Call to Artists: InterCHANGE 2026

Call for SubmissionsMarch 11 2026

Halifax Regional Municipality’s Temporary Public Art Gallery at Cogswell by IOTA

Image is of the transit terminal shelter with artwork from 2025 Interchange artist Zeta Paul, titled “Msɨt No’kmaq (All My Relations): Everything is Smiling”. There is a colourful illustration with an Indigenous man riding a pale pink unicorn in the foreground, wearing a war bonnet, full regalia, and a bow and arrows on his back. He is riding towards the viewer over a hill of green grass covered with mushrooms, teddy bears, lupins, and pink crystals. The unicorn wears a bejewelled harness and around its neck is a medallion with a Mi’kmaw double curve pattern. Over their heads are telephone wires draped across the landscape. The background extends far into the distance where there is a moose at the shoreline of a body of water surrounded by mountains embedded with the faces of Mi’kmaw women wearing peaked caps. On the horizon is a massive full moon rising, and a sun rising above it. Beyond the moon and sun is a high rise apartment building with clotheslines on the fire escapes, there are shooting stars in the sky and in the top left there is three floating red pixellated video game hearts.
Blue logo that says "Halifax"

Submission Deadline: March 11th 2026, 11:59 pm AST
Artist Fees: Opportunities range from $5,500 to $11,000

Download pdf

The Halifax Regional Municipality and IOTA Studios welcome artists based in Canada to apply for the second year of a temporary public art program within the newly redeveloped Cogswell District titled InterCHANGE. 

In 2025, HRM partnered with IOTA Studios to produce 55 temporary public artworks for the outdoor art gallery program and provided professional public art opportunities prioritized to Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian artists. 

IOTA Studios is a creative agency that supports writing, curatorial research, presentation, and cross-disciplinary artworks in new media, the web, visual, movement arts, and public art. They will be managing 49 additional temporary artworks set to launch Summer 2026.

Context

A new neighbourhood has been built– where the Cogswell Interchange once stood – designed to connect downtown Halifax with the north end and waterfront, creating a stronger, more inclusive network of communities. 

The Cogswell Interchange, which opened in 1970, was one of the early manifestations of an urban renewal plan to invigorate downtown development to keep pace with Halifax’s suburban growth. The Interchange was part of the planned Harbour Drive project, a high-capacity traffic corridor which was to stretch from the Fairview Overpass through downtown and south-end Halifax to eventually traverse the Northwest Arm via a new bridge. This was a controversial project, due to concerns from community activists, displacement of African Nova Scotian and Urban Indigenous communities and concerns from heritage and tourism sectors around preserving Halifax’s Heritage buildings. While the southern portion of the project started with the Cogswell Street Interchange which was opened in 1970, further construction of the expressway was halted due to public opposition and left unfinished. 

Through the Public Art Policy, HRM Regional Council provided direction to continue public engagement with Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities to finalize placemaking and commemoration aspects of the Cogswell District. In early 2024, HRM developed the community-led Cogswell Storytelling Project, which outlined how Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian storytelling would be accomplished in the Cogswell District. Both the Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian engagement reports noted that art and art opportunities for community play a critical role in incorporating community history and ownership into the redevelopment of the Cogswell District. The InterCHANGE program is an initial pilot project and not the full scope of the community commemoration program in Cogswell. 

Click here to learn more about the history.

Click here to learn more about the Cogswell District Redevelopment Project. 

Click here to learn more about IOTA Studios.

The Opportunities

Artists are invited to submit their applications to be considered for one of three opportunity sites listed below (Artists are welcome to apply to multiple opportunities, as long as they are eligible for them):

1. Granville Park Gallery Walkway

Artist Fee: $7,000 (exclusive of fabrication and installation costs)

This opportunity will support a vinyl mural on the walkway of Granville Park Gallery. 

*This work will be awarded to an African Nova Scotian Artist. African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies and contributions have enriched that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia for over 400 years, including 52 historic communities in Shelburne, Africville, East Preston, Annapolis Royal, Cherry Brook, Halifax, Sydney, Springhill, North Preston, and Beechville, to name a few. CLICK HERE more information from the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia. 

2. Banner Program (3 separate opportunities)

Artist Fee: $5,500 (exclusive of fabrication and installation costs)
This opportunity will support a series of vinyl banners installed on light posts within the newly developed Cogswell District. The artists may choose to create one design for both sides of each banner or a different design per side.

There will be 3 artists awarded this opportunity, and each artist will have 8-10 double sided banners to display their work. Once awarded this opportunity, the artist must provide at minimum 8-10 unique images. For this opportunity, we are looking for high contrast designs made for viewing at a distance.

This opportunity is open to all applicants and will prioritize artists from the following communities; African Nova Scotian, Mi’kmaw, 2SLGBTQIA+, and Disabled artists.

3. Transit Terminal Shelters

Artist Fee: $11,000 (exclusive of fabrication and installation costs)
This opportunity will support vinyl wraps to the glass panels of bus shelters within the newly developed Cogswell District. This work will cover the back panels of 3 bus shelters. The artist will have up to 18 total panels total to work with, spread across 3 bus shelters. For this work, we are looking for detail-oriented designs made for close proximity viewing.

