About Teton County/Jackson

Teton County/Jackson is located in western Wyoming and is a gateway community to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Bridger-Teton National Forest. Teton County is over 76,000 acres, of which 97% is federally owned. Tourism is the driving force of the local economy, and sales tax is the primary funding source for local government services.  Approximately 65% of the sales tax base comes from visitors.  

Teton County has approximately 25,000 residents, of which 8,000 of those are in the town of Jackson. Jackson is the only incorporated town within Teton County. A significant number of the residents in Teton County are second homeowners. According to the 2012 Teton County/Jackson Comprehensive plan, the common values of community character are: ecosystem stewardship, growth management, and quality of life.

About the Teton County Community Wellness Center

Teton County/Jackson Parks and Recreation Department operates as a County agency under a Joint Powers Agreement between the Town and County. Department Funding is split between the County at 55% and the Town at 45% based upon the 2020 Census on residential population distribution. The department also partners with the Teton County School district through a shared facility use agreement.

The facility serves both residents and visitors, with the visitor population making up 40% of the facility's guests. On average, the current facility serves approximately 65,000 users per year. With the expansion of health and wellness and indoor climbing, it is projected to increase by approximately 2.2 times or 140,000 users per year. Of the local users, 15-20% are Latinx. 

 Building Design

The design intent for the addition at Jackson Recreation Center is a nod to the Teton mountains, only a short distance away from the project site. The mass of the addition is represented as a large gray box, the fiber cement panels are stacked horizontally to mimic the sediment layers found in rock strata. The solid mass is interrupted by a copper/core-ten material that is folded and compressed as it wraps around the box.  This ribbon slides through the cracks in the mass and slides into the building at the main entrance and view corridor to the north, forming a canyon carved into the building. The two opposing materials create a sense of permanence and movement, much like the landscape of the surrounding Tetons. The stakeholders do not want artists to propose installations for the canyon walls.

Project Description

Teton County Parks & Recreation seeks an artist or an artist team to create one or more than one project within the budget listed and spaces described herein. The artwork should welcome visitors, celebrate the benefits of living an active and healthy lifestyle, inspire physical activity, and create a sense of community wellbeing and connectedness. 

The stakeholders may also consider locations not described in this RFQ but they do not want to include artwork on the walls that are part of creating the “canyon” effect. 

Locations and areas identified for artwork:

• Main interior entrance
• Hall wall leading to the climbing gym
• North stairwell, 2 story window area
• 2nd floor wall along the running/walking track

Art Goals/Criteria Goals

The artwork for the new Community Wellness Center should meet the following goals:

• Welcome visitors
• Celebrate the benefits of living an active and healthy lifestyle
• Inspire physical activity
• Create a sense of community wellbeing and connectedness

Media/Style/Size

The artwork must be made of durable lightweight media that requires little to no maintenance aside from annual cleaning. Artwork should be able to be touched if it is within touching distance to passersby. The artwork should be site-specific and properly scaled to the architecture of the building. Artwork should be visually integrated into the overall design of the space. The building is designed for users of all ages and abilities and the artwork should inspire and engage with a wide range of ages, backgrounds and abilities. If proposing a mural, the artist should use professional grade materials and will be asked to paint a protective clear coat over the mural to expand its lifespan.

Qualification Review, Artist Selection, and Fabrication Process

One to three artists (or artist teams) whose qualifications best fit the project goals will be invited to create site-specific conceptual designs. 

From this group of finalists, one artist or team will be hired to refine their concept based on community and stakeholder input and to create a Final Design. The Final Design will be reviewed by a Wyoming licensed engineer and the project’s design team. Once approved by an engineer, the selection panel, and the project’s stakeholders, then the artist will be contracted to fabricate and install their work.

Artist qualifications and submittals will be reviewed by a stakeholder committee including, TCP&R staff, community volunteers, and design professionals that will assess the submissions based on the criteria defined in this document.

TCP&R reserves the right to reissue this RFQ, or not to fund the project if Final Design concept is not approved by the selection panel and the stakeholders.

