Submission Deadline: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 by 11:59 p.m. MDT 
Commission Budget: up to $2,000,000

PROJECT BACKGROUND
REGENT STREET – A STREET OF STORIES
Regent Street is a small street on the east (back) side of the Eccles Theater situated between two busy, highly developed streets; Main and State Streets. Formerly named Commercial Street, it was one of the first streets to be cut through Salt Lake City’s large city blocks. The new street became home to some of the valley’s earliest immigrant groups who arrived to work on the railroad system in the early 1870’s. Greeks, Russians, Poles, Chinese, Japanese, Swedes, English and Mexicans congregated in this small downtown hub to work and live. The street was colorful, lively and provided culturally diverse experiences not found elsewhere in the overall conservative downtown business district that was prominent during that period. The street featured a variety of small markets, businesses and shops, restaurants and saloons and Salt Lake City’s first brothels.  

In the early 1920’s, the street’s name changed to Regent along with the overall character as it became the center for publishing Salt Lake’s two daily newspapers, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Deseret News. For over 80 years the two papers’ printing presses ran on Regent Street as well as other professional businesses including an engineering/landscaping firm, law offices, and a local electrical company.

The redevelopment and revitalization of Regent Street merges history with the contemporary to create a welcoming, dynamic urban environment unlike any other found in Salt Lake City. Led by the local firm GSBS Architects, the project design team developed Regent Street into a new public experiential gathering place that is poised to engage its visitors as they shop, dine, socialize and stroll. Regent Street is a place where well-conceived ideas and projects are focused on activating the street and enhancing the public spaces. It will become a hub for unexpected experiences with permanent public artwork. The spaces were designed to host festivals, performances and interactive opportunities. Regent Street will likely also become the place for locally-owned restaurants, clubs, bars and boutiques as well as a mixture of surprising micro-shops and specialty food carts.

Recognizing Regent Street’s important role in history as the center for publishing and printing Salt Lake City’s two daily newspapers, the design team incorporated “press sheet” imagery in the streetscape. The press sheet begins at each of the four entry points as wayfinding markers, is embedded into the street and sidewalks, on some vertical surfaces and, in a few locations, emerges into steel bench seating elements on the sidewalks. 

Regent Street is used in a variety of ways. In addition to functioning as the back stage door and load-in for the theater, the plaza is used for events, performances, informal gatherings, and as a daily passage route for the work force and other pedestrians. Regent Street may also be partially closed off to vehicular traffic on a temporary basis to accommodate some events and festivals.

PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
In addition to the Eccles Theater and Regent Street projects, there are two new privately developed, commercial projects on adjacent properties.

The first project is a 24-story, 440,000 square foot office tower on the corner of Main Street and 100 South; the north side of the Eccles Theater.

The second project, currently in the planning stages, is a 27-story, 208 guest-room boutique hotel with 64 condominiums on the top floors. The hotel will be located on the southeast corner of Regent Street and 200 South. Architectural drawings are not available at the time of issuance of this RFQ however they may be available for the selected artist’s site visit in March 2018.
 
ELIGIBILITY
The RFQ is open to all professional artists and/or artist-led teams, based in Utah, nationally and/or internationally. Interested artists will have demonstrated experience in innovative placemaking and are welcome to propose work in all media and materials that meet the “ARTWORK GOALS” and are durable and suitable for Utah’s variable climate. Artists responding to this call must demonstrate a proficiency in executing work of similar scope and scale.
 

PROJECT BUDGET
The commission budget is up to $2,000,000.00 USD. Budget is inclusive of all artist’s fees, travel, design, engineering, insurance, permits, fabrication, labor, shipping, installation, and the purchase of any necessary easements or other expenses related to the project.

PROJECT TIMELINE (dates are subject to change)

• Issue RFQ: Wednesday, January 10, 2018
• Submittal Deadline: Wednesday, February 7, 2018 by 11:59 p.m. MDT
• Selected and Alternate Artist Selection: Week of February 12, 2018
• Art Design Board Recommendation Meeting: Week of February 19, 2019
• Finalist and Alternate Artist Notification: Week of February 19, 2018 
• Selected Artist Concept Design Contracting: Week of February 26, 2018 
• Selected Artist Site Visit: March 2018
• Selected Artist Design Presentation to Art Design Board: Thursday, June 7, 2018
• Recommendation to Mayor: June 2018
• Contracting Process: July 2018
• Final Artist and Design Announcement: August 2018
• Project Completion: Spring 2019

ARTWORK GOALS
This artist selection committee seeks an artist or artist-led team that can produce a site-specific artwork that:

• Responds to the architectural and natural environment;
• Is of the highest quality—creatively and technically;
• Serves as a catalyst for social change and enhanced quality of life in the downtown business and cultural district;
• Exemplifies strong, imaginative design and content and contributes to a visually stimulating environment that lends itself to thought and adds character to the site;
• Encourages an element of interactivity;
• Is prominent at all hours and proportionate to its surroundings;
• Meets all public safety, structural, and maintenance standards and complies with the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA), and all other applicable laws, codes and regulations

Note: Artwork may be suspended and/or attached to existing, permissible buildings, contingent upon permission and agreement with property owners. Permanently installed or applied elements on the street may be considered as long as access to and the function of the street is not compromised. The artist will be expected to work with the Design Board to further conceptualize the project including determining preparation of the site, i.e. structural, electrical requirements, city codes, etc. and the method in which the work will be installed.

REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS
The Regent Street Public Art Artist Selection Committee will review all of the artists’ properly submitted responses and recommend selection of an artist or artist-led team for the commission based on the materials submitted to callforentry.org. A single alternate artist or artist-led team will also be recommended and selected should the selected artist be unable to fulfill the commission. The selection committee is comprised of the project funding agency (one, RDA), property owners and operators (three), and art experts (three), as well as two non-voting members, one representative from the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office and one representative from the Downtown Alliance, who will attend the Review Meeting.

The selection of the artist or artist-led team, and alternate, will be based on the following criteria:

• Artist’s professional experience represents a developed and successful body of site-specific public art projects of a similar scope as demonstrated by visual documentation.
• Ability to understand sense of place and design in a context-sensitive manner as demonstrated by visual documentation.
• Ability to create a noteworthy, engaging site-specific experience.
• Willingness of the artist to consult and work with the Salt Lake Art Design Board and community stakeholders to successfully integrate the work into the site and meet any construction requirements, schedules and deadlines.
• Ensure that the artwork is of a permanent nature, does not require excessive maintenance or repair costs and meets public safety issues and Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. ​​

ARTIST AGREEMENTS
The selected artist/team will enter into a two-party Agreement between City and the artist/team for design development. If the selected artist’s design is approved, they will enter into a second two-party agreement between the City and the artist/team. The selected artist/team will be required to provide General Liability and Auto insurance as specified in the Agreement. Examples of both agreements can be found here.

SELECTED ARTIST SITE VISITS
Once the selected artist and the City enter into a design/development contract, the selected artist will participate in at least two site visits.  The first of two site visits is meant to orient the selected artist with the project and to hear from and ask questions of the community, Salt Lake City Art Design Board, and project partners. The selected artist will be required to stay in Salt Lake City for a minimum of ten (10) days, not to exceed fourteen (14) days. All travel expenses will be deducted from the $2,000,000 commission amount.

During the second site visit, the selected artist will present their conceptual proposal to the Salt Lake City Art Design Board and Artist Selection Committee. The site-specific proposal should convey their ideas and plans through scale designs, renderings and/or scale models with a statement that describes, in detail, the project's intent, proposed materials, fabrication and installation methods, project schedule and an itemized budget. This visit is expected to last at least three days, and the artist will be required to stay in Salt Lake City for the duration of the visit.

For the first visit, the selected artist will receive a $3,500 travel stipend which is inclusive for travel expenses, hotel, meals, etc. Artists traveling internationally will receive a $4,000 stipend.

For the second visit, a $4,000 travel stipend and honorarium will be awarded to the selected artist for their proposal and is all inclusive for design, travel expenses, shipping, etc. All stipend and honoraria amounts will be deducted from the $2,000,000 commission amount.

The selected artist must email a color rendering of the proposal to Dana Hernandez, Salt Lake City Public Art Program Manager, by Thursday, May 31, 2018, by 5:00 p.m. MDT. Materials will be distributed to the Design Board and Artist Selection Committee prior to the finalists’ presentations.

