Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Submit here!  

Deadline for submission: March 4, 2022 by 5pm (PST).

Important notes for submissions:

  • Be sure you have all requirements for your proposal before beginning your submission. See the question “What do I need to have for final submission?” below for full information on requirements and instructions.
  • The submission form does not save your incomplete work. If you exit a session, or a page reload before the proposal is fully complete and the Submit button is pressed, any partial progress will be lose. Therefore, in order to not lose any working progress, it is STRONGLY recommended that you prepare your submission as a separate document, and then copy and paste the entries into the form.
  • You may submit multiple proposals for consideration. However, only one submission by any given submitter may be selected in a course of any single Call for Submissions.
  • Failure to provide adequate information in any required fields may result in a proposal not being considered for selection.
  • Submission of a proposal does not guarantee consideration or selection.

The theme is meant to reflect the identities, barriers, and challenges that each person has experienced or overcome in becoming their best selves. And particularly, the trials and realities that historically disadvantaged groups have faced in their struggle to attain equality.   

These murals will align with and act as a visual representation of BC’s Pluralism Compact by recognizing, welcoming, and encouraging people of any ethnicity, ability, religion, age, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation to participate fully in all aspects of community life.

At an institutional level we can look to the vision statement for the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC). It states that “Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.”   

Likewise, here at BC, this Murals Project is meant to inspire, challenge, and make space for acknowledged shared experiences, positive outcomes, and new ideas to flourish.  

For more information on BC’s stance on diversity, inclusion, and equity, you can explore:  

Websites:  

Statements by BC President:  

Find more information about diversity, equity, and inclusion on the Washington State Board  for Community and Technical Colleges DEI website here: www.sbctc.edu/about/dei/  

Wheatpaste murals are a form of outdoor installation consisting of works printed onto a foundational paper that is glued to the walls of the chosen sites. Note that this is a temporary medium, and the murals in this project are temporary works. See below for more information on timeline.

Submissions are open to Bellevue College community members, including students, alumni, staff, faculty, and emeritus. Submissions may be individual or as a group, such as by a class or student affinity group (clubs, organizations). In selection, preference is given to submissions by current students and groups including current students. Work may be the original design of the BC community members themselves, or may be a collaboration with, or nomination of an outside artist they feel is part of their community and/or whose work represents their community or the heritage or history of the specific populations in Bellevue or the Eastside.

Deadline to submit artwork for consideration: March 4, 2022 by 5:00pm (PST).

Full timeline:

  • Competition open for artist submission: December 15, 2021 through March 4, 2022.
  • Deadline to submit artwork for consideration: March 4, 2022 by 5:00pm (PST).
  • Artwork review and selection: March 8-22, 2022. 
  • Artist notification of selection: March 23, 2022.

**All dates are subject to change at the discretion of the Committee and/or weather conditions.

  • Name(s) of Submitter(s) (and/or Group if applicable)  
  • Contact information   
  • Category of BC community affiliation or connection (check boxes, select all which apply)  
  • Proposal Headline (one-line statement of what population or story the artwork is meant to represent or speak to)
  • Title of artwork submitted   
  • Files of work uploaded (For initial submission, two files are allowed per proposal, with a maximum size of 6MB per file. File types accepted are .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .pdf. Raster image files should be 72 ppi resolution, and no larger than 4000 pixels on the longest side. See question “What are the specifications for file upload)   
  • Artist statement which will accompany artwork in installed display.  See below for further information.
  • Consent to Terms of Submission

Important notes for submissions:

  • Be sure you have all requirements for your proposal before beginning your submission. See the question “What do I need to have for final submission?” below for full information on requirements and instructions.
  • The submission form does not save your incomplete work. If you exit a session, or a page reload before the proposal is fully complete and the Submit button is pressed, any partial progress will be lose. Therefore, in order to not lose any working progress, it is STRONGLY recommended that you prepare your submission as a separate document, and then copy and paste the entries into the form.
  • You may submit multiple proposals for consideration. However, only one submission by any given submitter may be selected in a course of any single Call for Submissions.
  • Failure to provide adequate information in any required fields may result in a proposal not being considered for selection.
  • Submission of a proposal does not guarantee consideration or selection.

