BC Heritage Sites Call to Artists
Expressions of Interest – Strawberry Hill’s Early Japanese Canadians
Submission Deadline: March 10, 2025
Artist Fee: $280,000
The City of Surrey invites Expressions of Interest (EOI) from professional artists or artist teams to create a heritage feature with integrated artworks in a public park, as well as a related small-scale intervention in the historic Strawberry Hill neighbourhood of Newton, Surrey. These spaces will connect residents to the legacy of Surrey’s early Japanese Canadians and will confront the injustice of their uprooting, dispossession, and internment.
The heritage feature at R. A. Nicholson Park is the project’s main component. This feature will serve as a gathering and learning space for all members of the community. The artist will design plaza artwork(s) and surrounding area a single project where the art and landscape design reinforce each other. For this project, the City envisions a contemporary and creative approach to the act of heritage interpretation.
A smaller, secondary component will be installed at Inouye Park, a public park named for the only Japanese Canadian to have his property returned after internment 1942 to 1949. The artwork will be located at the park entrance at 92 Ave and 134 St. The artist will have the opportunity to enhance the park entrance and/or the seating area at that location.
This is a collaborative project where the artist will work closely with a landscape architect from the City to ensure the technical feasibility of their design, as well as with a researcher, hired specifically for the project, to incorporate heritage interpretation into the design. Feedback received through community consultation sessions will also have to be considered.
KEY DATES
March 10 Application Deadline
Late March Phase 1 Selection Panel
April 2025 Announcement of Short-listed Artists
April to May 2025 Concept Development
June 2025 Phase 2 Selection Panel
June to July Presentation to Advisory Committee & City Council
Fall 2025 to Spring 2026 Design & Fabrication
Spring 2026 Installation