Project Name: Artist for Adams County Arena Design Team

Project Number: 2023.067

Budget: $130,000

Budget includes all costs associated with Phase I of this project: Artwork Design for multiple interior and exterior locations. The design budget for this project is $130,000.00. Phase 2 -  Artwork Fabrication and Installation - will be added to the artist or artist team’s scope upon approval of full project (building and artwork) by the Adams County Board of County Commissioners. The selected artist or artist team will design to a fabrication and installation budget of $1,300,000.00.

The Phase I design budget of $130,000 includes but is not limited to artist fee, meetings, site visits, site surveys, community engagement, design work, material samples, renderings, maquettes, stamped shop drawings, fabrication and installation plans, consultants’ and subcontractors’ fees, insurance conforming to Adams County requirements, travel and transportation, and all other costs associated with design through permitting, the creation of construction documents and final renderings.

Open To: Professional Artists, national and international

Project Description

Adams County, CO seeks an individual artist or artist team to create fully integrated interior and exterior artworks for a new multi-use arena in Riverdale Regional Park in Brighton, CO. The arena will explore narratives around land, agriculture, and industry in the West. As a member of the design team, the artist(s) will regularly attend OAC meetings and closely collaborate with Adams County Cultural Arts, Global Design and Architecture firm, Populous, and the general contractor’s team, to be selected.

Opportunities include and are not limited to, interior and exterior: architectural elements, standing or suspended artworks, entryway and window installations, pavement and floor installations, wall-hanging artworks and wall installations, light-based and digital artworks, interactive installations, and static and kinetic artworks.

The Adams County Board of County Commissioners has approved building and artwork design. Once design is complete, the project will be presented to the Board of County Commissioner for approval to move forward with construction. The selected artist team will design to a $1,300,000.00 fabrication and installation budget, to be added to their scope upon full project approval.

Project Vision

Home to stunning nature spaces and lakes, the South Platte River Trail, the Adams County Animal Shelter and the Adams County Fairgrounds, Riverdale Regional Park is the jewel of the Adams County Parks system. Riverdale has a rich environmental and cultural history for artists to explore. The South Platte River winds through the park. Buffalo trails that once traced the Platte gave way to trading routes, the Pony Express, farm roads, railroads, and highways.

A drive across Adams County moves though industrial, urban, suburban, and rural areas. We seek artists who find beauty in both the gritty industrial cityscapes and the prairie. We ask artists to interpret Americana and the West, agrarian lifestyle, and the eastern plains of Colorado through a playful and contemporary lens. Arena artwork should celebrate the county’s past while looking to the future.

The 4,250 seat arena will host concerts featuring regional and national music acts, charreadas, livestock shows, 4-H activities, motorsports, conventions, trade shows and community festivals. The new arena will also host events and programs for the Adams County Fair, the largest county fair in the state. The Adams County Fair attracts 100,000 visitors yearly with 30,000 attending on the final day of the fair, Dia de la Familia. The new arena will be used by residents from all four corners of Adams and artwork should reflect the cultural diversity of the people who live here.

Given the high community impact of the new arena, engaging with the public will be an important part of this project. Artist community engagement will run in tandem with outreach about the arena as a whole. Public engagement can take many forms and will be developed by the selected artist(s) as fits their art practice and process. Artists are encouraged to engage the public creatively to generate a sense of excitement about the artwork.

The arena will be designed in a prairie-industrial style with materials referencing the agricultural history of the area. Click here for site plans, renderings of select locations, and opportunities for exterior artwork placement.

Application Requirements

Submission Requirements

All professional artist(s) responding to the Call for Entry must submit complete answers in the CAFÉ application portal. There is no fee to apply. Responses will be evaluated based on the selection criteria below. Respondents should present the required information clearly and concisely.

