The City of Tacoma is inviting artists and/or artist teams who reside in Washington state’s Pierce, King, Thurston, or Kitsap Counties to submit qualifications for a $60,000 commission to create an artwork or series of artworks that will attach to eight light poles on the Prairie Line Trail Spur, located at South 15th Street and Dock Street, in downtown Tacoma. The Spur is an important link between two historic and multi-modal pathways: the Prairie Line Trail and Thea Foss Waterway. The application deadline is midnight on Mon., June 29, 2015.
The public artwork created through this call will be the City’s first permanent public art commission for the Prairie Line Trail.
The Trail is historically significant as the west coast terminus of the transcontinental railroad. The former BNSF railway travels through the Brewery District, University of Washington Tacoma campus, past Tacoma Art Museum, and down to Thea Foss Waterway, strengthening an important connection between downtown and the waterfront. Once completed, this rail-to-trail conversion will create a linear park and active transportation gateway to the waterfront; build on downtown Tacoma’s natural, historic, and cultural assets; and become an integral component of the vision of an attractive, livable, and revitalized downtown.
A complete prospectus is available online at cityoftacoma.org/artsopps.
To read the Tacoma Daily Index’s complete and comprehensive coverage of the Prairie Line Trail, click on the following links:
- Water Flume Line: Bicyclists, pedestrians celebrate historic trail restoration (Tacoma Daily Index, April 30, 2015)
- Tacoma’s historic Water Flume Line Trail moves closer to completion (Tacoma Daily Index, April 22, 2015)
- $7.7M Dept. of Ecology grants could fund 5 Tacoma stormwater projects (Tacoma Daily Index, December 5, 2014)
- UW Tacoma unveils Japanese Language School Memorial (Tacoma Daily Index, October 13, 2014)
- Prairie Line Trail: On eve of grand opening, last-minute touches (Tacoma Daily Index, September 24, 2014)
- UW Tacoma Prairie Line Trail grand opening Sept. 25 (Tacoma Daily Index, September 15, 2014)
- Tacoma, BNSF Railway reach agreement on downtown Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, Aug. 29, 2014)
- Prairie Line Trail design open house July 17 (Tacoma Daily Index, July 9, 2014)
- City Hall News: Foss Waterway children’s park, strategic plan update, and Tacoma Dome Wi-Fi (Tacoma Daily Index, May 9, 2014)
- Tacoma, BNSF reach agreements on Prairie Line Trail, North Access Road projects (Tacoma Daily Index, April 28, 2014)
- Tacoma City Council to discuss TPU finances, Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, May 31, 2013)
- Tacoma to host Prairie Line Trail design open house (Tacoma Daily Index, March 6, 2013)
- Tacoma City Council to discuss utility rates, BNSF property agreements (Tacoma Daily Index, January 25, 2013)
- Tacoma City Council to discuss Tacoma Link expansion, UWT Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, January 18, 2013)
- Walk Tacoma’s artistic, historic Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, November 4, 2011)
- $465K boost for historic Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, April 1, 2011)
- Tacoma seeks artists for Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, February 1, 2011)
- City of Tacoma seeks artists to design bike racks for Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, January 12, 2011)
- Prairie Line Trail design workshop Aug. 9 (Tacoma Daily Index, August 5, 2010)
- City, railroad deal could open downtown Prairie Line trail (Tacoma Daily Index, June 19, 2008)