Call for Proposals: Cool Gardens 2025 Competition

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Cool Gardens 2025 invites proposals by individual artists/designers or teams for temporary garden installations, to be open to the public from July 5th to September 28th.

Presented by Storefront Manitoba, Cool Gardens is a design competition and curated public exhibition of contemporary garden installations that takes place across Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, within Treaty 1 Territory and the homeland of the Red River Métis.

For over 10 years, Cool Gardens has commissioned temporary installations by architects, landscape architects, designers, and artists that instigate curiosity and play, while promoting public engagement with designed landscapes. These temporary installations demonstrate how critical and poetic interventions in public space can meaningfully affect people's experiences of urban environments.

DEADLINE: March 9, 2025, 11:59PM CST
COMPETITION: up to five (5) new temporary garden installations
BUDGET: $2,000 CAD Honorarium (per team) + up to $10,000 CAD for
materials/fabrication/installation (jointly managed with Storefront Manitoba)

ESTIMATED SCHEDULE:

January 28, 2025: Call for Proposals released
March 9, 2025: Deadline for submissions
March 24-30, 2025: Timeframe to contact winners
April 15, 2025: Detailed design documents submission + review
May 2025: Fabrication period
June 2025: Installation period (exact dates determined per site)
July 5, 2025: Media event and launch party
September 8, 2025: Decommissioning The Leaf Indoor Garden site
October 2025: Closing and decommissioning

ELIGIBILITY: This Call for Submissions is open to local, national, and international teams and individuals consisting of designers, architects, landscape architects, and/or visual artists. Individuals may be students, interns, or practitioners. Multiple submissions are permitted.

Storefront Manitoba is committed to representing the diversity of people living in our region. We welcome submissions and self-declaration from underrepresented groups including Indigenous Peoples, Women, Racialized Peoples, Persons Living with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQQIA+ Peoples, and Newcomers.

Full competition details here: https://www.storefrontmb.ca/cool-gardens

Download the information related to this competition here.

• Title

  Call for Proposals: Cool Gardens 2025 Competition

• Type

  Competition Announcement (Built Projects & Masterplans)

• Website

  https://www.storefrontmb.ca/cool-gardens

• Organizers

  Storefront Manitoba

• Registration Deadline

  March 10, 2025 05:59 AM

• Submission Deadline

  March 10, 2025 05:59 AM

• Venue

  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

• Price

  Free