The city of Asheville’s parks, recreation and cultural arts department announces two question-and-answer forums about its first-ever “Art on Transit” bus graphics program.

The forums will be Wednesday, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. to noon and Thursday, Dec. 17 from noon to 2 p.m. at the bus garage on 360 W. Haywood St.

Interested artists will have the chance to take photos and measurements of the buses as well as pose questions to Diane Ruggiero, superintendent of cultural arts.

All area artists are invited to submit artwork for the city’s first “Art on Transit” bus graphics program. The juried competition, which will award a $750 honorarium to each of the three selected artists, offers area artists the opportunity to display their work on a unique and highly visible canvas: the exterior of a City of Asheville bus.

The selected designs will cover both sides of three separate transit busses.

Interested artists should submit original 2-D images, which can include (but are not limited to) photographs, computer generated designs, paintings, prints and drawings.

The City of Asheville welcomes submissions from artists of all backgrounds and levels of experience.  Applicants must be at least 18 years old and currently live or have studio space in Asheville, Arden, Black Mountain, Oteen, Skyland, Swannanoa, and Woodfin.

The application deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 5 p.m.  All application materials must be submitted online through CaFÉ™ at http://www.callforentry.org.  There are no fees for artists to apply or to use the CaFÉ™ online application system.

For more information about application requirements and other competition details, contact Diane Ruggiero at 259-5815 or druggiero@ashevillenc.gov