As part of its Public Art plan, the City of Lewisville is launching The Decorative Crosswalk Program, which, over the course of several years, will add decorative crosswalks throughout the city.

The first location of a decorative crosswalk will be located at Purnell Street and Charles Street, crossing Purnell, just south of Old Town. This decorative crosswalk will be installed by painting of the approved design.

This call for artists is seeking one artist (or a groups of artists) who can both design the artwork as well as install and maintain the work for the full term of this project, as detailed below.

What are Decorative Crosswalks?
Decorative Crosswalks use colors, patterns and other images to enliven city streets as engaging and safe places for people. They can be designed to reflect the special character of a neighborhood, become a gateway marker for a district or neighborhood, highlight a school or otherwise create local identity and pride.

Decorative crosswalks offer a playful, cost-efficient tool to highlight marked pedestrian crossings. In addition to being fun, they raise awareness of pedestrian safety.

Submission Process and Timeline: 
Interested artists may submit design proposals via the application form. Each artist may submit up to 3 designs. The deadline to submit designs is April 7, 2021 at 5 p.m. Winning artists will be notified by no later than April 15. If your design is selected, a City of Lewisville staff member will contact you to discuss next steps for the project.

If you have difficulty completing the form, please email Denise Helbing- Arts Center Manager to make alternate arrangements to submit your materials, [email protected].

Term:
The term of this project will be 3-years (36 months), with possible extension of the term. Due to the high-impact vehicular traffic has on roadway surfaces, painted decorative crosswalks require regular maintenance to preserve and sustain the integrity of the painted design. The selected artist(s) will be asked to repaint or refresh their design annually, approximately every 12 months, two additional times after the initial installation. At the conclusion of the 36th month, the artwork may be removed by the City of Lewisville from the crosswalk. The City of Lewisville also reserves the right to end the term earlier than 36 months for reasons including, but not limited to, roadway repairs that compromise the work beyond repair, concreate replacement, or neighborhood improvement projects that impact the painted crosswalk position or size. 

Artist Stipend:
The selected artist for each crosswalk will be paid an initial stipend of $2,000. This award is to be inclusive of artist fee, installation of the approved design, and other required expenses such as liability insurance coverage. This award will be paid 50% upon award of the commission and execution of the agreement. The remaining 50% will be paid upon completion of installation. 

An additional payment of $1,000 will be made to the artists each year of the term upon completion of the repaint of the crosswalk design, including renewal of liability insurance coverage.

Total compensation for the 3-year term of the project will be $4,000. 

Crosswalk Design Guidelines: 
The crosswalk location has been determined by the City and are listed below. While creativity and artistic innovation is encouraged, the design cannot obscure or interfere with regulatory crosswalk markings needed for safety. All types of visual artists, including painters, muralists, illustrators and graphic designers are encouraged to submit applications for this call, but the work must be installed by the artist or their designee by physically painting the design on to the street. 

Crosswalks are demarcated by white parallel lines called “stop bars” and these “stop bars” must remain intact bordering the artist’s design. The amount of space between the stop bars is 6 feet across. The area between the stop bars is the artist’s canvas. 

Crosswalk design proposals should:

• Be submitted as a JPEG, PDF or PNG file type. Each file must be less than 1MB each. Each artist can submit up to three (3) designs. 

• Include an artist statement about past experiences, explanation of the design(s) submitted, and summary of how you will plan to accomplish this installation. Resumes and CV’s are also welcomed. 

• Account for and include the white outlines of a traditional crosswalk as illustrated in the sample crosswalks below. 

  • These white “stop bars” will be newly installed by the City of Lewisville in preparation for the artist’s work to begin. 

  • Measurements and specific crosswalk location detailed below.

• Be colorful, with simple patterns.

• Be in a continental or landscape layout. 

• Designs may include as many colors as the artist desires however there are limited original colors are available in the paint product suitable for roadways- only primary colors of red, yellow and blue, plus white and black are available- but these colors may be mixed to achieve custom hues. 

  • All paints and an assortment of brushes and rollers, will be provided by the City. 

• Not include shapes such as octagons, triangles, or any text, logos, or colors that can be confused with standard traffic control devices or legends.

• Not include commercial advertising or logos.

Other details:
The City of Lewisville will prepare the site prior to scheduled painting by power washing the surface and re-painting the required white “stop lines”. All paints used will be provided by the City. Limited original colors are available in the paint products suitable for roadways, but colors may be mixed to achieve custom hues. Only primary colors of red, yellow and blue, plus white and black are available

Final approved design will be painted by the artist onto existing concreate roadway, which may contain imperfections such as cracks, divettes or buckles.

The City of Lewisville will also provide all street closure supplies and personnel to make the area safe while the artist is working. Work schedule will be coordinated and approved by City of Lewisville and artist will be expected to complete the installation within the coordinated amount of time scheduled for the street closures. 

Eligibility: 

The call is open to all artists, able to register as a vendor for the City of Lewisville. City of Lewisville Staff and Council and their immediate family members may submit artwork but cannot be paid the stipend. 

Example Images:

Location: 
Purnell and S. Charles Sts, crossing Purnell.
Size: 6 feet tall, 55 feet wide (440 total square feet)

Acknowledgment 
This project is funded by The City of Lewisville Public Art Program.