The international Vantaa light rail art competition begins. The competition will take place in two stages. The aim of the competition is to create an impressive and lasting artwork, which will become part of the day-to-day travel experience at a busy traffic hub. Tikkurila station is one of the most important locations of the Vantaa light rail.
Vantaa Light Rail Art program invites artists to submit their artwork proposals to the Tikkurila light rail station's open international competition. The competition will take place in two stages, and the first stage is open until 16:00 on May 29, 2026.
The Aim is to Acquire a High-Quality, Unique and Long-Term Artwork or Collection of Artworks
The competition is being jointly organized by the City of Vantaa’s Urban Environment Department and Vantaa Art Museum Artsi. The aim of the competition is to create an impressive and lasting artwork, which will become part of the day-to-day travel experience at a busy traffic hub.
Tikkurila station is one of the most important locations of the Vantaa light rail. It brings together the light rail, train and bus traffic and the area’s services. With the help of art, the city aims to create a recognizable look for the station, strengthen its unique identity and make travel a memorable part of the urban experience.
The competition’s location is the connecting corridor leading from the Dixi bus terminal to the underground light rail station as well as the recesses in the walls of the platform area. The competition is looking for artistically ambitious and innovative proposals that take into account sustainable development, accessibility and the demanding technical and operational preconditions of the station environment.
Anonymous, International Two-Stage Competition
In the first stage, 3–5 proposals will be awarded, and three of these will be invited for further development. The final winner will be selected in fall 2026.
The applicant or at least one member of the working group must have a vocational qualification in the arts that was completed either in Finland or abroad, proven experience of several years of work as a professional visual artist (for example, awarded grants, works in collections or public spaces or exhibition activities) or membership of a national artist association.
The implementation budget for the art is €300,000. The implementation budget covers all implementation costs of the artwork. Upon completion, the artwork will be added to the art collection of Vantaa Art Museum Artsi. The implementation of the artwork is scheduled to begin in 2027, and it will coincide with the construction of the station.
The competition is part of the broader Vantaa light rail art project, which aims to make high-quality public art a part of the new urban structure and strengthen Vantaa’s identity as a city of public art and culture.
Selection Committee
The selection committee consists of the following members:
Pekka Timonen, Mayor, Vantaa
Sami Ylisaari, Director of Cultural Services, City of Vantaa
Jarno Köykkä, City Engineer, City of Vantaa
Pekka Leskelä, architect, architecture firm HKP
Pauliina Kaasalainen, Art Museum Director, Vantaa Art Museum Artsi
Heli Lukkarinen, Public Art Curator, Vantaa Art Museum Artsi
Kaisa Berry, Vantaa Light Rail Art Curator, Maanlumo Oy
Hertta Kiiski, artist member (chosen by Artists' Association of Finland)
Anni Laakso, artist member (chosen by Artists' Association of Finland)
The competition secretary is Vantaa Light Rail Art Coordinator Mia Erlin from WSP Finland Oy. The competition’s contact person is Vantaa Light Rail Art Secretary Miira Virtanen from WSP Finland Oy.
Competiton Schedule
The competition has two stages. The first sta ge is organized as an open competition. The award committee will choose 3–5 proposals, which will each receive a prize of €4,000. However, a unanimous committee has the right to determine the sum of the prizes in other ways than stated here.
Schedule for the first stage:
January 20, 2026: Competition starts
January 30, 2026: Submission of questions to the competition organizer ends
February 16, 2026: Answers to the questions are published on the project’s website at https://www.artsimuseo.com/vantaanratikantaiteentaidekilpailu
May 29, 2026 at 16:00: The first stage of the competition ends, by which time the proposals must be submitted online
June 22, 2026: Publication of the results of the first phase and invitation of the chosen works to stage two
The second stage of the competition is an invitational competition, to which the competition committee will invite 3 artists or artist groups from among the winning proposals of the open competition. The invited artists or artist groups will be paid an invitation fee of €4,000 each. The invitation fees are paid against an invoice, provided that the proposal has been submitted in accordance with the competition’s instructions.
Schedule for the second stage:
June 23, 2026: Stage two starts
July 3, 2026: Submission of questions to the competition organizer ends
July 10, 2026: Answers to the questions are delivered to the invited artists
September 18, 2026, at 16:00: Deadline for stage 2 submissions
October 19, 2026: Competition decision and publication of results
The competition rules can be found here: Vantaa Light Rail Art - Tikkurila station