The Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission (Metro Arts) is soliciting proposals for bicycle rack designs scheduled for fabrication and installation in various locations throughout Nashville-Davidson County in 2016.

Scope of Work: Approximately 5 to 7 artist design proposals for bike racks will be selected. Artists can submit a MAXIMUM of three design proposals.  Artists will not choose the site of their bike rack but may include design proposals specific to one or more of the following locations under consideration for bike racks. If the design proposal is specific to one of the following locations, please note the name of the site in your artist statement. ALL designs should be suitable for any number of locations in Nashville.Possible bike rack locations include:​ 

•  ​Edgehill Branch Public Library
• Hadley Park Community Center
• Looby Branch Public Library
• North Nashville Branch Public Library
• First Tennessee Park Nashville Sounds Stadium

Metro Arts will determine the appropriate location for each design in consultation with the Metro contracted fabricator and the site manager/owner. Once designs are selected, a fabricator will build selected designs in consultation with selected artists and Metro Arts. Selected designs will be installed by Metro Arts and a Metro contractor in various locations throughout Nashville-Davidson County.

Artist Budget: The project budget allocates $3,500 for the artist design fee, project-related travel, consultation throughout project fabrication and installation, plus other artist-related costs. Selected artists will be required to attend at least four meetings/events which include a meet & greet event with Metro Arts, at least two meetings with Metro Arts and the contracted fabricator and the dedication event for the bike racks. Fabrication, installation and site preparation costs will be paid by Metro, and artist will work with fabricator and be on-site at time of installation to ensure project is completed as designed. Bike rack fabrication budgets typically range from $10,000-$20,000. In general, designs that utilize stock materials such as rounded pipe tend to be more cost effective to fabricate while designs that are more sculptural in nature tend to cost more. If the fabrication cost of a selected design proposal exceeds $20,000, the artist will be asked to modify their design.

Eligibility: The public art project is open to professional artists and artist teams, who reside within the Greater Nashville/Davidson County area which includes the counties of Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Hickman, Macon, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson and Wilson County. Architects, landscape architects and other design professionals are not considered professional artists under this definition, unless they meet the criteria. Metro Arts defines professional artist and artist team as someone of least 18 years of age with the following qualifications:

• Professional artist:
  • At least two years of visual art exhibition history, or
  • At least two years of commissioned visual or public art
•  Artist Team:
  • Two or more professional artists working collaboratively on a public art project
  •  A collaborative team led by a professional artist 

Exhibitions, commissions or public art created during or as part of an artist’s undergraduate education shall not count towards these criteria. Artists with conflicts of interest as outlined in the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s Public Art Guidelines are ineligible for public art commissions or projects. Artists may reference section VII of the Public Art Guidelines online at http://publicart.nashville.gov.

Proposal Selection Criteria: Bike rack designs should carefully balance form with function and must meet the following criteria for design, function and safety: (Selected designs may need to be adapted during fabrication process to meet design, function, safety and ADA standards.)

• Design
  • Artistic merit is the first and most important criteria
  • Should be context-sensitive, either to the city, neighborhood, street or immediate environment
  • Give meaning to place by reflecting Nashville’s history, culture, or natural features and assets
  • Further the community’s sense of spirit and pride
  • Design should not advertise a specific business or person
•  Function
  • Support the bicycle upright by its frame in a minimum of two places
  • Enable the frame and one of the wheels to be secured with a lock
  • A portion of the rack must allow for a bicycle to be secured using a standard 4” U-lock, additional design accommodations for 2” U-lock is preferred but not mandatory
  • Must be capable of securing four standard bicycles
  • Bike Rack should not exceed 12’ in height or length
  • The rack must be constructed of durable materials capable of withstanding permanent exposure to the elements
  • Locking points should be between 1’ and 3’ off the ground and located at points on the rack where the thickness is between 1” and 4”
  • Must be capable of securing 2 to 6 standard adult-size bicycles
  • Design should allow for easy maneuvering of handlebars and pedals and no part of the bicycle or bike rack should extend outside of a 6’x16’ footprint

Inquiries: Direct all questions related to this RFP to Van Gill Maravalli, Public Art Project Coordinator, van.maravalli@nashville.gov with Bike Racks in subject line. Deadline for Questions: March 31, 2015.In addition to email inquiries, Metro Arts will host two Q&A events. Staff members will be available to answer questions during an open office hour on March 11th from 12:00-1:00 p.m. and a live web session on March 24th from 12:00-1:00 p.m. The web session URL will be available on the Metro Arts website http://www.nashville.gov/Arts-Commission/Public-Art/Opportunities.aspx . 

I. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS: Response Format and Sending Submittals:  All submissions must be received via an online entry found at www.callforentry.org. No hand-delivered or mailed submissions will be accepted. **If you are submitting more than one design, each design will require a seperate CaFE application.** DO NOT submit more than one design proposal per application.This RFP requires the following materials to be submitted via www.callforentry.org:

• An artist statement of no more than 1000 characters, addressing artist proposal selection criteria and a brief description of the design.
• Up to 3 JPG images of your design (per application). Image specifications can be found here: https://www.callforentry.org/image_prep.phtml.
  • Designs may be hand-drawn or prepared using a computer software program
  •  Designs must be on a WHITE  background
  •  Designs should be easily read by a layperson and include general dimensions and proposed materials
• Current résumé, not to exceed two pages, including name, address, phone number, e-mail address and website. Resume must demonstrate the applicant’s qualifications as a professional artist. 
• References, one-page: List three people with whom you have worked on an exhibit or commission who can describe your experience as a professional artist. Include name, title, address, e-mail and current daytime telephone for each reference.

Submission Deadline: All submittals must be received no later than 12:00 a.m. Friday, April 10, 2015, MST (April 11, 1:00 a.m. CST)

The Contract Specialist at the Metro Division of Purchasing & Contract Management will ensure that only submissions received by the deadline will be accepted. Incomplete or ineligible submissions will not be reviewed.

Timeline: The following projected timetable should be used as a working guide for planning purposes. Metro reserves the right to adjust this timetable as required during the course of this Request for Proposals process.

• Selection Panel                     May 14-21, 2015
• Award Notification/Artist Contracting Process   June/July2015
• Fabrication                      July 2015-July 2016                                  
• Installation                      Spring/Summer 2016                 
• Dedication                       Spring/Summer 2016         

SELECTION PROCESS: Method of Source Selection: The Department is using the Competitive Sealed Proposals method of source selection, as authorized by Section 4.12.040 of the Metropolitan Procurement Code, for this procurement. 

Selection/ Evaluation Committee: The selection panel for this project will have between five and nine members including at least one visual artist, a design professional and a cyclist to represent the biking community. The chairperson of the selection panel will be the public art committee chair or designee, serving as an ex-officio, non-voting panel member. A technical advisor and someone to address possible fabrication issues will also review the submissions. The Contract Specialist assigned to each project will serve as a non-voting advisory member of the selection panel and be charged with the responsibility of monitoring the process.

Selection Process: Responses to this Request for Proposals will be evaluated by the selection panel according to the project selection criteria. The panel will recommend artists for this project to the Public Art Committee for action and referral to the Metro Nashville Arts Commission, for final approval and issuance of intent to Award letter based on successful contract negotiation.

RULES AND GUIDELINES: Requests for Clarification of Submission: MNAC may check references to assist in the evaluation of any submission. 

 Metro Nashville Arts Commission and Public Art Program: The Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission (Metro Arts) is a department of the Metro Government of Nashville and Davidson County created in 1978 for the purpose of promoting, preserving and expanding the cultural and artistic interests of the general public. Metro Arts public art program was established in June 2000, with the passage of a public art ordinance. The ordinance dedicates one percent (1%) of the net proceeds of general obligation bonds issued for construction projects to fund public art. Metro Arts established guidelines, available online at http://publicart.nashville.gov, and named a Public Art Committee (PAC) as a standing committee to oversee the public art program.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria