Calls for Submissions

Request for Proposal
ft3 Architecture, Landscape, Interior Design, and Grace Hospital are presently seeking an indigenous artist to provide Birchbark Biting artwork for the new Indigenous Cultural Room at Grace Hospital.

As part of a renovation project, the intent is to commission an artist to provide either existing artwork(s) or create new artwork(s) to create a pattern for a vinyl wall covering that will wrap around the Cultural room. Refer to the following for the overall design concept, description of artwork and wall pattern parameters.

Design Concept
The Indigenous Cultural Room at Grace Hospital is made up of two (2) parts: Waiting Room & Cultural Room. The scope for the artwork requested in this RFP will be solely for the interior of the round cultural room. The intent is for the round room walls to abstractly reflect the hide of an animal through the flesh of the birchbark; the strong bite marks creating a subtle, yet impactful pattern around the room. The hope is for the room itself to tell a story through the art that wraps around you in a space that is for ceremony, healing and overall wellness at the hospital. Therefore, things that will be important to creating the overall pattern will be: scale, pattern layout and colour.

How to Respond to this Proposal

If you will be responding to this proposal, please submit a proposal response to Lindsay Imlah at imlah@ft3.ca by April 25th, 2026, 12:00 PM CST. Please include the following information in your proposal response:

a. Your artist CV or resume;
b. Photographs of your work or photographs of any similar projects you have worked on;
c. A description of any previous experience working with a healthcare organization or on public art. For example, do you have experience working with other people on generating themes, ideas, or content when creating art? Have you worked on commissions? How would you work with Grace Hospital in developing a final image for the wall covering pattern?;
d. Your approach to creating the artwork, including materials, given the parameters listed on the following page; and
e. Your availability (time and location) to work on the project. For example, will you be away for any length of time during the project? Are you currently working outside of Winnipeg and would you be available to travel into Winnipeg for meetings OR would virtual meetings be easier for you? Are you available to meet (in-person or virtually) with ft3 and Grace Hospital during the day to collaborate and coordinate the artwork?

Artwork & Wallcovering Pattern Parameters

1. Scope of Work:
   a. To create, or provide an existing birchbark biting artwork pattern that will be printed onto a vinyl wallcovering installed, wrapping the rounded walls of a new Indigenous Cultural Room. This room may be used for rituals such as smudging, cedar bath and other healing practices.
   b. The artwork(s), whether existing or new, must be photographed in order to create a digital file for printing of the pattern. It will be digitally printed onto vinyl wallcovering with a 52-54” width. The pattern will be to a realistic scale of the natural element of the bark itself.
   c. This initiative will be a collaborative effort between ft3, Grace Hospital Foundation and the artist. ft3 & Grace Hospital Foundation are open to the artwork being a collaboration between artists and the proposal can have multiple artists included to complete the patterned wall covering. Note, that the Artist fee is for the artwork or collection of artworks to create the pattern and not per artist. Please factor this in to your proposed fee below.
2. Artist Fee (Budget)
   Included in the Budget:

• Please provide us with your Artist Fee for the digital print of an original artwork. If applicable, your fee should factor in the cost for art materials and photography of the artwork.
  Not Included in Budget:
• Vinyl Wallcovering – vinyl wallcovering substrate and printing of the photographed artwork onto vinyl wallcovering by the manufacturing company, Koroseal Digital Substrates, is included in the Construction Contract
• Cost of installation. Construction Contractor to install vinyl wallcovering
• Meetings, Travel or accommodations, if required

Production
Scale:

• Please see below for a Floor Plan, Elevation and 3D Rendering of the Cultural Room. Note that the 3D rendering was used for conceptual presentation to Grace Hospital in order to better understand the design intent and is in no way the final product. You will also note there is artwork indicated on the ceiling of the room and this will be sourced through a separate RFP.

Photography:

The original artwork must be photographed so that the digital file meets the following requirements:

1. Jpeg, AI or PDF
   1. 300 dpi @ 1/4”, Vector or Tiff

Manufacturing:

–     The photographed artworks will be stitched together to create a pattern to scale

Timeline

• The pattern will then be transferred onto vinyl wallcovering at scale by Koroseal Digital. Koroseal will print out the graphic onto 52-54” wide rolls.
  • Samples of the wall covering substrate will be provided to the artist after award of contract
  • Koroseal will require the digital pattern file to be in a vector format, minimum 300 dpi
  • Koroseal’s art department will panelize and colour correct the work.
  • The wall covering is composed of a vinyl substrate with white colour base and satin finish. Koroseal offers different substrate textures, which the artist will be allowed to advise on.

Award of Contract – 05/01/2026

*Start Up Consultation Meeting – 05/05/2026

*Digital File Required – 07/10/2026

*Progress Meeting – 07/31/2026

*Installation of ceiling – 08/28/2026

*Dates, aside from the Award of Contract, can be subject to change. Ft3 will make sure to communicate any changes in date and collaborate with the artist on the availability of meetings or critical dates.

Other

• Grace Hospital will not own the original artwork, that will belong to the artist.
  • Grace Hospital will be allowed to include photographs of the composed pattern in their public relations, marketing, annual report or any other documents and website as part of their typical public discussion of the services that they provide or in their day- to-day business or special events.The artist shall be allowed to reference their artwork(s) in relation to the overall wallcovering pattern installation in their CV, and also reference the Grace Hospital.
  • The artist is allowed to reproduce original artwork if it was created specifically for this RFP.

About Grace Hospital

Grace Hospital is one of the three acute care centres in Winnipeg, and sees patients from all areas of the city and beyond. Grace Hospital is a full service facility, with and Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit, 24-hour emergency surgery and a full spectrum of medicine and surgery programming.

This culturally safe space for the practice of Indigenous Ceremony and Medicine at Grace Hospital is designed to assure that Indigenous patients have access to their medicine traditions while in-patients. Ensconced in the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, such spaces are vital to assure health equity for all. Such traditions as smudging, cedar baths and drumming will occur in the space, as they cannot be readily accommodated at the bedside. This critical project is being entirely funded by Grace Hospital Foundation.

About ft3

ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design provides full architectural, landscape, and interior design services for academic, health and wellness, complex multi-family housing, and corporate office environments throughout western Canada. ft3 was established in 1975 and is headquartered in Winnipeg.