Call for Artists | Community-Driven: Pavement Mural
In the Summer 2020 UFV’s GEOG/GD 464 class – “Community Planning and Development: Local Applied Studio1” taught by Dr. Cherie Enns tackled the issues of diversity, inclusivity and access in urban planning to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Being engaged in experiential learning within the CityStudio Abbotsford model, they prototyped innovative and equitable solutions to build post-pandemic resiliency, including through several proposals including public art.
The students generated concepts that aligned with a local business’ initiative to help facilitate a largescale mural on pavement completed collaboratively by UFV’s students and artists within the greater community. As a result of these grassroots initiatives, a two-phase project has been envisioned under the CityStudio umbrella for Fall 2020.
Phase I – Public Art project: Coming together, artists from diverse backgrounds within UFV and the
community at large will create a mural on pavement in a centrally located alley in downtown Abbotsford.
The social significance of this community-driven project is manifested in both the process of creating the
mural as well as its content.
Phase II – UFV’ GEOG 360 class “Introduction to Regional and Community Planning, taught by Dr.
Cherie Enns will work on the challenge to assess the purpose, functionality and replicability of a public
space reimagined through murals and other creative means as a place for inclusivity, resilience building,
and grassroots-driven dialogue. The goal is to reflect upon fundamentally important social, political,
cultural and environmental issues our community faces, which has been further exacerbated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Students will have the opportunity to observe a collaborative process of creating the mural, interact with
and learn from community stakeholders and partners, and integrate their observations and experiences
into academic research and solutions prototyping.
Community partnerships: Being inspired by the students’ and local business vision, the CityStudio
Team reached out to greater community to seek further support in realizing the Community Mural project.
These efforts culminated in establishing an informal community advisory board whose members
contribute their ideas, talents and expertise, existing support networks, and funds to move the vision
forward. The board includes representatives from the Gurmat Center, Abbotsford Downtown Business
Association (ADBA), Black Connections, Old Hand Coffee, Abbotsford Arts Council, UFV faculty
members, Archway Community Services, Fraser Valley Human Dignity Coalition, CityStudio Abbotsford,
and other interested community stakeholders.
Submission Deadline: October 30th, 2020 at 7pm
For full details and submission requirements, click the pdf below.