TCP&R and Jackson Hole Public Art are equal opportunity employers.

Qualifications Review Criteria

1 to 3 Finalists will be invited based on their qualifications to design a concept. Finalist’s qualifications will demonstrate:

• Artistic merit, originality and creativity expressed in examples of past projects
• Professional experience working on projects of similar scale, budget, and technical design
• Responsiveness expressed in the Letter of Interest and ability to undertake the design, creation, and installation within the timeline
• Demonstrated ability to work with stakeholders and community groups

Concept Review Criteria

• Artistic merit, originality
• Concept meets the goals outlined in this RFQ
• Artwork celebrates community values
• Expert use of materials
• Appropriateness of materials, style, and scale in relation to the site
• Demonstrated ability to respond to stakeholder input
• Artwork is low maintenance and durable

Budget

Concept Design: 1 to 3 artists whose qualifications best fit the criteria listed herein will be given a stipend of $1,000 to develop a detailed conceptual proposal that lists all proposed materials, the desired installation method, and the concept behind the design.

Final Design: Once a conceptual proposal is selected, then the artist will be awarded a fee of $15,000 to create the Final Design, adjust the Final Design based on stakeholder input and engineering review, and to develop a complete set of construction drawings that have been reviewed and approved by a Wyoming Licensed engineer.

Commission: Once the Final Design is approved then the artist will be awarded a commission fee of $80,000 to cover fabrication, materials, shipping, contract labor, installation, insurance, travel expenses necessary to complete the project, final documentation, maintenance plans, and any incidental expenses.

 One artist may propose more than one project however as long as it can be completed within the budget listed herein not to exceed the total listed budget above.

The artwork will be owned, insured, and maintained by TCP&R. There are no funds available to support project overruns, the artist is responsible for delivering the proposed artwork within the budget and should build their budget accordingly.

2022 - 2024 TIMELINE      (subject to change)

RFQ released August 2022

Information session on zoom - September 15, 3:00 pm MST

Carrie Geraci is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Teton County Wellness Center Expansion Public Art
Time: Sep 15, 2022 03:00 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)

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RFQ submissions are due on September 30, 2022, 5pm MST

October – Submissions reviewed by selection panel and stakeholders.

November – 1-3 finalists notified and conceptual design agreements issued.

2023

February 1, 2023 – Conceptual designs due.

February 2023 TBD -  Concepts presented to TCP&R selection panel, stakeholders, and public.

March 2023– Finalist selected.

April – June 2023– Final design and construction drawings developed and engineering review completed.

July 2023 - Final design approval and commission agreement issued.

August – December 2023– Fabrication, progress checks, final inspection.

2024

January 2024 – The artist will be kept informed of the optimal installation time to install their artwork in coordination with construction schedule. January 2024 is currently the estimated time. 

Application Requirements

Jackson Hole Public Art will facilitate the selection process and the RFQ will be hosted by the Western States Arts Federation CAFÉ. There is no cost to register your profile on CAFÉ and you can update it at any time. To register, visit www.callforentry.org.  CAFÉ provides artists with an easy-to-use system to create a profile with contact information, to upload digital images of their artwork, and to apply to a number of open calls for entry at one time.

Please label your attachments with your name, not the name of the project, and the title of your artwork.

 For example: Smith.Tom_Wildflowers.pdf

Letter of Interest: The letter should articulate your interest in this project in particular and ability to work within the timeline and to conduct community engagement. Please limit the letter to 500 words or less, no more than one page.

Images of Work: Please provide 6 images of previously created art that specifically relates to this opportunity. For best results, images should be sized to 1920 pixels maximum on the longest size, 72 dpi, and with compression settings resulting in the best image quality where the file size remains under 2MB.

Resume: A two-page (maximum) current, professional resume. If a team is applying, please share lead artists resume.

References: 3 to 5 current references from people you have recently worked with in a professional capacity.

Eligibility Criteria

Prior experience working on projects of similar scale, budget and complexity is highly encouraged.

Artists living in the United States.