See our Resources page for more information about photographing your work and preparing files for submission.

Briefly, an artist statement is a written description of your work that gives your audience deeper insight into it.  

An artist statement is the reference point and context that you provide the viewer. You can think of it as a way to answer questions related to your art when you are not there to describe it.   

This is especially important when your piece is a visual representation of equity and social justice. Imagery is subjective. Viewers will bring their own experience to the piece. Your statement can provide context and share a broader explanation of your work—a statement can help communicate your story to the viewer.  

Please note: the artist statement will be installed alongside the mural as part of the display.

Keep in mind when writing your statement it will also be part of what the Committee reviews in selection so be certain to address:   

  • What groups, ideas, cultures, histories, etc. does this art represent?  
  • Concisely tell us more about how you envision this work meeting the themes and guidelines of this competition.  

Find more information on artist’s statements, and some resources for writing yours on our Resources page.    

Erin Shigaki’s statement from her mural “Never Again is Now” which was installed at Bellevue College in 2020:  

“Seventy-eight years ago, Japanese Americans were subjected to family separation and detention. Executive Order 9066 was signed of February 19, 1942, allowing the incarceration of approximately 126,000 Japanese and Americans of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast of the United States. Because they could only take what they could carry, families had to make hasty arrangements to store or get rid of a lifetime’s accumulation of property, farm equipment and personal belongings.   

Japanese immigrants and their descendants did back-breaking and dangerous work to clear the land you stand on and make Bellevue suitable for farming and homes. After decades of anti-Japanese agitation, led by Eastside businessman Miller Freeman and others, the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans included the 60 families (300 individuals) who farmed Bellevue.   

May we be reminded that American’s racial policies have always had many economic motives and beneficiaries.   

Each year on this Day of Remembrance, Japanese Americans alongside other communities strive to reflect and stand up against similar injustices occurring in the United States and elsewhere. Now more than ever, we must work together to make ‘Never Again’ a reality.”

Bellevue College Arts Faculty Molly Vaughan’s statement from her series “After Boucher”:  

“I grew up with an intense sense of being Other. I had no context within which to frame the feelings I had about my identity and body. Today, I am fortunate to inherit a level of visibility and understanding not extended to  those who came before me. However, though not always visible, Trans people have always existed and there is a rich history coming to light regarding our identities and our place in the timeline of humanity. These works are part of a project for which I am reimagining each of the drawings included in the book The Drawings of Francois Boucher by Alastair Laing. My graphic works infuse trans bodies throughout each of the original compositions drawn by Boucher whose imagination and command of draftsmanship has greatly influenced me throughout my career. I see this project as an opportunity to create a new visual history for myself that does not seem out of context from the romantic, religious, and magical environments prevalent in works from the Rococo period.”

The proposal headline offers a one-line statement of what population or story the artwork is meant to represent or speak to and how that should relate the diversity, equity and inclusion themes of the Outdoor Mural Project. This differs from both the Mural Title and Artist Statement. The title should be just that, a name for the piece, or even an indication of the work as “untitled”. While the artist statement is a fuller description of your work that gives your audience deeper insight into it.  See the previous question for more information on writing an artist statement.

Examples include (but are in no way limited to):

  • “How path as a student was shaped by my family’s story.”
  • “The past and ongoing struggles of my community for equality in America.”
  • “Radical Black/Brown/Indigenous/Trans joy.”
  • “Portraits of my family, friends, and community members who in the past and present have shaped and preserve our community and culture.”
  • “The history of Japanese immigrants living in Bellevue and the Eastside.”

First, please check our Resources page. It has helpful guides for many steps of process of preparing your submission, including photographing or scanning your work, resizing images, creating vectors from images, even writing your artist statement.  

For students, please also check out RISE. They may have resources and technology you may access in preparing your work.  

Additionally, in the interest of equity, to allow the widest range of voices to be heard, accommodations may be arranged by BC for scanning, photographing, or converting work for final printable format, upon selection, at discretion of the committee.   

