If you are a local artist with an eye for historic places, Park City has a job for you.
The Cindy Matsumoto Historic Preservation Award has been handed out annually by the city, but was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. The award recognizes places that are good examples of Park City’s guidelines for historic districts and historic sites.
This year’s recipient of the award is 1141 Park Avenue, a restored residential property in Old Town.
The city is now asking artists to submit a proposal for a piece of art commemorating the property. The city’s budget for the artwork is $1,800.
Park City Planner Aiden Lillie says the city is specifically looking for paintings, and the art will hang alongside past winners at city hall.
“It is adopted into the city’s public art collection, so it will be on display," says Lillie. "The homeowner can receive a copy of the painting that we produce for them, as well as a plaque recognizing the structure as the recipient of this award, but the original will hang in city hall as part of our public art collection.”
The last time the city commissioned an artist for this award was in 2018 when the Glenwood Cemetery was selected. Local artist Anna Leigh Moore got the job, and painted the cemetery. She says she spent months on the project, partly because she chose slow-drying oil paints as her medium.
Moore says artists interested in submitting for this year’s commission should take the time to get to know the property before submitting a bid. She says that process helped her with her pitch for the cemetery.
“Yes, you can look on Google Images and do a drive by with an iPhone, but I think it’s really important to go to the actual space, maybe at different times of day, even different seasons and see what makes it shine," she says. "Maybe getting some context too, maybe who lived there. I think the more layers of context you can bring to a painting, the richer it becomes and the more you are able to incorporate that story into the painting.”
Artists interested in this project need to submit their proposals no later than 5pm on March 14th.
A link to the request for proposal can be found here.
