Riverbend Public Art CommissionCedar Rapids, Iowa Apply to an open call

Public art in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

We commission, document, and care for the city's public art.

Murals, sculpture, and temporary installations — reviewed by the Commission, entered in the public registry, and inspected over the years that follow.

See open artist calls Browse the mural registry
A large painted mural covering the brick wall of a downtown building
A commissioned wall, Cedar Rapids
Mural registry
The public record of every commissioned wall in the city.
Artist calls
Open opportunities for artists, listed here as they post.
Grant guidelines
The numbered handbook for applicants, read in order.
Conservation
Condition reports filed after each inspection visit.
Sculpture tour
A walking route through the sculpture the Commission has sited.

File 01 — Mural Registry

A card index of every wall we have commissioned.

Each mural in the city gets a card: where it is, who made it, what it is made of, and what condition it is in today. The registry is the public record — you get the whole entry, not a summary.

  1. 01

    Location

    Street address, wall orientation, and surface material — so a conservator knows what they are looking at before they arrive.

  2. 02

    Artist and credit

    Who made the work, who commissioned it, and the credit line that should appear beside the piece.

  3. 03

    Condition

    Notes from each inspection: stable, watch, or act. Paint lifts, grime, and graffiti all get written down.

  4. 04

    Status

    Commissioned, installed, or under review — the current state of the work, kept up to date.

The registry is public. If you are researching a wall, planning a conservation visit, or writing about a piece, start here and pull the full record.

File 02 — Artist Calls

Open artist calls, listed as they post.

New calls appear here as sites are confirmed. Each listing states the site, the budget line, and how the review runs.

  1. 01

    Mural calls

    Walls offered by building owners, checked for surface, sunlight, and scale, then opened to artists.

    Posted when a wall is confirmed
  2. 02

    Sculpture calls

    Permanent and temporary siting on public ground — from a plinth in a park to a season-long loan.

    Posted when a site is confirmed
  3. 03

    Temporary installations

    Short-run work that comes down again, with a conservation note filed either way.

    Posted when a site is confirmed

File 03 — Grant Guidelines

The handbook, in order.

Grant guidelines are not a leaflet. They are a numbered handbook, and it is read in sequence — one section at a time, the way it was written.

Read it in order.
Sign at the end.
Keep your copy.

  1. 01

    Scope

    What the grant pays for, and what it does not. Start here.

  2. 02

    Eligibility

    Who may apply, and who has to put a signature on the application.

  3. 03

    Site review

    How the Commission looks at the wall, the ground, or the plinth before anything is approved.

  4. 04

    Budget

    Line by line, including fabrication, installation, and the cost of caring for the work later.

  5. 05

    The record

    What you file once the work is finished, so it enters the registry properly.

  6. 06

    Conservation

    What happens to the piece in the years after, and who is expected to keep an eye on it.

File 04 — Sculpture Tour

The tour folds out. The condition sheets stay put.

A contemporary sculpture in a riverside park catching evening light
Sculpture tour — walking route

The tour gathers the sculpture the Commission has sited across Cedar Rapids into one route you can walk in an afternoon.

  • Start — riverside park
  • Stop two — downtown plaza
  • Stop three — library lawn
  • Finish — riverfront
A stop on the sculpture tour
A conservator's gloved hands cleaning the surface of an outdoor bronze sculpture

Condition report

File 05
Object
What it is, what it is made of, and where it stands.
Condition
Rated at each visit: stable, watch, or act.
Treatment
Cleaned, patched, or recoated — and what was used.
Next review
When the next inspection is scheduled.
Filed after each conservation visit

File 06 — Apply

Put something on the record.

If you have a wall, a form, a material, or a plan, the Commission wants it in writing. Read the call, fill in the form, and let the paperwork do its job.

Start an application Read the grant guidelines
A temporary art installation lit at dusk in a city park with people walking past
A temporary installation, submitted and approved