City holds competition to design new look for water tower

Competition will see artist who creates the winning design receive $1,000

The city is looking for someone to create design to be used in the repainting of the Verney water tower near Exhibition Park.

The tower is scheduled for repainting in 2018 and rather than the usual whitewash and "Guelph" lettering, the city has decided to make the tower a piece of public art.

Guelph is holding a design contest, inviting artists and designers 18 and over to submit preliminary designs to be included in the repainting of the water tower.

“The Verney water tower is a highly visible Guelph landmark,” said Stacey Dunnigan, manager of Culture and Tourism, in a news release.

“People can see this tower from Exhibition Park which hosts many events and is a very popular park, so it will be great to have beautiful artwork that reflects our community on the tower.”

The city’s Public Art Advisory Committee will review preliminary submissions and narrow the selection down to three finalists who will be invited to develop and refine their design concepts for consideration. The winning design will be decided by an online community vote running Nov. 6 to Nov. 19, with the winning artist or designer announced by December.

Artwork will be scored based on quality, creativity, technical feasibility and relevance to Guelph, said the news release.

The top three finalists will each receive a $250 honorarium, and the artist whose work is selected by the community will be awarded an additional $750 prize.

“This is a great way to involve the whole community in what is typically an operational project,” said Wayne Galliher, division manager of Water Services. “We’re excited to see the ideas people have to help make the tower into an eye-catching landmark.”

All submission information and design competition rules are available online at guelph.ca/verney. Entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Oct 8.