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City Gates, San Diego’s first large-scale public art project, has drawn more than 300 queries from throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, according to Joyce Selber, the city’s public arts coordinator.

Selber said that since notices went out in January inviting artists to submit plans for freeway-related sculptures, volunteers have put in more than 200 hours answering the replies.

San Diego artists can get a leg up on their out-of-town City Gates competitors if they attend one of four public forums this month, where the first two of seven freeway-related artworks will be discussed. Deadline for applications is March 22.

The forums will be at 7 tonight at Standley Park Recreation Center, 3585 Governor Drive; 7 p.m. Thursday at Lowell Elementary School, 1110 Beardsley St.; 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Memorial Recreation Center, 2902 Marcy Ave.; and 7 p.m. March 10 at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St.