For details on these arrangements contact the murals committee at: outdoormurals@bellevuecollege.edu  

The honorarium for each selected artwork is $2000, paid to the submitting artist or group for the successful delivery of the artwork ready for installation.  

Please note, this is considered taxable income and the artist will need to fill out a W-9 to receive the honorarium. Please contact the Outdoor Murals Committee with any questions regarding the delivery of the the honorarium.

Selected candidates may also choose to donate the honorarium, if they do not with to receive it themselves.

Sites on walls along the main pedestrian corridor on Bellevue College’s campus have been selected for the Outdoor Murals Project. Final site locations subject to the discretion of the Outdoor Murals Committee.

For a map and pictures of all available sites see the Mural Sites page.

Location of the selected works will be made by the Outdoor Murals Committee.

Selected candidates will be consulted on preferences of location of both mural site and location of mural upon wall itself, as applies to realization of their artistic vision. Candidates will be notified of chosen location upon decision by the Committee, prior to installation.

Once established, murals will remain displayed for up to two years, and will change on a one-year or two-year rotating schedule. Current timeline is for half of the murals to change out every year.

Site locations, number of selections made, and timeline are all subject to change at the the discretion of the Outdoor Murals Committee.

Murals may be in black and white, monochromatic, and even full color! This will be at artist’s discretion, if artwork is selected by the committee.  

Though all at must be converted to a digital two-dimensional format for submission and for final printing, this is not intended to limit the vision of the creators.

Not only are physical media works such as paintings or drawings accepted, but digital images, photographs of 3D sculptures, concept sketches, collages of video stills, and even word art are examples of other accepted forms of expression. So long as the format meets resolution and scalability requirements to be reprinted as at final size (approximately 10ft by 10ft), we encourage you to make the method your own. 

For more information about the requirements for the digital files for submission see the question below: “What are the specifications of the image files for submission?”

For initial submission, two files are allowed per proposal, with a maximum size of 6MB per file. File types accepted are: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .pdf.

Raster image files should be formatted to a resolution of 72 ppi no more than 4000 pixels on the longest side. A 12megapixel image is ideal. This is what many modern smartphones take photos at.

Please note: for enlargement to final printing size (approximately 10ft by 10ft) raster images of higher quality and higher resolution and larger size, or other file types will be necessary.

If possible, it is recommended, to prepare these during your process. Provided the artist is able to scan or photograph the work for these purposes, work may originally be made in any format or media, digital or traditional.

Vector files are encouraged, whenever possible, for their reduced size and increased scalability. However for initial entry for selection, simple images of these vector files must be submitted. Most programs allow you to save an image file from a vector design.

Again, in your initial entry ONLY SUBMIT FILES MEETING THE ABOVE REQUIREMENTS for file type and size.

Following deliberation and selection by the committee, chosen artists will be contacted by committee and given details on requirements for necessary preparation for installation.   

Find more information on technical specifications, converting digital formats to image files, and techniques for photographing and scanning on our Resources page.  

Copyright of the artwork will be held by the artist, and they are free to reproduce their work at any time.

The physical mural itself will become the property of BC for purposes of maintenance, and removal

Bellevue College reserves the right to use images of the mural in publicity photos, marketing materials, film/video, website, and the like with no further compensation to the artists. BC will credit the artists in all publicity.

All work submitted must be either:

  • Original work of the submitting artist
  • Used within the bounds of Fair Use in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, of the U.S. Code
  • Copyrighted work used with expressed written permission.

The Committee may require proof of permission prior to installation in the case of artworks whose copyright is held by other than the submitter.

If you are coordinating with a third party copyright holder, please review the content of the Terms of Submission with the copyright holder. This can be found at the end of the Submission form. This is recommended so that the copyright holder fully understands the rights granted to BC by submission to this Contest.

No, submitters will not have to install their mural. Instead, installation will be managed and paid for by Bellevue College and its third-party installation partners.  

Yes. If you, for any reason, feel the need to remove your submitted art piece from consideration, you may do so by emailing (insert Committee contact email) within 24 hours, following your notification as a selected artist.

No, the committee reserves the option to make no selections, or fewer selections than total number of sites, and to then reopen / reissue the Call for Submissions.   

Last Updated April 16, 2022