Call Description

Public Art Commission for Country Acres Dog Park in Wichita, Kansas. Full details in attached RFQ here.

INTRODUCTION

The City of Wichita invites professional artists and artist teams with a demonstrated history of completing complex, permanent, outdoor public art projects to submit their qualifications for a $50,000 public art commission for Country Acres Dog Park. Construction is scheduled to begin in late spring/early summer of 2024. It is anticipated that the construction will be completed in late July/early August. Emerging artists are encouraged to apply.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Country Acres Dog Park is a new dog park that will be built at Country Acres Park (754 N County Acres Ave.). The dog park will have three welcoming off-leash dog pens, an entry plaza, and an associated parking lot.

The selected artist will be responsible for the design, construction, and installation of the art piece(s). The selected artist will contract directly with the City of Wichita for art design and work alongside landscape architects and engineers from Baughman Company. Baughman Company is the lead design firm on the project. The selected artist will then have a separate contract with the awarded general contractor for the construction and installation of the art piece(s).

This project is funded through the Percent for Art Ordinance and the City of Wichita’s Capital Improvement Plan. In 2019, the Wichita City Council approved an ordinance that allotted 2% of capital improvement funds to a pool of funding allocated for the commissioning of on-site artworks that then become part of the citywide art collection. The administration of the Percent for Art Program is overseen by the Design Council, an 11-member advisory board.

PUBLIC ART VISION

The City of Wichita envisions public artwork(s) that will create a sense of place within the community, be unique to the park, and provide a complementary identity to the surrounding community. Country Acres Park is home to many large trees and the vegetation and topography on site are valuable assets that bring character to the park. The artwork for this project should resonate contextually and historically and must be durable and structurally suitable to the extreme Kansas weather. Based on initial public engagement, the community requests that the artwork be kinetic and tactile. Audial, electrical, water, and found object elements do not apply to this project. 

SITE PLAN

This project will primarily serve dog owners. The City Council district that this park resides in has the largest number of dog licenses in the city. Country Acres Park was once owned by the Country Acres Homeowner’s Association. For many years, the park had a swimming pool and many residents in the area swam in the pool or played on the adjacent sports courts. Although the pool has been removed, the park has a long history of community usage to celebrate.

 ART LOCATION

The entry plaza is the most ideal location for a single large sculptural work and smaller art pieces could be sited throughout the dog park. Final artwork locations will be determined by the selected artist and design team.  Engaging, unique, and kinetic public art is envisioned for this project. Regardless of size or location, the artwork(s) should be structurally sound and durable for public use. Audial, electrical, and water elements do not apply to this project.

ART BUDGET: $50,000

The art budget is inclusive of all costs and fees for the artist to execute the project from design through structural engineering, fabrication, site preparation, transportation/delivery, and installation to the site. The installation will be coordinated with the project construction team and may be a part of the artist fee depending on installation requirements and responsibilities.

SELECTION PROCESS

Applicants will be reviewed and ranked by a selection committee comprised of City staff, the design firm, and relevant stakeholders. Interviews are not anticipated to be a part of the selection process but may be used to in the event of a narrow margin between rankings.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants will be selected based on a competitive review of the following:

Artistic excellence: demonstrated vision, professional process and presentation, and quality craftsmanship in examples of past work; examples provided should be relevant to how the artist will approach this public art opportunity.

Creative process: examples of past work should illustrate how the artist has used community engagement in their design process; examples should be relevant to how the artist will approach this public art opportunity.

Ability: demonstrated experience in public art management and executing large scale outdoor artwork, coordinating engineering and fabricating teams, delivering contractual milestones, and managing large budgets in a timely fashion.

Meaningful relationship of the creative and conceptual aspects of their artistic process with the purpose of this project as expressed in the Letter of Interest (LOI).

PROJECT TIMELINE

RFQ open via CAFE̒ online application system: December 22, 2023

Artists questions due: January 10, 2024, 4:00 p.m. CST

Qualifications due: January 17, 2024, 4:00 p.m. CST

Review of qualifications: January 17-26, 2024

Notification of Award: January 26, 2024

Contract: Design-January 2024; Fabrication and Installation-April 2024

Concept: Initial February 28, 2024; Final March 27, 2024

Art Fabrication and Installation: April – July 2024

*All dates are approximate and subject to change.    

QUESTIONS

All inquiries should be emailed to Tim Kellams at tkellams@wichita.gov by January 10, 2024, 4:00 p.m. CST.

Application Requirements

Each artist or artist team must submit an entirely digital application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

1. Artist name (or names of team members if applying as a collaboration), phone number and email address.

2. Website and/or social media links if applicable.

3. Resume or CV.

4. Submit a one-page Letter of Interest (LOI) with a brief description of your project approach.

5. Submit five to ten images of relevant examples of past work (video accepted). Images should represent the artist’s style, format, medium, or breadth of work.

6. Please include an annotated image list for all work examples including scale, budget, medium, 
year installed, and location.

7. Three professional references.

Eligibility Criteria

The artist or team must be located in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, Kingman, and Sumner counties. Emerging artists are encouraged to apply. The City of Wichita has a vibrant art community and many local firms that can assist with the development, fabrication, and installation of the artwork. The committee prefers to have local artists and firms involved in the project and will give preference to artists who plan to utilize these local resources.

 This could include:

• Engineers for developing stamp drawings
• Concrete firms for pouring the footers
• Fabricators
• Installation crews
• Lighting specialists
• Landscape architects

It is the declared policy and practice of the City of Wichita to extend equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, political affiliation, sexual orientation, disability, or other non-merit factors.