Artists can submit their work in contest for permanent display in the Viking Union

To commemorate its 50th anniversary, Western’s student union building, the Viking Union, is holding a call for art and offering local artists the rare chance to have a permanent piece of art in a major public institution.

The piece that is selected will hang in a 28-feet-tall by 6-feet-wide space in the building’s main lobby framed by a large bank of windows that look north to downtown Bellingham, the Cascade Mountains and the Coast Mountains. More than 6,000 people pass through the Viking Union daily during the academic year.

The call for art is open to artists in Whatcom and Skagit county as well as all Western students, faculty members, staff members and alumni.

All proposals will be judged by a selection panel on the artists’ use of multiple perspectives available to the piece in its location, appropriateness of the medium, style and its incorporation of “community” into its theme, its artistic merit and comments made by the public during an open review.

Proposals are due by 4 p.m. Oct. 9, and the initial review will be held shortly thereafter. From Oct. 19 through 23, the selected pieces of artwork will be open to public review.

The final selection will be announced Nov. 1. Installation is scheduled for the end of December.

Submissions may be delivered to the Viking Union Administration Office in Viking Union Room 535 or mailed to:

Viking Union 50th Anniversary Committee, Attn: Greg McBride

Western Washington University

516 High St. MS 9106 VU 535

Bellingham, WA 98225

For more information on the proposal specifications and for a copy of the proposal application, please visit the Viking Union Web site.