It needs to say “Bainbridge is the gateway to the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.”

Or, it can reflect that Bainbridge has a history intertwined with logging and maritime pursuits.

And it should show the people, a mixture of cultures who call Bainbridge home.

Those are some of the themes that the community has said they want to see in the public art that is placed at the Waypoint.

Last week, the Bainbridge Island City Council gave the go-ahead for Arts & Humanities Bainbridge to solicit proposals for public art to be placed at the Waypoint, at the corner of Highway 305 and Winslow Way.

The council previously set a budget of $45,000 for public art at the site which is the formal entrance to downtown Bainbridge near the ferry dock. Approximately 75,000 people pass through the point annually.

Barbara Sacerdote, of Arts & Humanities Bainbridge, which is overseeing the project, said about 50 people attended a public meeting that addressed possible themes for the artwork. Results showed that residents want “the art to be more than a reflection of Bainbridge Island. It can reflect Bainbridge Island as a gateway to the West sound regions of the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas.”

The art can include the images of the area’s original people, the Suquamish, its important logging and maritime heritage and the World War II internment of its Japanese-American community, it was summarized. The art also should be easily visible and lighted at night.

The exact location for the art at the Waypoint has not been determined.

The next step is for artists to submit letters of interest that tells about their background and two or three preliminary sketches of what they are proposing. A jury will select three finalists. Those three works will be presented to the community and from that, one artist will be chosen to create the work at the Waypoint.

The council was told that applicants will be limited to artists from the Pacific Northwest.

Councilman Val Tollefson reminded other council members, that in light of recent issues surrounding the selection of an out-of-state firm to craft a new city logo, he thought it was prudent to keep the artist local.

The council’s action last week is its last “say” in the project. The final decision of what artwork is selected will be that of the judges who will be selected by Arts & Humanities Bainbridge.

The Public Art Committee, a committee of Arts & Humanities Bainbridge, decided to appoint seven voting members to the jury, Sacerdote said. Bill Baran-Mickle, the PAC chair, and Carl Sussman, also a PAC member, will act as non-voting co-chairs of the jury. Both are artists.

“We have sought a mix of professional artists and curators, an architect, landscape designer, art collector, and neighborhood stakeholder,” she added.

To date, the jury has John-Paul Jones, the architect of The Waypoint, Greg Robinson, executive director of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and artists Gayle Bard and Maggie Smith. The committee is working to confirm the final three jurors.

For more about submitting a proposal, email Eliza Lane at ElizaL@ahbainbridge.org. The deadline is Aug. 21.