Background
Kingston Creative is a registered non-profit organization founded in February 2017. Its mission is to enable Caribbean creatives to succeed so that they can create economic and social value, gain access to global markets and have a positive impact on their communities.
In 2018 Kingston Creative launched a project called Paint the City which seeks to develop Street Art Murals throughout Downtown Kingston, with the ultimate vision of making Downtown Kingston an Art District and Creative Hub in furtherance of the UNESCO Creative City designation. To date 49 murals have been created, two with Augmented Reality (AR) functionality.
The Duke Street Refurbishment Project (DSRP) and the Kingston Restoration Company (KRC) received funding from the Tourism Enhancement Fund, a Division of the Ministry of Tourism and have contracted with Kingston Creative in a venture to install a mural that will tell the historic story of Duke Street and the highlight the lives and stories of the people who lived and worked in this historical district. This is part of a wider DSRP initiative to develop an open air Walking Street Museum on Duke Street, with signage, sculpture and street art.
The Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) is providing the southern wall of its parking lot, located at the south-eastern corner of Duke Street and Tower Street, for the installation of this work. The mural seeks to incorporate historic themes from Duke Street such as Sailors’ Rest, Seat of Government, Legal District, Diplomatic District, Library of the Kingston Athenaeum and more. We are inviting visual artists to send in their proposals and designs to lead on the creation of this mural.
Duke Street, located in the heart of Downtown Kingston, is an integral and rich part of Jamaican history and hosts many historical sites and landmarks. Duke Street was named after the Duke of Gloucester, son of Queen Anne of England. After the great earthquake of 1692, it became a fashionable residential street, boasting several Georgian houses. Today, it has a mixture of professional and commercial offices. We invite you to visit the documents in the Dropbox and read more (link embedded here to redirect to a document with more information on Duke Street) about this historic street, and learn about its past.
The KRC, DSRP, PAJ and Kingston Creative are excited to collaborate with local artists on this placemaking project which uses creativity and the arts to transform the space in which people lie and work, while memorializing the historical and cultural significance of Duke Street.
Project Details
Theme: The Story of Duke Street
Location:
Port Authority Parking Lot (formerly The Sailor’s Rest)
18 Duke Street (at the corner of Duke and Tower Street)
Dimensions:
4m high x 44m wide (15’ x 145’)
Submission Deadline:
Friday August 28, 2020 at 12:00 midnight.
Image of wall at the location:
