WESTPORT — The stewards of the town’s art collections have issued a call for large-scale artwork to be displayed at the town’s Bedford and Coleytown middle schools.

Artists are asked to submit pieces to be considered for a nine-month loan at each of the schools, through a partnership of the Westport Arts Advisory Committee and the Westport Public Art Collections Committee.

The goal, according to a publicity statement for the project, “is to help stimulate discussion and connect with art and other subject-area curricula in the middle schools. In addition to Westport public schools faculty and administrators, we aim to involve students in the selection process and in developing school tours, programs, and interviews with the artist[s] hosted by the schools’ news outlets.”

In 2021, an installation of artwork by Eric Chiang at the recently reopened Coleytown Middle School served as a pilot for the program. Chiang’s “Are We Born Connected?”and “History of Civilizations” were selected after students and teachers voted on three proposed works. Chiang installed the pieces in the renovated main stairwell for display through last June. 

The committees, with newly submitted artwork, plans to continue the program this year.

Paintings, photography, textiles or other two-dimensional media will be considered, and should be suitable for an audience of middle-school students, generally 11 to 14 years old.

In order to be considered, artists must submit a short proposal by email to westpac@westportps.org by Sept. 23. Plans call for the selected work to be installed in late October to early November, and exhibited through the end of the academic year next June.

At Bedford Middle School, the artwork will be displayed in the library/media center (dimensions, 9 feet high by 14 feet wide).

The piece selected for display at Coleytown Middle School will be installed in the main stairwell (dimensions, six feet high by 19 feet wide).

For additional details about the criteria to submit art for consideration and the selection process, contact Kathie Bennewitz, Westport’s town curator, or Ive Covaci, WestPAC chair, at westpac@westportps.org, or Nancy Diamond, WAAC chair, at WAAC@westportct.gov.