1. Work Samples
   1. 10 - 15 images
   2. 0 - 2 videos
2. Resume
3. Statement of interest addressing:
   1. Your specific interest in this project.
   2. The skills and experience you will bring to this project.
   3. Approach to working with design teams and executing complex new construction projects with multiple art components.
4. A 1-page mood board illustrating your initial visual approach to this project and how you’ll approach creating artwork that “interprets Americana and the West, agrarian lifestyle, and the eastern plains of Colorado through a playful and contemporary lens.”
   1. Past works, concept designs, sketches, and reference imagery accepted.

Evaluation Criteria

The Artist Selection Panel will individually rate each applicant on the following criteria.

1. Quality and creativity of past work.
2. Quality and creativity of mood board.
3. Project Execution: Demonstrated ability to execute complex new construction projects with multiple art components.
4. Project Approach: Approach to collaboration and working as part of a design team.

Artist Selection Panel and Process

The Artist Selection Panel is made up of members of the Adams County Arts & Culture Commission, representatives from the Parks, Open Space & Cultural Arts Department, a member of the Populous Design team, and community members.

The Artist Selection Panel will review and rate applications submitted through the CaFE portal to select finalists (4-6). Each finalist will be paid an honorarium of $2,000 for the submission, development, and presentation of a proposal specific to this project.

Finalists will attend a required virtual information session on January 9 to learn more about the project, and will have the opportunity to visit the project site. Finalists will provide professional references and share their approach to budget, collaboration, and community engagement. Finalists will also share design concepts for interior and exterior artworks for the area’s entryway and lobby.

Finalist Required Documents:

1. 3 professional references
2. W9 or TIN
3. A quote for/or current insurance coverage meeting Adams County requirements.
   1. The selected artist(s) must purchase required coverage and add Adams County as an additional insured within 5 business days of being awarded the project.

Finalist Project-Specific Proposal Requirements

Project finalists will submit a PDF addressing the following topics and present to the artist selection panel during interviews. 

1. Approach to collaboration and working as part of a design team.
2. Approach to community engagement.
   • Community engagement can happen before or after artwork is installed.
3. Approach to Phase 1 design budget and Phase 2 fabrication and installation budget.
4. Approach to design. Let us into your visioning process. Finalists will be given elevations and renderings of the building’s main entrance and lobby.  Share your ideas for activating those spaces with  interior and exterior artworks. Provide:
   1. High-level visual concepts for 3 - 4 artworks, including at least 1 interior and 1 exterior location. Artwork can be stand alone, attached, or fully integrated.
   2. Sketches, illustrations, or renderings accepted.
5. Design Narrative
   • Tell us about your 3 - 4 visual concepts and your overall approach to design.

Estimated Timeline, subject to change:

December 14, 2023: Application Deadline, 11:59 PM MST

January 8, 2024: Finalists Notified

January 9, 2024 at 5PM MST: Required info session for finalists, with Adams County Cultural Arts & Populous Design Representative

January 31, 2024: Finalist proposals due, 8 AM MST

February 5 & 6, 2024, evening: Finalist Interviews, in person strongly preferred, virtual available

February 12, 2024, afternoon: Selected artist notified, contracting begins

February 22, 2024: Kick-off design meeting and project orientation

March – August 2024: Phase 1 - Design. Note, Ongoing OAC Meetings are held on Thursday afternoons.

August 2024: Design work complete. Artwork and Facility Designs presented to the Adams County Board of County Commissioners for full project approval. Phase II, Artwork Fabrication and Installation , and approval by the Board of County Commissioners, timelines to be determined.

Payment Schedule

10% ($13,000) upon PO generation

15% ($19,500) upon approval of artwork location(s) & artwork type/media

15% ($19.500) upon approval of concept designs for all art locations

30% ($39,000) upon approval of stamped shop drawings and renderings for all art locations

30% ($39,000) upon approval of installation & fabrication timeline & budget

Eligibility Criteria

Applications that do not provide the required information will not be considered. All materials must be submitted via the CaFÉ online application system. Email submissions not accepted. There is no application fee to apply. Adams County reserves the right to request any additional information from the individual artist.