Professional artist and artist teams are invited to submit letters of interest and qualifications for the creation of site-specific artwork(s) at the Utah Tech University General Classroom Building in St. George, Utah. Utah artists and artists of historically underrepresented populations are strongly encouraged to apply. This project is a partnership of the Utah Public Art Program of the Division of Arts and Museums, in association with the Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) and Utah Tech University (UT). Click here for the full RFQ.

GENERAL CLASSROOM BUILDING

Realizing Utah Tech’s polytechnic vision, the 120,000 square foot, four-story classroom building will serve as the southeast anchor for the campus. Along with other General Education classes, the building will house all five departments of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS): Applied Sociology and Criminal Justice; Communication; English; History, Humanities, and Modern Languages; and Psychology.

Coupled with the new Science, Engineering, and Technology (SET) building, the Human Performance Center (HPC), and the Holland Centennial Commons (HCC) library, this new building speaks to UT’s rapid growth and its role as Utah’s only regional polytechnic university. The building embodies our mission as an open, inclusive, comprehensive, polytechnic university that celebrates human-centered approaches to solving complex problems.

Problem-solving requires more than familiarity with technology; it requires critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. The building spaces foster these critical, creative, collaborative approaches. For instance, four key centers focused on problem-solving through collaboration and community outreach will move into the new building:

1. The Institute for Race, Gender, and Identity, which provides opportunities for students to complete research and for faculty to build academic content that address issues of race, gender, and identity
2. The Humanities Center, which foregrounds the humanities and social sciences in the context of a polytechnic university, the development of faculty and staff members, and the engagement of the university with the broader community
3. The Institute of Politics and Public Affairs, which serves the campus and community as a hub for civic engagement, student leadership, and public policy education and research and which seeks to inspire students to pursue careers in public service by connecting them with policymakers, politicians, activists, and academics.
4. The Institute of Social Research, which tackles real-world problems from a social science perspective while providing students valuable experience doing research.

The building also houses spaces dedicated to student-driven creativity:

1. The Southern Quill, a print publication, established in 1951, edited and designed by students that features poetry, short fiction, photography, and artwork created by Utah Tech students and St. George community members.
2. The Route 7 Review, an online publication that employs students as graphic design managers, book review editors, visual arts editors, fiction editors, creative non-fiction editors, and poetry editors.
3. The Sun News, a news website where the editor-in-chief, the section editors, the writing staff, photographers, and multimedia journalists are all Utah Tech students, giving them valuable journalism experience.
4. The language labs, including spaces dedicated to English as a Second Language (ESL) and American Sign Language (ASL), provide students with real-world experiences in second language acquisition, translation, and interpretation.

The new building will also feature two outward-looking “storefronts” that seek to engage and serve the community:

1. The Marriage and Family Therapy counseling suite, which is tied to the MFT graduate program
2. The Center for Diverse Minds, the anchor for a planned autism and neurodiversity space associated with the Psychology Department

The General Classroom Building will manifest every aspect of Utah Tech’s open-inclusive-comprehensive-polytechnic mission. The abundance of glass and emphasis on shared outside light welcomes engagement and shared learning. 

COMMITTEE STATEMENT
The Art Selection Committee is looking forward to working with an artist who understands the value of Utah Tech’s mission and the human-centered nature of the new building. Selected artwork should be engaging, inclusive, and welcoming.

The Committee has identified several areas that may be suitable for an artist’s interpretation, but will remain open to other areas as envisioned by the finalist artists. Please review the building site plans and renderings and consider the unique possibilities afforded by the building’s design. The following areas have been chosen as potential locations:

1. Interior 2-story lounge
2. Interior 2-story central concourse
3. West entry exterior plaza
4. Southeast exterior

UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY
Utah Tech University’s history goes all the way back to the settlement of St. George in 1857, when leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked 38 families to move to the southwest corner of Utah to establish a town and grow cotton. The encampment mall where these pioneers parked their covered wagons, raised their families, and taught their children school lessons is now the center of Utah Tech’s campus. When the community was ready for a more formal college in 1909, the LDS Church began construction on the institution, then called St. George Stake Academy. A true community effort, Washington County residents funded $35,000 of the $55,000 project that was built on the corner of Main Street and 100 South and opened September 1911.

As the institution continued to grow over the years, the community raised funds to purchase the six city blocks where pioneers first settled St. George, and moved the campus to its new home in 1963. In the late 1990s, Washington County residents appealed to the Utah Legislature, this time to petition for the addition of baccalaureate degrees to the college’s associate programs. Thanks to excellent leadership and tireless community effort, the college was granted approval to award bachelor’s degrees in business administration and computer science. The college continued to add baccalaureate programs and just two years after celebrating its centennial gained university status in 2013.

