The City of Sacramento’s Office of Arts and Culture Art in Public Places program invites professional artists and artist teams to apply to create and install a permanent sculpture along the Sacramento River as part of the Robert T. Matsui park improvements.
The park will soon be home to a 1.5 acre cherry blossom park – also called a Hanami Line – along the Sacramento River in Robert T. Matsui Park.
“The proposed project location for the public art in Robert T. Matsui Park is a major focal point of the Hanami Line park improvement design,” said the City’s Art in Public Places Manager Donald Gensler. “This beautiful public space will represent both a welcome community gathering place and a memorable destination spot for Sacramento visitors.”
The Hanami Line public art project is one component to several improvements to the city-owned park. Features of the updated park will include 100 “Pink Flair” cherry blossoms, native and drought tolerant landscaping, lighting, ample seating with an area meant to host festivals and the new public art.
Due to the location, the new art will be at least 20 feet in height and will have some relationship to trees. The selected artist will work with project stakeholders to learn more about this project’s background and goals from which the artist will design, fabricate, and install the new artwork.
Artists will be selected by a review panel. All eligible applicants must be experienced professional artists with proven examples of past exterior public art projects.
The application process is open to artists internationally, but artists within California, the Sacramento Valley region, and artists with a connection to Japanese culture and history will be given additional consideration in the panel review process, according to staff.
Applications close March 6. An online information session will be held on Wednesday Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m.
Interested artists can learn more on the City’s website.
The project is funded through the Sacramento Tree Foundation, City of Sacramento, Caltrans Clean California Grant, commitments from UC Davis Health and philanthropic gifts from individuals. The upgrades to the City of Sacramento park is expected to be completed summer 2024.