The Art in State Buildings Program at the University of Florida will commission an artist or artist team to create a site-specific work of art for the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Studies in St. Augustine, FL. The sites for art are both interior and exterior and all appropriate media will be considered. Of particular consideration for exterior works of art is the location on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Matanzas River (Intercoastal Waterway). It is prone to hurricanes, high winds, flooding, and salt air.

The total budget for this project is $100,000 for finalists’ proposals, creation, and installation of selected work of site-specific art. Finalists will receive an honorarium to create and present a site-specific proposal. The total amount of each honorarium will be determined based on the number of finalists (up to 4), and the total amount available for all honoraria cannot exceed $5,000. The final art budget is between $95,000-$98,000.

Location: UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Studies, St. Augustine, FL

Art Budget: The art budget is between $95,000-$98,000.

Honoraria: Finalists will receive an honorarium to create and present a site-specific proposal. The total amount of each honorarium will be determined based on the number of finalists (up to 4), and the total amount available for all honoraria payments cannot exceed $5,000.

Art Selection Timeline: Applications due Oct 13, 2023, finalist notification Nov 2023, and proposals due Feb 2024.

Sites for Art:

The Whitney Marine Lab is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Matanzas River (Intercoastal Waterway). It is prone to hurricanes, high winds, flooding, and salt in the air. 

The Whitney Marine Lab will be the public interface for the sea turtle research lab and hospital. The building will host K-12 school groups visiting the space, as well as University visitors.  The lobby will also be a site for research presentation. 

The committee is equally considering a single installation or an installation with multiple pieces of art throughout the available locations. 

Materials are important: plastic is not allowable (unless there is an educational reason).

All available sites for art are listed. It is not expected that all sites will receive art for the available budget.  All appropriate media will be considered for each site. 

Sites are not listed in priority order.  All sites are being considered equally.   

Dimensions are provided via the linked document along with elevations, floorplans, and renderings. 

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kci90rdy44up2sy1m8veq/UFASB_Whitney_CTA_Sites_for_Art_FINAL_sm.pdf?rlkey=3bx2f4tu8eama61d2px6r7ks6&dl=0

Exterior: 

Grassy Area: Vehicular and pedestrian traffic passes the grassy area to the southwest of the building’s entrance.

Saltwater Pond: Vehicular and pedestrian traffic passes the saltwater pond to the south of the building, just west of the south facing entrance.  The pond holds the brackish “out system” water from the labs.  Aeration is needed in this pond and art could participate in this process. 

Bioswale: to the north of the building and accessible through the lobby.  This area is dry unless there is a rain event.

Exterior Wall: Southeast corner of building. Wall material is ground face CMU.    

Interior:

Floor: there is opportunity for embedded art within the polished concrete floor. 

Ceiling: there is opportunity for suspended art, particularly within stairwell opening. 

Double Height Lobby Wall: prominent two-story gypsum board wall visible from both floors. 

Selfie Wall: There is opportunity at this freestanding gypsum board wall. 

Stair Guardrails: opportunity for artist designed railings. Interior railings are currently steel. Exterior Railings are stainless steel.     

Informational Text:

University of Florida:

Located in the heart of North Central Florida, the University of Florida (http://ufl.edu) is one of America’s premier public Universities and is the first Florida school to break into the list of top 10 best public universities, coming in at No. 5, according to the 2019 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings.  The University of Florida is one of the largest universities in the United States and students from more than 100 countries attend UF’s 20 colleges and 100 interdisciplinary research and education centers and institutes. 

UF has a 2,000-acre campus and more than 900 buildings, including the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum- certified building in the state of Florida. 

Whitney Laboratory for Marine Studies:

Whitney Marine Lab is home to 3 UF Colleges and has a public interface with the sea turtle hospital serving K-12 with educational programming.

The Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, a fulltime University of Florida research center founded in 1974, is currently made up of eleven faculty-led research laboratories with more than 70 researchers and staff. The campus is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine, Florida. In June of 2021, Lord Aeck Sargent (LAS) and TTV Architects were selected to design and document a new laboratory building for the institution. The new Marine Research Institute Building will provide research labs, a sea turtle research center and hospital, offices, and an educational display area. These buildings shall continue the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory’s commitment to the sustainable development of its campus. The building shall primarily house various researchers, administrators, students, and staff.

Florida’s Art in State Buildings Program:

The Art in State Buildings (ASB) Program acquires artwork for new public facilities built with state funds. The program requires that up to .5% of the construction appropriation be set aside to acquire artwork for permanent display in, on or around the facility.

Since the program began in 1979, more than 1,000 works of art have been purchased or commissioned for Florida public spaces. You'll find them in nearly every Florida county, in locations such as state office buildings, Department of Transportation complexes, Department of Health facilities, courthouses, throughout state university and college campuses.

Application Requirements

A brief letter of interest describing why your artwork is appropriate for the project and how the submitted images relate to the project requirements. Artists may also briefly describe their history, training, and experience.

Current professional resume/CV, with emphasis on public art experience. For full consideration, your submitted resume/CV MUST demonstrate that you meet at least 2 of the listed criteria. 

Ten (10) to 20 digital images of artworks- The first five images will be seen in the initial blind review.  Do not provide images with the Artist name or watermark. Our program requires a “blind” review.  Only artwork with sound or motion may be submitted as video or audio file. Up to 6 video or audio files may be submitted and each file counts as an “image” in the 20 allowable. 

Eligibility Criteria

Artist has met at least two (2) of the following:

• The artist’s works are included in private, public, corporate or museum, collections;
• The artist has received awards, grants or fellowships;
• The artist has completed other public commissions on a similar scale;
• The artist has participated in exhibitions at major museums or galleries.

For full consideration, your submitted CV MUST demonstrate that you meet at least 2 of the listed criteria.