Trail Conservancy and city pick nine artists for Tempo '25 along Butler Hike‑and‑Bike Trail

The Art in Public Places program and the nonprofit Trail Conservancy confirmed nine artist projects selected for Tempo '25, a rotating public‑art program along the Anne and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail.

Jaime Castillo, manager for Art in Public Places, introduced the Trail Conservancy's presentation and said the partnership was intended to pilot returning art to the trail after the city adopted an arts and culture plan in March 2023 that lifted a 10‑year moratorium on trail art. "We entered into a partnership to run the Tempo program," Castillo said, and staff will take final designs through city review before installation.

Mandy Thomas, chief marketing officer at the Trail Conservancy, said the selection process this year drew 113 applicants, up from 43 in the first round. A panel pre‑screened submissions for eligibility and returned roughly 40 proposals for committee review; nine artists were chosen. "We were excited to have a 113 applicants this round," Thomas said. "We ended up taking about 40 back to our committee for discussion, and a total of 9 were selected." Selected artists include Jasna Bedard, Enfold Collective, Jamal Hussein, JC King, Thomas Lemanski, Victoria Marquez, V Go, the team of Priscilla Lustig and Steve Krombock, and Seth Prestwood; alternates named were Adam Owens, Jared Rosenacker and Daniel Trellenberg.

Thomas said selected artists are working on final designs that will be reviewed by a technical advisory group composed exclusively of city staff — including parks maintenance, watershed protection, and public works — to ensure material durability, floodplain avoidance and environmental safety. "They will move into fabrication once that is signed off on, which we anticipate being later this month or in December," she said.

City staff and the Trail Conservancy plan a compressed installation schedule this year: rather than phasing two pieces per month, the program will install the works within two to three weeks so the city can host a large public launch. The target window for installation is February–March, with the goal of completing installations before South by Southwest; staff said simultaneous installation will allow a single coordinated launch and programming series.

The Trail Conservancy said the Tempo call was designed for emerging artists and evaluated on artistic merit, contextual relevance to the trail and community impact; the program also sought to broaden access by moderating minimum artist requirements where appropriate. Thomas said offices held open houses and outreach, and that applications and outreach materials were provided in Spanish.

Next steps: artists will finish final designs, undergo technical review and, if approved by the city, move to fabrication and installation. The AIPP panel expects to review final designs and the Arts Commission will receive contract approvals as needed for projects that exceed staff thresholds.