WATSONVILLE >> The arts all around Watsonville can be seen through its various murals and sculptures, as well as the creative spirit of its residents who work or moonlight as painters, musicians, poets, filmmakers and more.

As the city works through its Watsonville Arts Plan, which seeks to increase the amount of public art around town, it is also seeking material for campaigns to promote all that Watsonville has to offer artistically. These include establishing a visual identity for Watsonville arts through a logo and smaller icons, and creating a promotional trailer highlighting Watsonville as an arts haven. The city has released a request of qualifications for both, which can be submitted through Feb. 10.

Last summer, Watsonville began mobilizing its Watsonville Arts Plan, with the goal of implementing a public art program that highlights the city’s heritage and culture while providing a vision for expanding further through programs and events. Throughout this process, stakeholders mentioned elevating the presence of arts and culture in the city as a project objective, according to the request for qualifications document by project consultant team Designing Local.

“As an initial measure to achieve this goal the City of Watsonville is releasing a call for qualifications with the intention of selecting a local artist to design and develop a new identity for Watsonville Arts,” per the document. “This will include the development of one primary logo and a series of simpler icons representing the various arts most important to Watsonville community members.”The request for qualifications is not a call for art or artwork concepts, so interested parties should not submit concepts. Instead, they are being asked to submit a brief statement of interest and portfolio, not to exceed 10 pages, highlighting prior artwork examples in the field of digital graphic media. The Watsonville Arts Plan committee will interview finalists and make a selection by Feb. 10 when the application period closes.

On Feb. 15, the selected artist will be notified, and Designing Local will give them the latest community engagement report from which they will be asked to draw inspiration.

“It is a strong desire that the Watsonville Arts identity be reflective of the wider community vision for the Arts in Watsonville and that it serves to elevate and create more visibility for all Watsonville,” Designing Local officials wrote.

The draft concept will be due March 15 and the final package April 30. The selected finalist will receive $1,500, a quarter of which will be paid upon the signing of the contract and the remaining 75% of which will be paid after the final deliverance is accepted. More information can be found at Watsonville.gov/2512/Artist-Opportunities.

The city is also releasing a call for qualifications for filmmakers to create a promotional video highlighting the diversity of Watsonville arts. Interested applicants can submit a brief statement of interest and portfolio, not to exceed 10 examples of video content they have created. The document may contain links to view their videos on a hosted platform such as YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox or any other video or file-sharing website. Video concepts are discouraged.

The application period for filmmakers closes Feb. 10, and a finalist will be selected by Feb. 15. Once a finalist is chosen, they will be asked to present a storyboard and production schedule for the planning group to review and approve before any content is made. The video will be between 90 seconds and 2 minutes, and feature the Watsonville community engaging in the arts. It may also feature b-roll that showcases different public spaces, artwork and community landmarks. The finished video will be featured on the Watsonville website and social media.

The storyboard and production schedule will be due March 10 and the final video May 15. The selected finalist will receive $2,500, a quarter of which will be paid upon the signing of the contract and the remaining 75% of which will be paid after the final deliverance is accepted. More information can be found at Watsonville.gov/2512/Artist-Opportunities.