NCC looking for artists

The Norwood Cultural Council (NCC) is heading a new mural project for “a prominent downtown location” and is currently seeking artists to submit their work for a chance to have it displayed.

NCC Chair Jonathan Cardoni said the mural will be 20 feet by 10 feet, but it will be done in a vinyl format and most submissions can be resized, so they don’t have to be exactly those proportions. He said that allows for more flexibility.

“We could end up with more than one image on this one mural, with the way that we’re building it,” he said. “It’s going to be a vinyl mural that will be digitally printed and installed. It won’t be directly painted on.”

Cardoni said this is the first NCC project in the past couple of years. He said while the NCC funds arts and culture programming throughout the year, those funds are appropriated through grant submissions from interested parties.

“The Cultural Councils receive a certain amount of funding we distribute to grant applicants for projects around Town and we get an amount from the Town of Norwood,” he said. “We must distribute a portion to grant applicants, but we can also use a portion for our own projects. It’s been a few years since the NCC has done a project like this itself, but we decided we would like to become more actively involved as an organization, and the first program we decided on and voted on was this mural project.”

Though he added this isn’t their first mural rodeo.

“The NCC was kind of involved in mural projects for Norwood’s 150th, but not responsible for them – I was not involved at that time so I’m unclear on the details – and there is one mural up at the Space Center in South Norwood that came out of that program,” he said.

Cardoni said he himself hasn’t put paint to a wall in quite some time, but he’s looking forward to the project.

“It’s been many years since I’ve painted any sort of mural and this was on private property,” he said.

The theme of the mural is, at least at first, simple: Norwood. The application states the NCC is looking for pieces that: “reflect the people, cultures, history, and shared experiences that make Norwood a vibrant community.” Cardoni said that can take any one of many avenues.

“We’re trying to stay with the theme, ‘Many Stories, One Norwood,’ because it’s a diverse Town that’s had many changes over the years, and we expect many more changes to come – and a lot quicker than in the past,” he said. “Particularly in Norwood, we’ve got the recently released Comprehensive Plan coming up, and we want people to express what they feel are the most interesting parts of Norwood. The many stories that brought us to where we are, and the stories that are happening now around Town, as well as the many stories that are just beginning.”

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Cardoni said artists are already on the case, and they will start the selection process after the deadline.

“People have already submitted some ideas,” he said. “We’re going to filter through it all and get some people outside the NCC involved in selecting.”

The deadline for submission is Wednesday, April 22, with finalists being announced on May 1. Interested artists can submit their pieces to  norwoodculturalcouncil@gmail.com

For more information, go to https://gvimes.link/call4artists