Application Closed
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Eligibility: Regional
State: Missouri
Budget: Location #1 $50,000; Location #2 $40,000
The University of Missouri (MU) System invites artists to apply for public art projects for its Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building. MU seeks artists or artist teams who currently reside in or have lived, studied, or worked in the state of Missouri to create new site-specific art for two spaces on NextGen’s first floor, one with a $50,000 budget, the other with a $40,000 budget. The project is being implemented as part of the NextGen Precision Health Public Art Initiative. At this time, artists should submit qualifications only, not a design proposal. Once finalists are selected, they will be invited to create design proposals and will be paid a stipend that is separate from the commission amounts. Application materials must be uploaded before 11:59 pm CST on April 25, 2023.
EXISTING ARTWORK ON-SITE AT NEXTGEN
In anticipation of NextGen’s 2021 grand opening, new media artist and MU School of Visual Studies faculty member Katina Bitsicas created works using photographic digital transparency prints of cancer cells. Installed in a large light box wall that greets people at NextGen’s main entrance, Bitsicas’ inspiration was her father’s cancer diagnosis and eventual death. Other images by Bitsicas are incorporated on three sides of a glass-walled meeting space, also on the first floor.
Four signed and numbered lithographs by Romare Bearden, from his The Jazz Series, are on view in a lower-level waiting room, with a small photography exhibit planned for a nearby MRI waiting room, also on the lower level.
A series of photographs by Columbia artist Kelly Coalier, highlighting the strong lines of NextGen’s exterior and its architectural detailing, are installed on the second floor, in conference and meeting rooms, and hallways.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Spanning four stories and 265,000 square feet, the NextGen Building in Columbia, Mo., is the single largest research investment on the University of Missouri’s (MU) flagship campus. NextGen unites the MU system’s four public research universities, University of Missouri Health Care, MU Extension, and private partners, in a shared goal: precision health solutions for some of our society’s toughest diseases.
At its core, NextGen is a collaboration of researchers, clinicians, industry partners and campus-wide collaborators working in a state-of-the-art research facility. Inside the building, crucial lab research is underway to discover new and life-changing interventions, medicines, technologies, and treatments, specifically designed to improve an individual’s health based on their unique genes, environment, and lifestyle. This approach is called “precision health.”
As construction of the NextGen Building was underway, a set-aside was established for site-specific public art on the main level of the building. Two interior areas that are most accessed by the public, an alcove seating area and a reception/greeting entrance area, will be addressed. Once installed, the completed works will enhance NextGen for both visitors and employees, engaging them in the space and promoting the connection between public art and public health.
See: The NextGen Precision Health Institute and the University of Missouri - YouTube
And: One Year of NextGen Precision Health at Mizzou - YouTube
Also: Welcome to Mizzou - YouTube
PROJECT SITE
The NextGen Building is located on the University of Missouri (MU) campus, in closest proximity to the MU Health Care hospital system’s buildings, including a new Children’s Hospital that will open in 2024. Situating the medical structures together facilitates significant clinical and research collaboration. Additionally, NextGen is within walking distance of the nearby Veterans Administration Hospital, MU’s softball complex, its football stadium, and basketball arena.
Inside NextGen are a variety of educational and meeting resources; wet and dry laboratory space; a Clinical Translational Science Unit for clinical trials that involve human study participants; a Siemens Healthineers MAGNETOM Terra 7-Tesla (7T) MRI scanner, the only one of its kind in Missouri; in-building access to PET/CT, Cryo-EM, and high-resolution electron microscopy; data analytics spaces; and clean rooms for tissue engineering and device fabrication.
WHAT IS PRECISION HEALTH?
Precision health, as a goal, is the promotion of health and wellbeing by utilizing individualized and targeted investigation, interventions, and treatments based on a person's unique genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. As an approach, precision health leverages advancements in genomics, data analysis, and other technologies to better understand the complexity of diseases and deliver more personalized care. The approach seeks to conduct research differently and to be inclusive of a diversity of perspectives from the start. Key to the mission of the NextGen precision health initiative is to engage those most often left out of biomedical research, and to include marginalized and under-represented populations, those who have limited access to the health care system, and historically disenfranchised groups (rural, poor, recent immigrants, uninsured, women, etc.). Importantly, diversifying research teams through the inclusion of experts in the arts, humanities, engineering, data sciences, and other fields brings lived experience and scholarly enrichment to the pursuit of improving health and wellness for all.
PROJECT INSPIRATION & GOALS
Just as the concept of precision health seeks to personalize treatments for patients, the goal of the planned public art in the NextGen building is to make the space uniquely appealing, interesting, and uplifting for viewers, many of whom are patients, as well as for the more than 200 clinicians, faculty, researchers, and support staff working in the building. Artists with ties to the state of Missouri (those who are currently living in or have previously lived, studied, or worked in Missouri), will be commissioned as a way to connect the eventual art to the space. Additionally, once under contract and in their design phase, artists will learn about the work underway in the building so to encourage subject matter that relates to the concept of precision health, specifically how the human experience is improved by wellness and wellbeing.