*This work will be awarded to a Mi’kmaw Artist*

Art Opportunities Map

View map

Artist Selection Process

Artists are not required to provide concepts and designs at the time of application. If selected, artists will be required to provide a vector-based digital file of their artwork(s).  While we do not ask for design proposals at this phase, if accepted, we will consider previously created designs for these opportunities. Fabrication and installation of artworks will be installed and viewable to the public for a range of 4 months up to one year, depending on the art opportunity. These opportunities are designated for practicing artists, however, previous public art experience is not required. Artist selection, design, fabrication and installation process will be managed by IOTA Studios.

Selection Panel Process and Scoring Criteria

The selection panel for this call will consist of local artists and cultural workers, with members from our identified priority groups (African Nova Scotian, Mi’kmaw, 2SLGBTQIA+, and Disabled artists). There will be non-voting members from IOTA Studios and the Halifax Regional Municipality present during the selection process. The panel will be reviewing the applications in March, and based on the below scoring criteria.

 

  • Personal or Artistic connections to the sites  20%
  • Interest and future potential within the public art sector 20%
  • Overall quality of submitted works 50%
  • Suitability for a public outdoor gallery space 10%

How to Apply

Fill out the google form linked here: https://forms.gle/cf1WpsP5bGmZVMYv6 

Material Submission Requirements will include;

  1. Artist Bio (250 words)
  2. Artist Statement (250 words)
  3. Brief Statement on your interest in creating artwork for this site (250 words)
  4. Upload 1 pdf with 5 examples of previous artwork, including dates, dimensions, materials, and brief artist statement on your artistic approach and interests.
  5.  *Optional* Link to website or online portfolio (can include social media platforms)
Apply here

Timeline

  • Call to Artists goes public: February 11th 2026
  • Call to Artists closes: March 11th 2026 
  • Artists awarded: April 3rd 2026
  • Artists Designs completed: Mid-Late June 2026
  • Fabrication: July- August 2026
  • Installation: September 2026

If you have any questions, you can direct them to IOTA at malexander@iotainstitute.com 

(please note: applications will not be accepted over email and must be submitted via the google form link above.)

Site Images

Granville Park Gallery Walkway
Image of the site for the floor vinyl mural, which is a grey cement walk way. The area which is available for design is outlined in a yellow outline, with a loose rectangular shape.

Temporary vinyl mural on the sidewalk of the newly developed Granville Park Gallery, near 1895 Hollis Street.

Example of artwork from 2025 cycle. “Across the Deep Green Sea” by Letitia Fraser. Documentation by William Dicks

Banner Program
Image of 1 banner pole (with a few in the far background) along Barrington street. These banner poles are empty of banners, in their place are a yellow outline of where the banners will be placed which is in a triangular shape.

Each artist will be awarded 8-10 of the 45 banners spanning from the Scotia Square transit terminal shelters (1930 Barrington St.) to the new roundabout (2240 Barrington St.).

Image of 2025 Interchange artist Carmahn McCalla’s banner “Homegrown” which has a background of a blue sky with clouds. The banner artwork depicts a digital illustration of a Black woman with a deep brown skin tone against a purple background, with eyes closed. She wears a yellow v-neck shirt, gold hoops, coral lipstick, and has white eyebrows. Two white dandelions grow below her, and she has a short white afro that looks like a white dandelion.

Example of artwork from 2025 cycle. “Homegrown” by Carmahn McCalla. Documentation by William Dicks. 

Transit Terminal Shelters
Image of the Transit Terminals from the back of the terminal shelter. The image has a yellow outline that covers the 6 panes of glass which are available for artists to design artwork for.

18 total panels (6 per bus shelter, each bus shelter panel being 41 11/23” wide and 79  ⅛” tall ) on 3 bus shelters on both sides of Barrington St, in front of Scotia Square (1930 Barrington St.).

Image of an architectural drawing of the bus shelter panels which are available for an artist design. The drawing has dimensions on it, which read 41 11/23” rear panel, and 43 ⅞” rear panel. To the left, there is an outline height length which reads 79 ⅛” rear panel.

Image of an architectural drawing of the bus shelter panels which are available for an artist design. Some of the panels are 79 ⅛”H x 41 11/23” W, and some are 79 ⅛”H x  43 ⅞”W 

Image is of the transit terminal shelter with artwork from 2025 Interchange artist Zeta Paul, titled “Msɨt No’kmaq (All My Relations): Everything is Smiling”. There is a colourful illustration with an Indigenous man riding a pale pink unicorn in the foreground, wearing a war bonnet, full regalia, and a bow and arrows on his back. He is riding towards the viewer over a hill of green grass covered with mushrooms, teddy bears, lupins, and pink crystals. The unicorn wears a bejewelled harness and around its neck is a medallion with a Mi’kmaw double curve pattern. Over their heads are telephone wires draped across the landscape. The background extends far into the distance where there is a moose at the shoreline of a body of water surrounded by mountains embedded with the faces of Mi’kmaw women wearing peaked caps. On the horizon is a massive full moon rising, and a sun rising above it. Beyond the moon and sun is a high rise apartment building with clotheslines on the fire escapes, there are shooting stars in the sky and in the top left there is three floating red pixellated video game hearts.

Example of artwork from 2025 cycle. “Msɨt No’kmaq (All My Relations): Everything is Smiling” by Zeta Paul. Documentation by William Dicks. 

Apply here
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