Banner Submissions for Ukrainian Heritage Month
Closing Date of Opportunity: June 30th, 2025
Name or Organization: Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Ontario Provincial Council
Contact Email: info@uccon.ca
Website: https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/24u40
Post Content: In November 2024, the Ontario Provincial Government passed Bill 215 declaring the month of September in each year as Ukrainian Heritage Month. https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/24u40. To launch Ukrainian Heritage Month, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Ontario Provincial Council (UCC-OPC) is currently creating projects that will inform and share with the public the contributions of Ukrainian Canadians since the arrival of our first settlers in 1891.
UCC-OPC’s main project is to install a large, full-colour, illustrated banner on the highly visible side wall of a building in Toronto’s Bloor West Village at the corner of Bloor Street West and Jane Street. Bloor West Village has long been recognized as the heart of the Ukrainian-Canadian community in Toronto. The banner will include images representing and celebrating achievements in a selection of areas chosen by the artist, such as arts, industry, business, sports, community, agriculture, entertainment and finance, among other sectors.
These images will be interwoven with cultural motifs such as Ukrainian embroidery, the pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg), the bandura, and/or others. Suggested themes are provided in Appendix C, but artists are encouraged to do their own research as well. Political statements are to be avoided, and the focus should be on Ukrainian heritage and culture in Canada, especially Ontario. The goal is to create a vibrant focal point for Ukrainian Heritage Month.
The banner will be 18 feet wide by 16 feet high. The chosen design will be professionally printed in full colour on vinyl with a UV protectant. UCC-OPC will be responsible for the printing and the cost of printing. Given the size of the banner, it will be printed in three (3) pieces, each one being 6 feet wide by 16 feet high. The three banners will be affixed with screws to the site wall with no spaces between them to create one image. Artists are requested to submit a low-resolution preliminary version of their envisioned banner design. This can be in a sketch format, either black and white or colour. Please include notes on the final colour palette. The initial submission must be in the ratio of the final 18-foot by 16-foot design.
The artist whose design is chosen for the banner will receive a fee of $2,000 CAD upon submission of the final, ready-for-print version, and upon submission of an invoice for the work. The two short-listed artists will receive a fee of $250 CAD each upon submission of an invoice for the work.
Please submit design proposals by email to info@uccon.ca before or by June 30, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. ET. Please ensure that your file size does not exceed 8 MB including supporting material. The subject line of the email should read: “Ukrainian Banner” and the first and last name of the artist. Only one (1) submission per artist will be accepted.
Please submit your preliminary design as a low-resolution JPG file to a maximum of 5 MB in size. Each proposal submission must include the following: 1) Artist’s CV in PDF format. NOTE: CV must include the following at the top: a. Artist’s full name b. Artist’s complete address c. Artist’s email address d. Artist’s telephone number e. Website URL if applicable. (The lack of a website will not impact your submission rating.) 2) References: Please include contact name, title, organization/company, telephone number, and email address for two relevant references.