Artists Needed For Bus Design Contest

Call it art in motion, if you will.

The Route 1 Ride Collaborative, a group of arts, planning, development and transportation organizations, seeks artists to design works of art to adorn three of its buses.

So, why have artists decorate a bus in the first place?

"Well, you wouldn't want an engineer to design a bus wrap," joked Stuart Eisenberg, executive director of the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation and also in charge of the call for artists for the Route 1 Ride project.

Eisenberg explained that the idea is the involve the local art community in creating a high-profile work of art designed to call attention to the attractions along the Route 1 corridor in the Gateway district.

"It's essentially a mobile public artwork," said Eisenberg. "What it can do is help us brand our community in a positive fashion, rather than having our community defined by others."

The winner will be able to see their work traveling down Route 1 on the number 17 route, also known as the Route 1 Ride.

The top three selected designs will garner $500 each for the artists. The top winning team will win a $3,000 honorarium for their work.

Once chosen, the winning design will grace the buses for at least three years beginning this spring.

Whatever the artists choose to design, the application suggests that they celebrate the life, work and history of the Route 1 Corridor.

The contest is open to all artists over 18 who work, live or study within 50 miles of the Prince George's County Gateway Arts and Entertainment District.

Applications (downloadable here) with completed designs are due by March 2, 2012 at 4 p.m.