Wanderings: Delhi Park Entryway Public Art Request for Proposals

As a way to honour the history, present and future of Delhi Park, Prince Edward County’s Public Art program is undertaking a multi-year series of projects that will reside at the park's entrances. These public art projects will serve to reflect on the rich stories of the land, encourage folks into the park, and celebrate this beloved public space. The overarching theme for all of these projects is “Wanderings”. We are seeking artist and artist team proposals for the first project, sited at the Mary Street entrance to Delhi Park. 

Background:

Delhi Park (pronounced Dell-high) is a creek valley landscape located within the Marsh Creek valley watershed and nestled in the centre of the town of Picton, with access points on all sides to different neighbourhoods. It is a designated cultural heritage landscape within a 31 acre municipal park. The park itself is an active transportation route for people, and hosts a wide array of wildlife. Delhi contains connections to Picton Bay (through Marsh Creek Park), Glenwood and Mount Olivet Cemeteries, Picton’s main street via the Mary street parking lot entrance, and Nicholas street and Macaulay Village Park.

Marsh Creek’s headwaters begin south of Glenwood Cemetery, and run through Delhi Park and into Picton bay, the landscape that the park is on was formed as a glacial plain, and is now a floodplain. Pre-settlement this area was a marsh estuary and an Indigenous portage route, connecting Picton Bay to East Lake and West Lake and out to Lake Ontario. As Marsh Creek meanders through Delhi Park, so do humans, birds, turtles, foxes, and many other creatures. The lands the park is on have a long history with human intervention, around the time of the settlement of the town, the area was used for shipping and industry, Marsh Creek was formed and channeled by humans, and in the late 1800’s the park was a landfill. Additionally, the Mary street parking lot was the location of a large school that was in operation from the 1870s to the 1950s. The landfill closed in 1979 and Delhi was instated as a park in 1984. 

Much of the park has naturalized areas, with mowing across certain sections to allow for movement and invasive species management. There is a fenced in dog-park area, a community garden, a beloved toboggan hill, and many unmaintained walking paths through the park. In 2022, twenty native trees were planted and are stewarded by the community. The park has a very small playground, and has been identified as a site for future pickleball courts. Many community groups use the park for a wide variety of activities and it has been identified as important for bird migrations, and turtle nesting. Marsh creek receives stormwater drainage from Picton, and it supports a wide variety of animals and across its corridor including deer, fox, coyotes, and many other animals and creatures that are found in the park, and nearby cemetery.

Delhi is a hidden gem, and despite its many entrances, it can sometimes go unseen or unexperienced by visitors and locals. Signage for the park only exists currently at the Lalor/York st entrance, which is the only vehicle entrance to the park. Lighting and seating in the park are minimal.

As a way to honour the history, present and future of Delhi Park, Prince Edward County’s Public Art program is undertaking a multi-year series of projects that will reside at the park's entrances. These public art projects will serve to reflect on the rich stories of the land, encourage folks into the park, and celebrate this beloved public space. The overarching theme for all of these projects is “Wanderings”. 

Under the theme of “Wanderings” the first project will be sited at the Mary St Parking Lot entrance. We are seeking submissions from artists working in any medium with experience creating public artworks. What would you make to signal the entrance of a vast greenspace?

To review the call and guidlines click here.

The Site:

At the edge of a very busy parking lot, and a beloved tobogganing hill, this entrance has a birds-eye-view of the valley bowl of the park, with Marsh Creek, Mount Olivet Cemetery, the enclosed dog park, and the community gardens all within view.

Conditions for the finished work:

• As this is the site of a former landfill, no digging is allowed. 
• The work should have presence from the front of the parking lot, or is paired with a piece at the roadside. 
• This call is not limited to a specific medium, however as the site is in a well-used parking lot, and is used as a toboggan hill, applicants are asked to submit works that won’t disrupt any current uses of the space. 
• Finished artwork must be structurally sound, safe, and accessible and adhere to the Public Art Content Standards. 
                                                                                           

Artwork themes to Consider:

• History of the site/area (former school site, former landfill) 
• Natural heritage (floodplain, Marsh Creek, trees, water, creatures) 
• Active transportation (walking as a means to get somewhere, walking as a means to be somewhere)
• Community uses (Community Gardens, Recreation etc.)
• As this is an ongoing series of projects, we are asking artists to propose artworks that can be in dialogue with future projects

Artist Eligibility criteria:

• Experienced with the design and creation of Public Artworks. 
• Artist teams are eligible to apply

Questions / Application Assistance: If you have any questions or would like to request an alternative application (e.g. via Zoom interview) please contact Stacey Sproule, Public Art Coordinator, at stacey@countyarts.ca.