The University continues to grow and adopted a polytechnic approach to education starting in 2016 and master’s degrees in 2018. Today, Utah Tech University’s more than 200 academic programs offer transformative experiences across all disciplines – humanities, arts, education, health sciences, business, and STEM. Utah Tech University students learn by doing, take advantage of real-world learning through industry partnerships, and graduate career ready.

ST. GEORGE, UTAH
Utah Tech University is located in St. George and is an NCAA Division I institution. Located in southwestern Utah, it is the principal city of the St. George metropolitan area. The city lies in the northeastern most part of the Mojave Desert, adjacent to the Pine Valley Mountains and near the convergence of three distinct geological areas and eco regions: the Mojave Desert, Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, St. George had a population of 95,342. It is the seventh-largest city in Utah and most populous city in the state outside of the Wasatch Front. 

The Virgin River Anasazi were St. George’s earliest residents, inhabiting the area from approximately 200 B.C. to 1200 A.D. They left behind rock art and ruins of their dwellings. The reason for their departure is unknown to this day. The Paiute tribe arrived between 1100 and 1200 A.D., utilizing the area as a hunting ground for deer, rabbits, and other animals. The Paiutes also grew crops along the riverbeds, including corn, wheat, and melons. In 1776, the Dominguez-Escalante Party became the first recorded European-Americans to visit the area. Fur trappers and government survey parties followed.

St. George became the county seat of Washington County in 1863. The city was settled in 1861 as a cotton mission, earning it the nickname “Utah’s Dixie.” While the crop never became a successful commodity, the area steadily grew in population. Between 2000 and 2005, St. George emerged as the fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States. Today, the St. George region is well known for its year-round outdoor recreation and proximity to several state and national parks.

BUDGET
$166,000 is available for all related expenses of this Public Art commission(s) including (but not limited to) artist fees, fabrication, insurance, shipping, travel, installation, documentation, etc.

DEADLINE

Complete application packages must be RECEIVED on or before June 5, 2023 by 11:59p.m. MT

SELECTION PROCESS AND SCHEDULE
The Selection Committee will review all properly submitted qualifications from which a short list of semi-finalists will be selected. Semi-finalists will be asked to present a full proposal to the committee on August 2, 2023 to include concept, budget, and timeline. All semi-finalists will be awarded an honorarium to help defray the costs of the development of the proposal. The honorarium will be applied toward the commission amount for the artist(s) awarded the commission(s.) Utah Arts & Museums will not be responsible for applications delayed or lost. The Utah Tech Art Selection Committee reserves the right to withhold the award of a commission or re-release the call for entries.

Schedule:
June 5, 2023, 11:59pm MT – Deadline for receipt of preliminary materials

June 9, 2023 – Committee Review

June 16, 2023 – Finalist notification

August 2, 2023 – Finalists interviews and presentations

Fall 2024 – Project substantial completion

ART SELECTION COMMITTEE
Clint Bunnell, Project Manager, Division of Facilities Construction & Management
Todd Kelsey, Principal, Method Studio
Michael Lacourse, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Utah Tech University
Stephen Lee, Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Utah Tech
Paul Morris, Vice President of Administrative Affairs, Utah Tech
James Peck, Director and Curator, Sears Art Museum
Sherry Ruesch, Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management, Utah Tech
Richard Williams, President, Utah Tech

Please do not contact committee members with any inquiries. If you have any questions about this or other projects information is available at: publicart.utah.gov or contact: Hannah Barrett at hbarrett@utah.gov
 

Application Requirements

Register at www.callforentry.org and follow the directions for registration and submitting
material for this Public Art Request for Qualifications. The application process will prompt you for all necessary documents and information. This includes up to 10 images and/or up to 1 movie file of previous work, a CV or resume, and a Statement of Interest explaining your interest in the project and how your work might relate to the project. Faxed or e-mailed applications cannot be accepted.

To request an accommodation for a disability, please complete an Accommodation Form at least two weeks in advance of the June 5 deadline. Accommodation forms can be found at https://artsandmuseums.utah.gov/accessibility.
 

Eligibility Criteria

Professional artists and artist teams are eligible for this commission. Utah artists and artists of a historically underrepresented population are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants must have a U.S. Tax ID Number (SSN, EIN, ITIN, or other). Art selection committee members and immediate families, board members, and employees of Method Studio or Utah Division of Arts and Museums are not eligible for this project.