Public Art Call: Show Us Your World, a partnership with King County Metro and Photographic Center Northwest
Photographic Center Northwest and King County Metro are excited to launch a call for photographs that will activate and beautify bus shelters throughout King County. The theme, “Show Us Your World”, is intended to explore personal and cultural identity, community connection, and anything meaningful and important in your life.
Selected images will be installed on the sides of each bus shelter, in a 5:2 or 5:4 ratio depending on the size of the shelter.
Consider submitting images that:
- Express cultural values and traditions
- Celebrate community
- Explore identity
- Document your world
This international call for photography is open to all ages and abilities.
Submissions are accepted July 25 – September 1, 2024.
The bus shelter public art call began in 2010 when King County Metro partnered with PCNW to expand the public art scene in Seattle and throughout King County. The project is a means to incorporate art into everyday life, to beautify Seattle and other cities served by Metro, and to make new perspectives and ideas available to all. The project seeks photographic artwork that will accomplish these objectives while increasing the visibility of the photographic arts. The majority of King County’s bus service and bus shelters are located in the City of Seattle and throughout King County. Over 1,000 photo murals have been installed since the launch of this public art project.
- Submit images that showcase your: 1) culture, values and traditions that have been passed down from previous generations; 2) shared bonds within your community; 3) one’s history, identity, and bond to the past, present, and future. 4) A visual representation or documentation of what is meaningful in your life.
- Images of all subject matters will be considered.
- Avoid large blocks of color/negative space (to avoid graffiti on your image)
- Image themes and subjects should be appropriate for all age groups (PG-13)
- In general, themes and subjects should be appropriate for exhibiting as public art
- Your name and the title of your image will appear next to the image along with PCNW and King County Metro logos
- You may tile, collage, crop or stitch together images to create the final photo file
- ALL images will be considered. The final selection will be made by the King County Metro and PCNW jurors
When submitting images to this contest through CaFE:
- Images must conform to one of following and be under 5mb per image:
- 5:4 frame ratio (width: height)
- 5:2 frame ratio (width: height)
Selected images will be installed on the sides of each bus shelter, in a 5:2 or 5:4 ratio depending on the size of the shelter.
Important Note: If an image(s) is selected, the artist will be notified via e-mail from staff at PCNW with further instructions. Final image files submitted to PCNW must adhere to these guidelines:
- Images must conform to an approximate 5:4 or 5:2 frame ratio (width: height)
- Final size for printing will be either 60.5” wide x 23.5” high or 28.5” wide x 23.5” high
- File Format: Save your artwork digital files as a high-resolution JPEG or TIFF.
- Each file must be titled with the photographer’s name, and the title of the image. (Example: John Smith Untitled.jpg)
You are encouraged to submit an artist’s statement, excerpts of which may be used alongside the publication of images. If images do not fit either submission or final file criteria, the images will not be considered.
The entry fee is $20 for up to 5 images. You can submit additional images for $5 (up to 10 images total)
IMPORTANT: you must submit at least 5 images, even if they are the same file due to limitations of CaFE.
Payment must be in U.S. Dollars. Entry fees are non-refundable.
All artists will be notified in September 2024 via e-mail. Once the project goes into production, selected images are installed into bus shelters over a year long period
Accepted Work
PCNW reserves the right to refuse accepted work that is perceived to be inappropriate, vulgar, or discriminatory. All works selected for the project will be sent to press in 2024 and artist names/titles will be included on printed panels. Selected images may be used for promotion by PCNW, and may be used in King County Metro publications.
Questions?
Contact pgonzales@pcnw.org