Utility Box Art Competition

Artbox Design Application Guidelines

The City of Edina’s Arts & Culture Commission, in partnership with the Edina Parks & Recreation Department, seeks proposed designs for transforming common utility boxes in Edina into creative, exciting and appealing objects of art that celebrate our city!

Eligibility: Artists and non-artists working in any medium (painters, photographers, collage artists, mosaic artists, quilters, poets, etc.) who are residents of Minnesota may apply. Preference will be given to Edina residents. Applicants do not need to identify as artists or have previous experience in public art or creative placemaking. If selected, guardians for applicants under age 18 will need to sign a waiver.

A maximum of three design concepts per applicant, please.

Deadline: Design proposals are due by August 1, 2023

Payment: Winning artists will be compensated $750 for their artistic services.

Proposed designs will be considered for five utility boxes located at these possible sites (Measurements in Ideas tab below):

• West 50^th St. and Halifax
• West 70^th St. and Metro Blvd.
• West 70^th St. and Cornelia
• West 70^th St. and West Shore Drive
• West 77^th St. and Computer Ave.
• West 77^th St. and Pentagon Parking lot
• West 78^th St. and Cecelia Cir/Delaney Blvd.
• West 78^th and Cahill Road

Selection: A committee made up of Edina Arts & Culture Commission members will select artwork based on quality and originality, and how well it reflects or enhances with the location. Submission of artwork is not a guarantee that such artwork will be selected or used. Selections will be made by August 5, 2023. Once the artwork is selected and approved, the committee will send a notification by email and formal letter to the artist(s). Once selected, applicants will sign an agreement with the City of Edina and selections will be posted on BetterTogetherEdina.org.

Proposed design concept ideas

• Edina Related Art
• Organics and Recycling
• Sustainable Living
• Student Art

Process: The selected designs will be vectorized and printed on a vinyl wrap which is adhered to the utility box. The city will contract with an appropriate vendor to ensure that the design is digitally applied to a high-quality vinyl product. The vendor will then apply the vinyl to the utility box, using a process similar to applying graphic vinyl to vehicles. The vinyl product will include a graffiti resistant outer layer that will facilitate future clean-up. Anything that can be copied, scanned, or printed can potentially become a vinyl wrap (i.e. photograph of a 3-D object, written words, etc.). Applicants should note that certain areas of a utility box cannot be covered by the wrap including meters, windows, vents, and handles and as such the design may be affected by the need to keep these elements clear.

Ineligible Entries: A proposal will be ineligible, for any one or more of the following reasons, if the decorated utility boxes contain:

• A copyrighted or trademarked image or logo, brand or business name
• A brand or business name
• A website or social media link
• Address or phone number
• Is plagiarized, stolen, or copied from another source
• Defames or invades the rights of any person, living or dead
• Any artwork the committee deems not in line with City values
  Important: Artwork not adhering to these guidelines will not be considered.

Artists’ responsibilities: If your design is selected you will be responsible for the following:

• Selected applicants must provide a final digital image at a quality level and format specified by the printing vendor.
• Applicants must be the author, creator or sole copyright holder of the material submitted for review and said material must not infringe upon the proprietary or intellectual property rights of any other persons or entities.
• If images of real people are included, the applicant must obtain a release from those people for the images to be used for this purpose. The artist must also obtain all releases necessary for text and poetry if applicable.
• No advertising, branding, or commercial images allowed.

Insurance & Indemnification: Selected artists must sign a Release of Liability and Indemnity Agreement. Artists will be required to fill out a W9 for payment purposes.

Attribution: When the City uses the artist’s images or the artwork for promoting arts programming, the City will endeavor to identify the artist and give credit to the artist, whenever possible, but the City will not be liable to the artist for an error in or omission of the artist’s identification or the artist’s credit for the artwork.

Repair and Removal: The City may remove a decorated utility box(es), at any time, for any reason as the City deems necessary.