INTRODUCTION:

Denton is a community of 136,000 located just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.  For over 150 years, individuals have come to Denton to pursue their passions, share their dreams, and celebrate their journeys. Denton’s original and creative vibe is fueled by its arts community, music industry, universities, businesses, and vibrant, year-round festivals, museums, galleries and historic downtown destinations.

The City of Denton requests artist qualifications from professional artists or artist teams interested in working with the Denton Public Art Committee and City of Denton Staff to design and create artwork(s) for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center reflect the Southeast Denton community's collaborative spirit.  Artists experienced in working with residents from historically underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply. The project artwork(s) are intended to tell the story and capture the cultural essence of Southeast Denton.

 TOTAL BUDGET:

The maximum total project budget is $69,000 and includes all design, structural engineering, fabrication, equipment, insurance, installation, and travel, contingency and incidental costs.

PROJECT INSTALLATION COMPLETION DEADLINE

All public art work(s) for this project must have completed installation by September 15, 2019.  

MINIMAL REQUIREMENTS:

•  Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.
•  Applicant must have successfully completed at least two permanent or  temporary site-specific commissions. ​
•  Professional artists living and working in the United States are eligible to apply.  Non-US residents must be able to show current ability to work in the United States prior to being contracted for a project in Denton, Texas.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Electronic application submittals must include all of the information and materials described below and should be submitted through Call for Entry (CaFETM) https://www.callforentry.org/   This invitation is solely for the receipt of artist qualifications. No project proposal submissions will be accepted and will result in disqualification of artist(s) from consideration.

 APPLICATION MATERIALS:

• Artist Statement of Interest- In 3000 or less characters and spaces, describe your public art practice.  The panel is particularly interested in how you wish to advance your body of work through particular conceptual, aesthetic, or material directions. Optional Design Team Statement of Interest - In 2000 or less characters and spaces, describe your design team and/or collaborative experience. 
• Two-Page Resume - (Uploaded as a PDF) - Upload a two-page resume that outlines professional accomplishments. Please highlight any commissions involving your collaborative work with a community or group to reflect cultural, historic or heritage themes in your work(s).  As part of the resume include three professional references (name, affiliated organization, email address and phone number).  For team applications, include a 2-page resume for each team member; each to include the same respective professional references information.
•  Exactly 10 images of Previous Work - Upload 10 images that illustrates projects within the context of a specific site and highlight previous accomplishments with public art working with community.  These images are the primary determinant for evaluating the quality of your work.
•  Image Identification List – (Uploaded as a PDF) - Upload an image identification list numbered in the order that the images appear on CaFETM and that provides project title, location, date completed, media, dimensions, budget, commissioning agency, project partners, brief description of the project/conceptual information.

 DEADLINE TO APPLY:

The deadline to submit a complete application is midnight November 15, 2018. Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.  

EVALUATION PROCESS:

The Denton Public Art Committee (PAC) is an official board for the City of Denton, Texas.  Nine citizen members serve two-year overlapping terms; two of whom represent the Greater Denton Arts Council.

All submitted and complete applications will be subjected to a juried evaluation process.  The Jury Panel is comprised of members of the Denton Public Art Committee and City of Denton staff and serve as the project’s selection panel. An artist may be selected directly from the initial applications or the Jury Panel may elect to interview a limited number of finalists based upon their past work samples to reach a decision. City staff will oversee operations and administer the decisions of the jury panel.

 Selection criteria include:

•  Artistic Thematic Merit  -  Successful completion of prior creative projects of a similar nature that exhibit artistic and thematic merit in the form of design, medium, and craftsmanship relative to creativity. ​
• Mastery or Skill in an Artistic Medium  - With an emphasis on materials suitable for exterior installation.
•  Professionalism - Strong communication and organizational skills demonstrated in RFQ response; completion of prior commission(s) with respect to budget, maintenance and completed installation; and collaborative work with groups of individuals/communities to reflect cultural, historic or heritage themes in your finished work(s).
• Site suitability  – Prior artwork suitable for the site, efficient use of space, respect for any concerns for public safety as it may pertain to school zone, pedestrian and vehicular traffic and suitable for all ages.

METHOD OF AWARD:
After selection, the successful Artist and the City of Denton (owner) will then negotiate and complete all necessary documentation and contracts. During contract development and negotiation, the successful Artist shall not contact any City official except Adrian Brown, (contact information provided at end), the individual designated to act on the City's behalf during this process.  If a successful agreement cannot be reached with the first selected Artist, the City will then negotiate with the next Artist and continue this process until an acceptable agreement is reached.

Note –

• While artists generally do not need professional licensures to provide services in Texas, individuals or businesses producing certain products may require additional licenses. (Example: A sign manufacturing company bidding on a public art project to design and execute a lighted artistic concept piece for installation on a state highway retaining wall is required to be licensed to produce lighted signage.) The artist or artist team must have all licensures required by the State respective to their contracted project services.  
• Artist teams and corporations must be registered with the Texas Secretary of State or the County of Denton to provide the products or services negotiated in the contract if selected.  Sole Proprietors are exempt from this requirement.

To learn how to obtain information about filing with the State of Texas, or obtaining copies or certificates from the Secretary of State, visit http://www.sos.state.tx.us/corp/compie.shtml; phone 512-463-5578; or email corpcert@sos.state.tx.us.

TECHNICAL ISSUES:

For all technical issues with the CaFETM  website, contact CaFETM  support staff at cafe@westaf.org from Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard time or call (303) 629-1166.  Be sure to use the help documents prior to requesting assistance. 

If you have multiple documents such as resumes or references and the application doesn’t provide enough space, please combine multiple documents into one document for uploading – word or pdf, or use the additional upload spaces at the end of the application.

Incomplete or late applications due to technical issues will not be accepted.  Submit early to ensure the application will be received.

QUESTIONS:

Adrian Brown, Buyer
Materials Management Purchasing
Adrian.Brown@cityofdenton.com
(940) 349-7100

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria