Art in Transit Process

The Project

The Central City Line is a bus-rapid transit route with electric buses that will run east-west from Browne’s Addition to Spokane Community College beginning in 2021 and operated by the Spokane Transit Authority (STA). The new route will create 30+ new bus stations designed by STA. The Central City Line project is funded by a federal transportation grant and supported by state and local dollars. Complete information about the Central City Line project can be found on STA’s project website. The CCL project website contains the latest updates, images, contact information, and an interactive map.

Station Identification

Spokane Arts is partnering with STA to seek input from the community on how to add “identifying” elements to each station to ensure every station feels welcoming, activated and reflective of the identity and history of the communities it serves. STA is determining each bus stop location, size, and number of transit amenities. Spokane Arts is seeking community input on what elements can be added to each bus station (“station identification”) to make each one feel activated, safe, and part of the neighborhood. Please view examples from other cities here.

Process

STA and Spokane Arts have gathered community stakeholders into a steering committee who will develop a master plan for station identification, a roadmap to ensure that community members have a voice in what “their” stations will look like. The committee includes representatives from neighborhoods, universities, and business as well as city of Spokane Art Commissioners and STA staff.

Spokane Arts is conducting community engagement in a variety of ways: through neighborhood council meetings; open houses; through online survey and an informational website; and via postcards mailed to residents and property owners with information about how to submit their feedback either in person or online. A full schedule of opportunities to provide input and see examples of what might be considered for Spokane can be found on this page or STA’s Central City Line project site.

The master plan delivered to the STA Board of Directors in 2019 will offer recommendations about the number and type of interventions for each station or group of stations, so that budget can be allocated. The master plan will not determine the exact designs or interventions that will appear at each stop. Those designs will be chosen later by juries that include representatives from each neighborhood where stations are located (see the Phase 2 summary below).

For example, the master plan will use the community’s input to make a recommendation to STA about how to allocate resources toward the stations located in Browne’s Addition by suggesting what type of treatments, the number of treatments, and include input from the neighborhood on possible themes or ideas. That will allow STA to allocate budget toward those stations and understand what type of elements will be added to each station. Then, in Phase 2, Spokane Arts will create and release open calls for artists. Those calls for artists will be juried by committees that include neighborhood residents, business owners, art commissioners, and STA representatives. Neighborhood representatives will have a say in both creating the calls for artists and selecting the artists/artwork.

Spokane Arts is also tasked with researching transit-specific identification strategies in other comparable markets and presenting that research to the planning committee, to help them determine the type, character, and budget of possible interventions.

Phase 2:

After the recommendations of the Station Identification Master Plan have been adopted by STA Board of Directors and Central City Line Steering Committee in 2019, the station identification process will move to Phase 2.

The second phase of planning will include creating open calls for artists within the parameters created by the master plan. Those open calls for artists will be publicized by Spokane Arts through its newsletter, social media, website, press releases, and other tools, and co-promoted by STA and the City of Spokane to ensure they reach the widest audience possible. It is likely there will be multiple calls for artists to submit their qualifications for different types of projects. Possible examples could include graphic designs for vinyl wraps or glass windscreen treatments; creating metal or graphic infill panels for bus platform railings; lighting design, poetry, small sculptural elements, or other strategies. The exact type and number of calls for artists (along with which mediums) will be determined by the master planning process. The timeline for the calls for artists to be released is not yet known, but likely will begin in late 2019 and continue into 2020.