Call For Art: Eyes on Art Town 2025 Williamstown Cultural District Banner Exhibition

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Town of Williamstown, the Williamstown Cultural District, and the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce are partnering in an opportunity to showcase local artwork right in downtown Williamstown.

From Labor Day to November 2025, selected art will be reproduced on vertical banners on utility poles along Spring and Latham Streets. 

Artists and community members are encouraged to submit designs for the Eyes on Art Town banner call. 

Installed: around September 13 – November 1, 2025 (weather dependent) For those selected, original artworks can be included in an exhibit in the Spring Street Market in October.

Deadline for submissions: midnight on July 6, 2025

Banner Specifications

Banner image size: 24” wide x 32” tall. Banner size: 24” wide x 48” tall. Includes Williamstown Cultural District header and footer. See example above.

Note: Modifications may be made to accommodate banner manufacturing process.

Artwork Submission Information

  • Online submissions only, via submission form: https://forms.gle/W93ufBn1fg6eHhp57

  • Those submitting work must reside and/or produce work in Williamstown.

  • All work submitted must be high-quality images of original work, in any medium including 3-D and digital processes. 

  • Artists may submit only one image of original artwork. 

  • Work must have been produced in the last 5 years.

The quality of images will affect the strength of submissions. Carefully consider composition, focus, color accuracy etc. "Crisp, clean, and simple" images read better from a distance or as people drive by.

Artists are responsible for any costs related to providing high-quality images, including but are not limited to, photographing, scanning, or graphic design. If you need assistance to produce the images, please refer to this great guide created by committee member Sarah Pike.

More technical information on submissions:

  • Our designer will place your image in a template- no need to add any content or design yourself. 

  • Image format: JPG, TIF, or PDF. Resolution: 150 – 300 pixels/in at 100%.Size:300 pixel/in on longest size (minimum) or no less than 20 MB. CMYK, not RGB

  • Vertical images or cropped horizontal images. Aspect ratio: 8:10 (vertical)

  • No advertising, branding, or stock/commercial images allowed. Avoid text.

  • If images include recognizable people, the artist must obtain a release from these people for the images to be displayed publicly. 

Jurors and Selection Process

Exhibition will be juried by a Williamstown Cultural District representative and the following art professionals with very different perspectives and preferences:

  • Valerie Carrigan, North Adams, Assistant Professor of Studio Art at Bryant University and artist specializing in printmaking and artist books featured in national and international collections.

  • Megan Mazza, Bennington, VT. Director of Studio Art Operations for Williams College and professional photographer, running Megan Cross Photograph.

  • Jesse Tobin McCauley, Pittsfield, MA. Painter and graphic designer who sits on the board of the Berkshire Art Association and is the creator of the Drive.Walk.Bike by City ArtShow in Pittsfield. She is a partner on the Let it Shine! Public Art Project Committee stewarding murals throughout the city of Pittsfield.

Selection criteria. Works will be evaluated based on whether they:

  • Represent range and depth of local talent 

  • Display excellence in elements of design and/or public art

  • Engage the viewer's interest conceptually and/or visually

  • Enhance community identity and place

  • Contribute to community vitality

  • Involve a broad range of people/communities

  • Expand perception and understanding of our region and community

In past years jurors have tended not to select work which represents recognizable, distant content (for example: the Eiffel Tower in Paris, surfers on a California beach, Times Square). Keep this in mind as you choose what to submit. 

The Banner Selection Committee will review all proposals received by the deadline and make a final decision by August 5, 2024. The Committee reserves the right to reject any and all submissions. 

Complete form: https://forms.gle/W93ufBn1fg6eHhp57

Williamstown Cultural District Responsibilities

  • Contract with a vendor to print the banners on high quality vinyl and be professionally installed.

  • Final printed banners are the property of the Williamstown Cultural District.

 Questions? Contact Ellen Joffe-Halpern at ellenjoffe@gmail.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Williamstown Town Meeting Debates, Passes by Large Margins, CPA Grants

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — As it has done nearly every time since the town adopted the provisions of the Community Preservation Act, town meeting Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to respect the decisions of its Community Preservation Committee and award the CPA grants recommended by that body.
 
Among the last actions of the nearly three-hour meeting were the approval of two heavily-discussed CPA grants, one of which generated a negative advisory vote from the town's Finance Committee.
 
That grant went to the Sand Springs Pool and Recreation Center, a $20,000 allotment of CPA funds to renovate and expand facilities at the facility.
 
The Fin Comm voted, 3-5, not to recommend town meeting OK the expenditure, and several residents took the floor at Tuesday night's meeting to argue against approving a grant that the center plans to use to improve its sauna.
 
"Why would we do such a thing?" asked Donald Dubendorf. "I understand we have 'recreational purposes' under the act, but why would we do such a thing when we are in dire straits in other areas, like housing?"
 
The executive director Sand Springs took the microphone to explain that an infrastructure investment in the sauna is part of a strategy to make the facility a year-round town asset and improve the non-profit's revenue stream.
 
Enhanced revenues, in turn, allow Sand Springs to keep its entry fees lower and provide scholarships to families of limited means, Henry Smith said, including in the summer months, when it is "the only public, guarded waterfront in town."
 
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