Richmond No. 3 Road Art Columns 2027–28: Six CAD 1,500 Commissions for Local Digital-Ready Artists
Richmond is commissioning six artists for illuminated public-art columns
The City of Richmond in British Columbia, Canada, is calling for proposals for its 2027–2028 No. 3 Road Art Columns Program. Six artists will be commissioned to provide artworks suitable for high-quality digital reproduction in the cylindrical, backlit display cases beneath the Canada Line guideway, near Aberdeen and Lansdowne stations. The city’s current call gives Thursday, 29 October 2026 as the submission deadline.
This is a specific municipal public-art commission, not a general international digital-art award. The columns are public installations that show digitally reproduced two-dimensional art in a highly visible streetscape. Artists whose primary practice is digital illustration, photographic imagery or mixed media translated into images may find the brief relevant, but proposals still have to respect the physical display format.
Only Richmond residents qualify for this particular call
The city explicitly restricts this programme to artists or artist teams residing in Richmond, British Columbia. A creative practitioner in nearby Vancouver, elsewhere in Canada or overseas should not assume that a British Columbia address somewhere outside Richmond meets the stated condition. The presence of the word 'Richmond' also should not be confused with the US city in Virginia or other places sharing that name.
Applicants need to verify the precise eligibility rules in the downloadable 2027–2028 Request for Proposals before submitting, including any exclusions tied to a current city contract, city employment or participation in a municipal advisory body. A city-based artist applying as part of a team should check whether all collaborating members need to meet the residency test. This article does not substitute broader provincial eligibility for the stricter Richmond residence requirement.
Two exhibition periods run from February 2027 through January 2028
The programme schedules two separate six-month exhibitions. The first runs from 1 February to 21 July 2027, and the second from 1 August 2027 to 31 January 2028. Each period will feature three selected artists. The combined total is six commissions, rather than six artists appearing in both windows simultaneously.
Artwork will be encountered by people travelling through the urban area around the Aberdeen and Lansdowne Canada Line stations. This setting gives the project a different scale of visibility from a website gallery. Artists should consider how a viewer moving past the columns can read an image, its contrast, composition and relationship to the surrounding public space. Such considerations are practical advice, not an unpublished mandatory visual style.
Each selected artist provides four print-ready digital artwork files
Richmond’s announcement specifies four print-ready digital artwork files from each of the six selected artists. The city encourages media suitable for reproduction, including mixed media, painting, illustration, photography, printmaking and drawing. A work initially created with physical materials may still be eligible if it can be reliably reproduced as a digital image.
It is important to distinguish a digital production file from a live digital installation. The backlit columns are display cases for printed artwork, not a guaranteed platform for video playback, motion graphics, augmented reality, interactive software or projectors. Artists working with generative images or time-based art could potentially submit still images derived from their practice, provided the final work meets the precise two-dimensional reproduction requirements.
CAD 1,500 is the artist fee; the city separately pays for printing and installation
Each of the six artists chosen receives a flat artist fee of CAD 1,500 for delivering the four artwork files. That is the remuneration for one selected artist’s commission, not CAD 1,500 per artwork and not a sum paid to every applicant. The City of Richmond is responsible for the printing and physical installation of the accepted pieces.
Artists should still budget for their own artistic preparation. The published programme distinguishes municipal printing and installation from any costs associated with digitising, photographing, scanning or otherwise converting the original work into files that meet the production specifications. The city’s offer should not be represented as an unlimited fabrication budget, equipment grant or general stipend for living expenses.
What to submit: proposal, art images and supporting background
The city directs candidates to download the official Artist Call, including its application information form and technical submission instructions. A programme summary of the current RFP specifies submission by email to PublicArt@richmond.ca, with an application compiled as one PDF of no more than 5 MB. It also describes an artwork statement with a short biography, examples of the proposed work and a brief artist CV. Applicants should treat the PDF distributed by the city as the authoritative checklist and confirm these details before sending.
The same published summary describes an artist statement and short biography of up to 300 words, four lower-resolution proposal images with captions, and an artist CV of no more than two pages. These are application-stage samples; the four high-resolution, print-ready production files are the deliverables after commissioning. Mixing the final production file requirements with the initial selection PDF can lead to unnecessarily large submissions and missed directions.
How the public-art setting should influence a digital-visual proposal
Because the work is displayed in backlit cases in a public transit corridor, visual clarity, legibility from different positions and a coherent series of four images matter. A photographer could develop a set reflecting the local community and landscape; a digital illustrator could explore place, history or ecology through a unified graphic language. These are examples of artistic approaches rather than a claim that the jury demands a single theme.
The city’s wider programme values connections to Richmond’s culture and public space. Strong applications can explain why the chosen visual language and subject matter work in this location, without making technical promises that the artist cannot fulfil. When original works contain third-party images, recorded faces, trademarks or other protected material, artists should ensure they have the permissions needed to grant reproduction rights under the final contract.
Deadline caution: follow the city’s 29 October date, not a later timeline
The official City of Richmond Artist Calls page states clearly that applications close on Thursday, 29 October 2026. A separate independent listing of the RFP flags a conflicting later date appearing in a project-timeline section. Because the city’s own listing and the RFP cover information use 29 October, prospective applicants should meet that earlier deadline, rather than rely on a later project milestone. An exact closing hour is not provided on the city listing.
To be safe, review the PDF linked from the municipal page and send a completed application early. If any dates remain unclear, request written confirmation from PublicArt@richmond.ca. An independent programme summary advises contacting the city if no acknowledgement arrives within 72 hours; follow the current official RFP’s instructions and keep a record of submission. Avoid assuming that a later selection or installation date extends the application window.
Official City of Richmond call, location and contact
The authoritative opportunity page is https://www.richmond.ca/culture/howartworks/publicart/artist-calls.htm . It links directly to the current 2027–2028 Artist Call and application document. City programme background, including where the No. 3 Road columns are installed, is at https://www.richmond.ca/culture/howartworks/publicart/programs.htm . The 2027–2028 RFP file is linked as https://www.richmond.ca/__shared/assets/2027_2028_no3_road_art_columns_program_request_for_proposals79541.pdf . Public-art enquiries can be sent to PublicArt@richmond.ca.
Key details to check before submitting: eligibility limited to Richmond residents; six selected artist commissions; four reproduction-ready artworks each; CAD 1,500 per artist; the city pays printing and installation; exhibitions in two three-artist groups from February to July 2027 and August 2027 to January 2028; official application deadline 29 October 2026. Applicants must still verify the detailed file specifications, rights conditions and contractual requirements in the official RFP, which takes priority over summaries elsewhere.