Coloured banners created by community members blow in the wind every spring along boulevards and roadways in Nanaimo.
These banners are created by professional artists and community members who want to add a vibrancy to city streets.
Nanaimo’s Festival of Banners, which is organized every year by the Nanaimo Art Gallery, has been running for 26 years.
People are invited to help make the works of art for this year’s theme Creative City.
Interested individuals can submit their entries by completing the entry form, available on the art gallery’s website.
About 150 to 400 banners are created each year, depending on funding. They are hung on various lamp posts in the city around mid-May.
Banner designs must be submitted on medium weight card paper, and be seven centimetres high by 10 cm wide. Designs must be outlined with a black felt marker and have the person’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address and title of the piece on the back.
The entry fee is $10 and submissions will be reviewed and chosen by the Nanaimo Art Gallery.
In the fall the banners will be on sale, $30 for small and $40 for large. Painters can pre-purchase their banner after they complete it, which they can pick up in the fall.
Once a person is selected to paint a banner they will be contacted and invited to create it at the painting space at Nanaimo North Town Centre.
To learn more about the process people can watch the 25th anniversary documentary video. Complete guidelines, a link to the video and entry forms are available at www.nanaimoartgallery.com.
Submissions will be accepted until late April depending on funding and the number of entries received.