Calling Local Artists for Muni Art 2022
Muni Art 2020 by Jocelyn Li Langrand
The Muni-Art contest will be returning in 2022 to once again to bring the work of locally-based poets and artists to Muni customers throughout San Francisco. We invite local artists to participate in the competition by submitting proposals with this year's theme, the "Streets of San Francisco." Applications are now available online. The winning artists will create eight new visual works of art that will interpret five preselected poems by Bay Area poets.
The Muni Art project will be installed on a total of one hundred buses that will become moving art galleries displaying the theme, "Streets of San Francisco" from January 1, 2022, to April 30, 2022. This is double the number of buses featuring local artists since the contest first began.
"San Francisco Beautiful is proud to partner once again with SFMTA to bring the work of five local artists to Muni riders throughout San Francisco," noted Executive Director Darcy Brown. "After a time of uncertainty, Muni Art is one bright spot that all San Franciscans can count on every year. This year we chose a familiar and comforting theme, "Streets of San Francisco" and are honoring our own world-renowned local poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti."
The deadline to submit proposals for the contest is July 16, 2021, at 6 p.m. A committee comprised of local gallery owners and art institutions will review applications and select ten finalists. These artists will then submit their initial designs, which will be presented to the public for an online vote to choose five winners. Finally, on August 30, 2021, the winners will be announced. In addition to having their art displayed on 20 Muni buses, they will each be awarded $1,000.
Now in its seventh year, the contest is made possible through a collaboration between the SFMTA, San Francisco Beautiful, and The Poetry Society of America. For artist entry guidelines and sponsorship opportunities, please visit San Francisco Beautiful.
To see last year’s Muni artist and poet winners’ creative work, please visit the 2021 Muni Artists gallery.