Tauranga Arts Festival Commissions Public Art Installation for Festival Front Yard

Tauranga Arts Festival invites submissions for a public art installation to occupy the space in front of the Pacific Crystal Palace, located in the heart of the CBD, for the duration of the 2013 Festival.

The brief states that festival organisers are looking for a work that will make a ‘strong visible impact, a memorable aesthetic and conceptual addition to the Festival space.’

The Tauranga Arts Festival is the major arts event for Tauranga and Mt Maunganui. Since 1999 it has been bringing performing arts from New Zealand and around the world to various venues in and around Tauranga. The Pacific Crystal Palace will be a familiar site come October when the stunning New Zealand-made Spiegeltent will be home to theatre, music, circus, literary and educational events for the 2013 Festival. Located on The Strand, it is a central spot for the festival and is an atmospheric venue to enjoy arts events, food, wine and the company of fellow festival patrons. The public art installation commission is a new initiative by the Festival organisers for 2013 and one that builds on Tauranga’s growing visual arts scene.

Festival organisers are excited to provide an opportunity for artists to significantly enhance the festival space and transform the front yard of the Pacific Crystal Palace into a public art experience. The brief reveals that the organisers are interested in inviting proposals that ‘meet the values and aims of the Arts Festival: inspire, involve, entertain.’

The deadline to submit a proposal is 21 May and is being advertised on The Big Idea website and on the Festival’s own website. A shortlist will be selected from the initial round of proposals who will be asked to develop their concept for presentation to the selection committee.