The Cedars-Sinai healthcare organization and the Cedars-Sinai Advisory Council for the Arts are requesting artists and artist teams based in the greater Los Angeles area to submit qualifications to be considered for a public art project. The project will be located at a new Cedars-Sinai healthcare facility currently under construction located at the intersection of Mindanao Way and Lincoln Blvd in the Marina del Rey neighborhood.

Cedars-Sinai seeks to create a cheerful and uplifting landmark that reflects our values and mission for outstanding care to our communities while adhering to the rigorous standards set for our art collection by our Advisory Council for the Arts. This project will be open to a wide variety of artistic styles and approaches that will be informed by a set of guidelines provided by the project team.

The purpose of the request for qualifications is to streamline the artist selection process. By applying, a small number of qualified professional artists (3-5) will be selected and invited to create a proposal for a permanent large-scale outdoor two-dimensional ceramic tile/mosaic wall installation. The dimensions for the artwork are approximately 16’ high x 120’ wide. 

The Cedars-Sinai Advisory Council for the Arts and the Arts Program enhance patient care by creating a visually focused healing environment composed of appropriately themed museum-quality works of art. Such an environment, in a medical setting, complements health care by creating an attractive, stimulating, spiritual and inclusive atmosphere for the benefit of patients, their families, visitors and staff.

Guiding Principles for the Project

1. Create an artwork and atmosphere conducive to and appropriate for a healing environment.
2. Suggested considerations are, but are not limited to: nature, cheerful, uplifting, colorful, and inclusive.
3. The artist or artist team must be open to conversations and community engagement to receive feedback and direction.
4. Artwork design must be sensitive to avoid triggering content, colors, and shapes.
5. The artwork design should consider the site specificity of the project location, the environment and focus of the healing nature of the facility.
6. Artist and Art Selection Criteria.
7. Artist experience and qualifications relevant to the scale of the project.
8. Artistic merit, high-quality and unique design.

Decision Behind Material Selection – Ceramic tile/mosaic (or similar) as material for this large-scale two-dimensional wall mural was chosen for its unique properties to meet the following requirements:

1. Probability of successful completion of the project.
2. Compatibility with the site, e.g. function of site, size and materials.
3. Compliance with all safety requirements.
4. Requires low maintenance and low-cost repairs and/or replacement.
5. Stands up to Los Angeles coastal weather.

Application Requirements

To be considered, a complete application must include:

• Artist resume demonstrating a minimum of five (5) years of professional visual art experience (no student work). If submitting as a team, a current resume should be submitted for each team member (compiled into one document). A biography will not be accepted in place of a resume. Please limit the resume to a maximum of 2 pages with information focused on what is most relevant to this project.
• Artist statement/biography (150 words of less) that explains the artist or artist team’s practice.
• Statement of interest describing (600 words or less):
  1. Why you are interested in this project.
  2. Previous experience with public art and/or large-scale projects
  3. Your connection (if any) or interest in Cedars-Sinai.
  4. Please describe your experience with projects that include community engagement.
  5. How you believe your art will enhance a Los Angeles community-minded leader in healthcare that has a reach that is global.
• References that include the names and current contact information for three (3) individuals with whom you have worked for, or collaborated with, that can speak to your abilities to execute a large-scale public art project. References will be contacted for artists invited to develop a proposal for the commission.
• Six (6) to ten (10) Images of your original completed artworks, not proposals, which demonstrate your qualifications for the project. 3-D models, sketches, or drawings will not be accepted. Upload images or video of completed work samples. Some of the samples should show the artists ability to execute large-scale public works of art. Examples of work submitted must be original, recently completed artwork (within the last 10 years). Each artwork must contain only one image with only one view of the work. Multiple views per artwork or unexecuted conceptual projects will not be considered and may disqualify your submission.
• You must include a corresponding list for the images of the samples submitted that includes: the title, medium, dimensions, project budget (price), year completed, location, and a brief description.
• (optional) Up to 3 documentation videos of artwork examples may be submitted if video best describes the artwork. The videos should be documentation of artwork and not video artwork itself. Please include video samples as links to videos and not actual video files.

Eligibility Criteria

This call for artists is open to professional artists 18 years of age and older, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identification, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical ability. Artist teams may apply and must designate one artist as the lead contact. 

Selection Process

A review committee will evaluate each applicants’ qualifications and create a short-list of artists to be considered for the project. Once the short-list is established, the project committee, made up of key stakeholders and leadership of Cedars-Sinai and the Cedars-Sinai Advisory Council for the Arts, will invite a small number of qualified artists and/or artist teams to submit a proposal based on the project guidelines.

The artist or artist team selected to complete the project will be expected to take direction from the committee and Cedars-Sinai leadership to make all adjustments to the design as needed. Cedars-Sinai reserves the right for final approval(s) of the artist’s or artist team’s design.

The final project completion date is expected to be Spring 2026.