The City has officially launched its Street Art Wall pilot project, making it accessible until the end of April 2020.
The project makes it temporarily legal for the community to create art and murals on the Rideaucrest retaining wall adjacent to Douglas Fluhrer Park (map) with the City waiving Section 4.17 of the Property Standards Bylaw 2005-100 for this location. That bylaw states that “written slogans and graffiti on the exterior of any building, wall, fence or structure shall be prohibited, including painted or chalked titles or messages.”
It supports the City of Kingston’s Public Art Master Plan that ‘fosters the creation of temporary public art and street art to engage people in the visual arts in different forms across the city’, approved by council in March 2019.
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“We’re excited to launch this pilot project that supports the creation of street art as a form of artistic expression,” said Danika Lochhead, manager, arts and sector development. “We’ve established the wall as a legal space for street art to provide an exciting new and open platform that will add to the vibrancy of the area, and present and celebrate the work of local artists and their community over the next 10 months.”
While this wall project is self-regulated and managed by the community, the City will monitor it on an ongoing basis to assess how the wall is being used and to ensure compliance with the guidelines. City staff will report back to Council on the results after the project ends.
Artists are encouraged to document their work and share it on social media using the #YGKStreetArtWall hashtag.
More information about the Street Art Wall pilot project, including guidelines and frequently asked questions, can be found at CityofKingston.ca/LegalWall. Also visit the City’s website to find details about its Public Art Program.
UPDATE: Check out this brief City of Kingston video on the YGK Street Art Wall:
Image: City of Kingston