If the artist’s proposal is accepted by the Salt Lake City Art Design Board, the artist and the City will enter into the second two-party agreement. The selected artist/team will be required to provide General Liability and Auto insurance as specified in the Agreement.

After that agreement is executed, the third visit will be for installation. The selected artist is required to remain on site for the duration of the installation, which will be coordinated by the Public Art Program Manager in consultation with property owners.

For the third visit, the artist will be responsible for all expenses.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Full application information can be found at www.callforentry.org.  

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Artists may apply individually or as a team. Artists interested in this project must prepare and submit all of the following information and documentation via callforentry.org.  Applications through any other format or method will not be accepted or considered:

1. Letter of Interest:  A letter of interest not to exceed 3,000 characters (about 500 words) outlining your interest in this project, experience working on comparable projects of similar scope and scale and a statement of conceptual approach.  Letter must include address, email, phone number and web site of artist.
2. Professional Resume:   A resume not to exceed 5,000 characters (about 2 pages).  Including artist training, professional experience, and design and experience in environmental design.  If submitting as a team, contact dana.hernandez@slcgov.com to submit additional resumes following the same guidelines for each team member.
3. Images:  At least five unique examples of installed past work of similar scope, scale and budget as shown with a minimum of five and a maximum of ten (10) jpeg images of the artist’s prior public art projects.  Ten images per application, not per team member.  Each image must be numbered and include the title, date of completion/installation, media, dimensions (height x width x depth, in feet), location, final project cost and a brief description of the work.
4. Maintenance Plans: Between three (3) and five (5) unique examples of maintenance plans that accompanied the installed past work of similar scope, scale and budget as shown in the images provided in requirement #3 above. Submit a minimum of three (3) and up to five (5) maintenance plans of the artist’s prior public art projects.  A maximum of five (5) maintenance plans per application, not per team member, may be submitted.  Each plan must be numbered to correspond with the image to which it belongs and include the title and date of completion/installation. If artist’s body of work does not require maintenance please state so in letter of interest.
5. Professional References:  A list of three (3) prior permanent public art project references with contact information (name, title, organization, mailing address, phone number, and email address), the name and location of the artwork, and a brief description of the relationship. References are not to exceed one page.

The entire submission must be submitted via callforentry.org.  Submissions must be submitted electronically and received by Wednesday, February 7, 2018 by 11:59 p.m MDT.

Any materials not specifically requested as part of this application or exceeding the maximum page length or format requirements will not be considered or reviewed by the Selection Committee.

Incomplete submissions or any application that has not been submitted within the parameters set forth above, as determined by the Salt Lake City Public Art Manager, will not be reviewed or considered.

All questions regarding this RFQ are to be directed only to Salt Lake City Public Art Program Manager at the email address listed below. All questions and responses will be posted at http://saltlakepublicart.org/for-artists/calls-for-artists/ for all applicants and potential applicants to review.  Applicants may be disqualified if any unsolicited contact related to this RFQ is made with a member of the Artist Selection Committee or Salt Lake Art Design Board other than the Public Art Program Manager during the selection process. All communication will occur electronically via email or through callforentry.org.

Contact:          Dana Hernandez, dana.hernandez@slcgov.com

Website:          http://saltlakepublicart.org/for-artists/calls-for-artists/

SALT LAKE CITY PUBLIC ART PROGRAM
The Public Art Program, which commissions artists' work for City-owned buildings and public spaces, was established by ordinance in the early 1980’s. Its purpose is to add to the value and experience of the built environment and spaces with original, high quality and site-specific artwork. The Salt Lake Art Design Board is the advisory group of five citizens with related expertise that oversees the Public Art Program. By ordinance, the Board makes recommendations to the Mayor for final approval for all artist selections for each City public art project.

SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION ADDITIONAL POLICIES
The Salt Lake Art Design Board and Salt Lake City Corporation reserve the right to reject any or all applications, to reissue the Call for Entries, or to terminate the selection process or project at any time without prior notice. No applicant shall have the right to make a claim against the Redevelopment Agency, or Salt Lake City Corporation in the event the RFQ is canceled, or the RDA decides not to proceed with the selection or commissioning process, awards a contract, or determines not to award any or all contracts specified in this document. No protests will be accepted or reviewed. All submissions are subject to City Code 2.44, governing conflicts of interest. 

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria