Call for Entry: Partner City Mural Project

A 50-foot canvas in Manhattan, Kansas.

Celebrating twenty years of friendship with Dobrichovice, Czech Republic.

The Greater Manhattan Community Foundation is seeking an artist or artist team to design and paint a large-scale exterior mural marking our partner-city relationship with Dobrichovice in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.

The Site

The mural will be painted at 1531 Yuma Street in Manhattan, Kansas, on a long, street-facing wall that runs the length of the block.

The paintable area measures 50 feet wide by 17 feet tall, facing an active street with steady daily traffic and clear sightlines from the road and sidewalk. The finished work needs to read from a moving car as well as from the sidewalk.

The surface is painted corrugated metal siding in a pale industrial green, with regular vertical ribbing and visible fastener rows. Artists should plan for a working surface with texture and seams rather than a flat panel, and should budget for appropriate cleaning, priming, and exterior-grade paint systems suited to metal siding in a Kansas climate.

Design Direction

Selected designs must creatively reflect Dobrichovice and Czech culture, either by highlighting our partner city directly, or by visually weaving together the shared spirit, landscapes, and civic identity of both Manhattan and Dobrichovice.

Artists are welcome to build on that vocabulary or to interpret the relationship in their own style. What matters is that the finished mural reads as a genuine bridge between two places, painted at a scale the street can see.

More about the Manhattan–Dobrichovice partnership

In 2006, Manhattan, Kansas, established a formal partner city relationship with Dobrichovice, a picturesque town nestled in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. For nearly two decades, that partnership has fostered cross-cultural friendship, educational exchange, and civic connection between our two communities.

This mural is being commissioned to celebrate that enduring international bond and to visually bridge the distance between the Flint Hills and Central Bohemia.

Budget & Payment

• Base commission: $12,000, all-inclusive. Covers artist design fees, surface preparation, paint and supplies, site cleanup, and all associated travel, lodging, and per diem or meals.
• Equipment provided (in-kind): complimentary on-site lift for the duration of the installation, at no cost to the artist.
• International artist travel bonus: an additional $1,000 if an artist currently residing in the Czech Republic is selected, bringing total compensation to $13,000.
• Finalist honorarium: $200 to each finalist upon timely submission of a complete concept design.

• Initial deposit (50%) — paid upon mutual execution of the artist agreement and final committee approval of the mural design. This disbursement supports travel arrangements, material acquisition, and project mobilization.
• Final payment (50%) — paid upon completion of the mural, thorough site cleanup, and final sign-off by the project committee.

Timeline

• Submissions accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Now open
• Deadline for past work and application materials: October 31, 2027
• Finalists announced: November 2, 2027
• Finalist concept designs due. $200 honorarium paid for timely submission: November 18, 2027
• Artist selection: November 23, 2027
• Mural completed and site cleanup finished: May 1, 2028

How to Apply

The opportunity is open to individual artists and artist teams in the United States, the Czech Republic, or elsewhere. Submission of past work is required for consideration; there are no additional eligibility restrictions.

Questions  

Direct all questions to:

Jeff Sackrider jeff.sackrider@gmail.com  or

Ed Klimek edklimek@sbcglobal.net