Application deadline is December 15th, 2026, at 5pm.

 

Letter of Intent:

Please explain your public art practice and interest in applying for this call, and which briefly outlines a concept for this work including materials required and any information about how the piece will be secured. 

For guidance, consider these questions: 

• How would you approach a project whereby digging is prohibited? What solutions have worked in the past for you with such a challenge?
• Please explain your experience with making public artwork in response to a natural environment with a complex and layered history, provide examples.
• What most interests you about this project, and why do you think your work is a good fit?
• Do you have experience making public art about any of the following- walking, birds, turtles, water, former landfills, greenspaces? Please give detailed examples.

The Prince Edward County Arts Council is committed to facilitating inclusion, representation, and participation by everyone who contributes to the diversity and plurality of our community. The Self-Identification Survey content is based on current self-identification survey best practices and developed in collaboration with our Artist Advisory Committee. The questions focus on several equity-denied groups who, because of systemic discrimination, face barriers that prevent them from having the same access to the resources and opportunities that are available to other members of society, and that are necessary for them to attain just outcomes (Reference - Government of Canada). Respondents may identify with more than one of these groups.

A reminder that participation is voluntary; in addition, we have also included a “Prefer not to respond” option for each question.

HOW WE USE THIS INFORMATION

For the purposes of this application, if there are multiple well-assessed applications of equal merit and insufficient space to accept all course proposals, applications from PEC residents, and then Bay of Quinte residents, will be prioritized. Following that process, self-identification information will be reviewed, and the applications of artists who self-identify as belonging to one or more of the Equity Priority groups in the Application Form will be prioritized. 

County Arts acknowledges the varying degree of equity-related challenges or barriers that equity-deserving individuals experience, and will ensure each application receives appropriate contextual consideration. 

For more info on our Self-Identification Framework and Equity Priority Policy see here.

For the purposes of this survey, a person with a disability is someone who has a long-term or recurring physical, mental, sensory, psychiatric and/or learning disability and considers themselves to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that disability, or believes that an employer or potential employer is likely to consider them to be disadvantaged in employment by reason of that disability. A person with a disability may also be someone whose functional limitations owing to their disability have been accommodated in their current job or workplace. (Reference - Employment Equity Act / CAUT Toolkit).

Do you identify as an Indigenous person? For the purposes of this Survey, “Indigenous” refers to people who self-define as a First Nations (Status or Non-status), Inuit, or Métis person. (Reference - Toronto Arts Council). We invite all Indigenous artists to learn more about our recently launched Indigenous Voices Fund on our website here.

Do you identify as a racialized person? For the purposes of this survey, a racialized person is a person, other than an Indigenous person, who is non-white in colour and/or non-Caucasian in race, regardless of place of birth or citizenship (sometimes referred to as “racially visible” or “visible minority”). (Reference - Employment Equity Act / CAUT Toolkit).

Do you identify with a non-cis gender identity (e.g. Trans*, Two-Spirit, Genderqueer**/Non-binary) and/or a sexual orientation other than Heterosexual/Straight (e.g. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer, Questioning, Two-Spirit, etc.)?
 
* Trans is an umbrella term that describes people with diverse gender identities and gender expressions that do not conform to stereotypical norms. It includes but is not limited to people who identify as transgender, transsexual, or gender non-conforming (gender variant, genderqueer), or an analogous term.   

** Genderqueer/Non-binary refers to individuals who do not follow gender stereotypes based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Non-binary is an umbrella term for gender identities that fall outside of the man-woman binary. People who are non-binary may or may not identify as trans. 

Reference: CAUT Toolkit

Thank you for applying! We appreciate your interest and the time you’ve taken to share your proposal.