Request for Qualifications - B Side Mural Project

Visit Baltimore and Create Baltimore (formerly known as BOPA) are requesting qualifications from Baltimore-based artists and artist teams to design and install an outdoor public mural scheduled for completion in April 2026.

This project is a part of Visit Baltimore’s B-Side campaign. Inspired by the “B-Side” of an album, which is known to have the deeper, undiscovered tracks of an album, this campaign invites people to do the same with Baltimore: to turn over the surface-level narrative and listen to what’s been overlooked.

Create Baltimore will collaborate with Visit Baltimore and community stakeholders to identify a location for the mural. Three finalists will be selected based on their qualifications and work samples provided. The selected finalists will each receive a $500 stipend to create a proposed mural design. One design will be chosen for installation. 

A commission of $10,000 will be paid in full to the selected artist(s) to realize their proposed concept. A separate budget of $5,500 has been allocated for all materials, including equipment rentals if needed.

Three finalists will be selected from this RFQ based on their qualifications and work samples provided. The selected finalists will each receive a $500 stipend to create a proposed mural design. One design will be chosen for installation. 

A commission of $10,000 will be paid in full to the selected artist(s) to realize their proposed concept. A separate budget of $5,500 has been allocated for all materials, including equipment rentals if needed.

Project Timeline

• RFQ Issued: December 24, 2025
• RFQ Closes: January 16, 2026
• Finalists Selected: January 17–February 5, 2026
• Notification of Finalists: February 6, 2026
• Designs Due: February 20, 2026
• Final Selection Notification: February 25, 2026
• Contracting Completed: End of February 2026
• Mural Installation Begins: March 16, 2026
• Project Completion: Before End of May 2026

Requested Qualifications

Artists must submit all the items below. Applicants who fail to submit all these items will not be considered.

• Artist’s Statement (100 words or less)
• Resume/CV (PDF or JPG; 5 MB or less)
• Statement of Interest (200 words or less)
• 3–5 images of relevant existing work (JPG or PNG)

Eligibility Requirements

• Artists can apply individually or as part of an artist team.
• Artist(s) must be 18 years of age or older.
• The selected artist or artist team must be based in the Baltimore metro area.
• Employees of Visit Baltimore, Create Baltimore, the City of Baltimore, and their family members are not eligible to apply.

Selection Process

A panel of artists, arts administrators, and community members will assist Visit Baltimore and Create Baltimore representatives in evaluating the applicants.

Insurance

The selected artist will be required to provide a certificate of workman’s compensation insurance and a certificate of general liability insurance with $1,000,000 in coverage upon signing a contract for this project.

Submission Deadline 

The deadline for this RFQ is January 16, 2026.

Late submissions will not be accepted. 

Contact

For questions about this RFQ, contact Barbara Hauck, Director of Arts Council Programming for Create Baltimore, at bhauck@promotionandarts.org. 

For technical issues with the submission platform, contact Eventeny support.