The NEON District will be lit this season! At the gateway into Downtown Norfolk, the NEON District often provides the first glimpse of city lights, historic buildings and bustling streets to visitors. One or more new artists will be selected to refresh the District’s creative holiday décor this fall. The NEON Stars adds to the magic of the season spent in downtown Norfolk.
One or more artists will customize pre-constructed templates with designs of their choosing that will be on display in the district for six weeks, starting November 19. An independent contractor will prime, install and de-install the stars. The artist is only responsible for implementing their design on the stars.
Project Location
NEON Stars will be installed in four locations along Granby Street:
- Retail Alliance parking lot, 838 Granby Street
- The Plot Garden, 776 Granby Street
- The Plot Containers, 776 Granby Street
- Bob’s Gun Shop, 746 Granby Street
Considerations
- Artists should submit a design for all four locations; the designs can be a cohesive theme for the entire project or stand-alone designs for each location.
- Artists are not responsible for installation or de-installation. The artist will coordinate pick up and delivery with the contractor.
- The stars will be primed in advance of pick up.
- The stars are pre-fabricated and will require some room to paint.
- Artists may add additional materials beyond paint to the element, however it must still be light enough to hang or stand.
Materials & Dimensions
- Exact specifications and images: https://ctycms.com/va-norfolk/docs/neon-stars-2022.pdf
- 1 large free-standing sculpture with 3 stars on a footprint of 6’ placed on a concrete slab at the corner of Granby Street and Addison Street.
- 1 large free-standing sculpture with 3 stars to be placed in the main planting bed. The sculpture is a total of 7’ in height: 1’, 2’ and 4’ stars included.
- 18 flat, two-dimensional stars and star trails hung on the storage containers’ sides at The Plot.
- 13 flat, two-dimensional stars hung along the section of the fence between Olney Road and Bob’s entrance.
Project Timeline
- Submittal deadline is Sunday, October 23 at 11:59pm
- NEON Public Art Committee Review week of October 24
- Artists notified by Friday, October 28
- Artists pick up materials from contractor week of October 31
- Final product delivered to contractor by Sunday, November 13
- Contractor install week of November 14
- Unveiled Saturday, November 19
- Contractor will de-install week of January 2
Budget
An artist honorarium is available for materials, labor and artist fee of $1000.
Submission
- No fee to apply
- Artists may submit up to 8 designs. Artists must provide the following in the application:
- Basic contact information
- Brief description of the work
- High resolution digital files of work proposed
- If selected for a project, you will be required to provide the Downtown Norfolk Council a W9 tax identification form and an artist grant application before your work is installed.
- Proposals can be submitted electronically to https://neondistrict.submittable.com/submit