local community while minimizing environmental impacts. As neighborhoods grow, the City recognizes the essential role that local voices should play in representing the community via its lived experience and self-determination.

“My affinity for the ID goes back to my State Senator days representing the area, so I fully understand that revitalization needs to reflect the needs and voices of those in the community,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “The upcoming Route 66 Centennial, along with the new park and vibrant art installation, will all enhance this historic neighborhood.”

In order to create the best community-driven design, Public Art is seeking four visual artists with ties to the District to participate in the design process with community artists. Selected artists will participate in design workshops aimed at generating a visual identity for their respective design of the art piece. Workshops will be free and open to the public, hosted at community non-profit sites in the district.

Artist-facilitators will work with the community to create designs for the potential artwork. Each artist will be paid $3,500 for their workshop process and one final design from which a jury will choose the final artwork. Following the restorative design process, the final construction and fabrication process will result in a large-scale artwork representative of themes and ideas presented by the community.

By extending this opportunity to the creative community of the International District, the City hopes to invest in the socioeconomic health of this indispensable part of Route 66, and in doing so transform the development of local arts into a force for positive empowerment. The design process is being co-funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the generous support of a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant award. The work builds on previous community engaged art projects in the neighborhood, including the Sundowner project, the International District Library, and historic sign rehabilitations on Central.

“As the creative visions of the International District are historically underrepresented in the Albuquerque arts community, Public Art and Urban Enhancement Division is proud to fund, platform, and empower its communities in this project. We are thrilled to be working with Friends of Orphan Signs to give community artists a voice in this process,” says Public Art manager, Sherri Brueggemann.

Friends of Orphan Signs will be leading the artist teams and have employed an International District community artist to be an embedded part of the team.

“The creative expression of our community is a key tool to safeguard their dreams from commodification and seeks to reinforce that ideal through funded action herein,” explains Project Manager, Aiko Jio.

The Call for Artists will be open for submissions from November 1 to November 25, 5 p.m. MDT at https://coacommunityevents.wufoo.com/forms/international-district-sign-artistfacilitator-rfi/

Artists selected will be notified by early January and invited to a project summit at the International District Library on January 25. Workshops in the will commence throughout Spring of 2025. For more information on the project, please contact Aiko Jio - [email protected] or Amanda Sutton - [email protected].