Successful designs will be complementary to the building’s interior spaces and materials as well as art already installed in the building.
PHYSICAL LOCATION DESCRIPTIONS – see Site Plan Attachment for Appendix with images of each location
LOCATION #1: First Floor Alcove – total not to exceed $50,000
- general measurements: 53”H x 18’1” W, which will this fill the entire space above the seating area, or 46”H x 18’1” W will allow for art work approximately 7” from top of headrest
- a long hallway extends from the alcove seating area, providing an additional opportunity to expand the impact of the art
This location is west facing with moderate to high natural light due to NextGen’s glass exterior walls in the area. Public bench seating is located below this space. Site-specific art could fill the entire space above the seating or there could be some allowance for open space directly above the headrest. Because of west facing floor to ceiling windows with significant direct exposure, works in metals, glass, ceramics/mosaics need to be in this location; no works on paper or canvas will be considered.
LOCATION #2: First Floor Reception/Greeting Area (south entrance) – total not to exceed $40,000
- general dimensions: 10’H x 19’W which would “frame” art under existing signage
- a hallway area extends from the main wall area detailed above, providing an additional opportunity to expand the impact of the art
This location is an east facing interior wall with moderate natural light due to a nearby glass door entrance and glass exterior wall to the south. It is a common wall to a seminar meeting room and donor recognition signage is installed directly above the dimensions listed. There are two options for addressing this space -- site specific art could be "framed" under the donor recognition signage, or it could fill the wall with additional length down the hallway.
BUDGET
The preliminary budget for each location is listed above. The amount for each must include all artist fees, insurance, materials, fabrication, installation, etc. There is a set-aside for some additional lighting fixtures, as needed, and interpretive signage that is separate from the art budgets and will be the responsibility of the commissioning body.
Regarding insurance coverage, commissioned artists shall maintain general liability insurance coverage of $1 million per occurrence during the contract period; the officers, employees, and agents of The Curators of the University of Missouri are to be Additional Insured with respect to the project to which these insurance requirements pertain. This type of coverage is generally easy to obtain as a rider through existing policies. Proof of insurance will not be required until artists are selected and are executing their contract.
Application Requirements
ARTIST SELECTION PROCESS
NextGen’s Committee on Public Art (COPA), comprised of art professionals, and NextGen researcher and staff representatives, will review applications received, and select finalists to be move forward for interview. All eligible applications will be advanced to the COPA for review and scoring based on the project’s stated selection criteria.
Qualification Review Process
The NextGen Committee on Public Art (COPA) will review artist qualifications and select three to five (3-5) finalists for each site to create concept proposals. Artist qualifications will be reviewed by the COPA based on the following criteria:
- artistic excellence and innovation as demonstrated by past work and material submitted
- understanding of project and ability to create artwork that responds to project goals
- ability to meet project timeline
- ability to create artwork that provides interest in public spaces and engages viewers through multiple visits as demonstrated by past work and submitted application materials
Finalist Review Process
Finalists will be paid a stipend of $1,000 to attend a virtual orientation, develop a site-specific concept proposal (including renderings, narrative description, draft budget, and timeline), and present it to the COPA. The COPA will review concept proposals and recommend their selection to MU administration representatives, including the President of the University, the Dean of the School of Medicine, and NextGen’s Executive Director. Any in-person visits will be subject to public health conditions.
Finalist proposals will be reviewed by the COPA based on the following criteria:
- degree to which the proposed concept responds to the public art goals
- demonstrated artistic excellence, high quality, innovation, creativity, and clarity of vision in concept proposal and presentation
- demonstrated understanding of the site, including how artwork will be viewed from multiple vantage points
- proposals should not include copyrighted or trademarked images and should not reference other art or use images of any specific contemporary or historical Missourian
If none of the submissions received meet all project goals, the COPA reserves the right to continue the review and selection process.
CONTRACT, FABRICATION & INSTALLATION
Once artist and concept selections are complete, contracts will be executed. A detailed timeline from artists will be required as a contract attachment. When the contract is signed, the selected artists will receive a notice to proceed. Artists will work with project staff to schedule timely installation of works.
TENTATIVE TIMELINE
- RFQ posted: February 28, 2023
- deadline for applications: April 25, 2023
- finalists notified: May 2023
- finalists' interviews (virtual): June 2023
- contracts executed: summer 2023
- TBD: commissioned artists submit developed designs, final approval of designs occurs, and notice to proceed is given
- TBD: installation(s) and dedication
TO APPLY
Follow the instructions for submission, upload the required images and files, and submit.
Artists may apply for either project or for both and will be prompted to indicate such in CaFÉ's application form.
For technical questions about the submission process, visit: https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/ or click on “Help” on the CaFÉ website. University of Missouri staff and public art consultants managing the project cannot assist with technical questions about CaFÉ.
All materials are due before 11:59 pm CST on April 25, 2023. Late applications cannot be accepted.
Eligibility Criteria
ELIGIBILITY
This is an open call to artists 18 years and older who currently reside in or have lived, studied, or worked in the state of Missouri. Applications from all eligible artists, regardless of race, sex, gender, religion, nationality, origin, or disability, are encouraged.