Call to Artists | West Valley HOLA Collaborative 2027

Overview

Municipal public art programs across six West Valley municipalities (Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Surprise, and Tolleson) are seeking professional and emerging Arizona artists and artist teams to create site-specific public art projects through the Highlighting Our Local Artists (HOLA) collaborative. Each selected artist or artist team will receive an individual project budget of $10,000. Projects vary by municipality and include temporary outdoor sculpture, interactive installations, banner designs, park-based artwork, an indoor installation incorporating approved sound-absorbing materials, and temporary public art within a downtown corridor.

Theme

The theme for the 2027 HOLA series is Light. Artists may interpret light through illumination, refraction, shadow, reflection, movement of the sun, transparency, or other conceptual or symbolic approaches.

Project Requirements

Projects are generally intended to have a minimum lifespan of two years, with requirements varying by site. Community engagement is required. Selected artists will work with their assigned city to develop an engagement strategy appropriate to their project and community. Engagement may include workshops, conversations, surveys, pop-up activities, or other creative approaches.

Eligibility

• Professional and emerging artists and artist teams in Arizona

Application Materials

• Three narrative responses of up to 200 words each addressing artistic practice, experience and qualifications, and interest/community practice
• Four to six digital images or short videos of previously completed artwork (concept images will not be accepted)
• Work sample information including materials, location, dimensions, year, collaborators or commissioning bodies, whether the work is studio/temporary/permanent, and context for the selection panel
• Current professional résumé/CV, limited to two pages per artist (teams must combine all team-member résumés into one PDF)

Key Dates

• Artist Networking Event and HOLA Q&A: September 23, 2026, 6–8 p.m. at Desert Diamond (includes networking, panel with past HOLA artists, overview of opportunity and application guidelines, and representatives from participating cities)
• Submission deadline: October 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Arizona Time

Selection Process

Applicants may select all project opportunities for which they would like to be considered. Each participating city will review applications according to its internal artist-selection process, after which West Valley partners will coordinate final artist placements. Selected artists will contract directly with the commissioning municipality.

Apply

• Learn more and apply online: https://westvalleyaz.culturalyst.com/opportunities/5e2042e9-165f-425c-994d-dac73184c93f