Introduction:
The City of Mountlake Terrace, Washington invites Regional/Pacific Northwest artists to submit Letters of Interest (LOI) or Audio/Video Statements of Interests (VASOI) and Statements of Qualifications (SOQ), along with a resume and project renderings/examples of work from qualified individuals (or teams) interested in working with the Arts Advisory Commission, City Staff, ARC Architects and MacLeod Reckord related to the commissioning of public art.

The call is open to all professional artists or teams of artists residing regionally or within the U.S. Pacific Northwest.  The City of Mountlake Terrace will commission one artist or team of artists to design, fabricate and install an artwork or artworks in the northern portion of the Civic Campus located at 23200 – 58th Avenue West (southwest corner of 232nd Street SW and 58th Avenue West). 

Once selected by the City, an artist or team of artists may propose a single installation or a series. The successful artist or team of artists will work with the City and Architect/Landscape Architect team on the development and installation of the art piece.  Artworks will be maintained and owned by the City of Mountlake Terrace.

Overall Project budget: The project has an overall inclusive budget of $84,000 up to approximately $90,000 (upper number subject to change depending on future estimated cost of the public gathering space/Town Center Park/Plaza).  See Budget item below for additional information related to allocation of funds.

Deadline for submitting applications is 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time Zone), Sunday, October 28, 2018.  If you need assistance with your application within the CaFE website, please contact CaFE Tech Support at cafe@westaf.org.

Project Background:
The City of Mountlake Terrace, Washington is undertaking the redevelopment of its Civic Campus. An initial phase of the redevelopment process includes (1) a new City Hall approximately 18,000 square feet in area (City Council Chambers, public lobby, City offices, associated parking, etc.); (2) an addition to the existing Police Station approximately 3,000 square feet in area; and (3) a public gathering space/Town Center Park/Plaza located between the new City Hall and the corner of 232nd Street SW and 58th Avenue W. Please CLICK HERE to view the city hall advisory committee recommended preliminary site plan (2017) in addition to two concepts of a new city hall and location of a public gathering space as presented during a July 11, 2018 public open house. A final concept of the new city hall and three concepts of a public gathering space/Town Center Park/Plaza will be presented to the public during an open house on November 14, 2018.

Civic Campus redevelopment construction is planned to commence in mid-2019 with completion occurring mid-2020. ARC Architects, Inc. will be providing design services for the New City Hall and addition to the existing Police Station while MacLeod Reckord is providing landscape design services for the public gathering space/Town Center Park/plaza and overall site. Overall design services include architectural, structural, civil, mechanical, electrical engineering and landscape architecture.   

An additional future phase of Civic Campus redevelopment could include a remodel of the existing Police Station.  Funding has not been identified for full design and construction of this phase/element at this time.

Support for Public Art:
Pursuant to Mountlake Terrace Municipal Code (MTMC) Section 3.55.010, the City “…accepts the responsibility for expanding the public’s experience with visual art. Artists capable of creating art for public places must be encouraged. A policy is established, therefore, to direct the inclusion of visual art in the public works of the City.”  Section 3.55.010A requires that “All authorizations and/or appropriations for municipal construction projects shall include an amount equal to at least one percent of the total project cost (as estimated by the city in the year in which the project is actually initiated) to be used for selection, acquisition, and/or installation of works of art to be placed in, on, or about public facilities.”  

Mountlake Terrace Municipal Code (MTMC) 3.55.030 requires that “funds authorized and/or appropriated pursuant to this section shall be held in the Municipal Arts Fund. Out of such funds, the City Council, on the advice of the Arts Advisory Commission, shall budget the amount to be allocated for selection, acquisition, and/or installation for individual works of art to be placed either as an integral part of the municipal construction project or attached thereto, or detached within or outside such project, or to be placed in, on, or about other public facilities.”

Mountlake Terrace Municipal Code (MTMC) 3.55.040A states that “the Arts Advisory Commission shall be responsible for determining the method of selection and commissioning of artists; and for reviewing the design of, execution, placement of, and acceptance of works of art funded by this chapter, subject to final approval by the City Council of the project contract. Procedures for these responsibilities shall be developed by the Commission and shall become the policy of the Commission, and available to the public upon request.”

Scope of Work:
The City seeks an artist or team of artists to develop a permanent public artwork that is relevant to the community and site specific. The city is committed to excellence in environmental stewardship and in sustainable building practices.

• The selected artist or team of artists will work with a selection panel in addition to the City’s Arts Advisory Commission, City staff, MacLeod Reckord and/or ARC Architecture, LLC to develop site specific artwork.
• The artwork should contribute to place making and take into consideration the different audiences and community that will engage with the work up-close.  
• Create a thematic or visual connection to civic campus public gathering space aka Town Center Park/plaza and surrounding community in addition to City Hall and Police Station Addition.
• Ability to participate in community outreach and actively engage with the City, MacLeod Reckord and ARC staff/representatives.

Budget:
The estimated cost of construction for the New City Hall and Police Station addition is $8,400,000 and master planning of the public gathering space/Town Center Park/Plaza is now underway (estimated cost of park/plaza forthcoming). For the purpose of creating a public work of art meeting the criteria established within Mountlake Terrace Municipal Code, the overall project budget is $84,000 up to approximately $90,000 (upper number subject to change depending on future estimated cost of the public gathering space/Town Center Park/Plaza).  The selected artist/team of artists will receive a commission of $81,000 up to approximately $87,000 to design, fabricate and install the artwork (upper number subject to change depending on future estimated cost of the public gathering space/Town Center Park/Plaza).  Up to $3,000 total will be shared and available to pay stipends for selected finalists to participate and prepare/submit proposals for Part 2 of the Call for Artists process. The overall project budget is all inclusive of travel expenses, Washington State Sales/Use Tax and other project costs.

Eligibility:
The City of Mountlake Terrace is seeking Regional/Pacific Northwest artists within the United States.  The City encourages diversity in its collection. Artists whose work is well represented in the city’s collection are eligible to apply, but the City will consider artistic diversity as one factor in the selection process.

Project Timeline:
An artist/team of artists will be selected and contracted with in 2018 or early 2019. The artist will participate in design development with project design team, project stakeholders, and community members in 2018/2019 - 2020. Project construction documents will be completed in the spring of 2019 and the City may/will issue change order requests as part of the plan set to accommodate foundation construction and/or other elements that can be included in the overall construction contract and paid for through the project budget.

Call Posted: Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Application Deadline:  Sunday, October 28, 2018, 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time Zone).

Artist Selected and Applicants Notified:  November / December, 2018 and/or January 2019.
Concept Design:  2018 / 2019
100% Design and Documents:  2019/2020
Construction and Fabrication:  2019 / early 2020
Installation:  2019 / early 2020

Application Requirements:
All Letters of Interest/Statements of Qualifications deadline must be submitted on-line. Your response must include:

1. Letter of Interest or Video/Audio Statement of Interest - Responses that do not include a Project Letter of Interest or Video/Audio Statement of Interest will be considered incomplete and will be disqualified. Please only submit either a letter or recorded statement, not both.

• Civic Campus Redevelopment – New City Hall / Police Station Addition / Public Gathering Space/Town Center Park/Plaza Letter of Interest (not to exceed 2,000 characters). Please provide a statement describing why you are interested in this project.

OR

• Civic Campus Redevelopment – New City Hall / Police Station Addition / Public Gathering Space/Town Center Park/Plaza Video/Audio Statement of Interest (not to exceed 1.5 minutes in length). Please provide a short video/audio statement speaking directly to why you are interested in this project.  A video/audio statement of interest can be uploaded into the Call for Entry (CaFE) system. 

Please note that this should not be a highly produced/edited video; a short recording that speaks directly to your interest in this project will suffice. The intent of this option is to provide an opportunity for individuals who feel they can represent themselves better verbally versus in writing through the letter of interest (for example applicants for whom English is a second language and/or other considerations).

1. Résumé
2. Letter/Statement of Qualifications (a narrative discussion of the knowledge, skills, and abilities an applicant possesses in relation to the desirable qualifications of the call for artists).
3. Three references with contact information
4. Up to 10 images. Where possible, submit examples of projects completed that include multi-element works and/or work that relates in some way to this project.
5. Work Sample Identification List (not to exceed 500 characters for each image). Please explain the artwork shown in your work samples/examples and/or their relevance to this project.

PROJECT PROPOSALS ARE NOT REQUESTED AT THIS TIME
Once artists/teams of artists are chosen (see selection process Part 1 below), the Selection Panel will request the submittal of proposals which shall include a description of the conceptual approach to the artwork and an illustration or physical representation of the design (see selection process Part 2 below).  Proposals shall include a description of materials that will be used, estimated costs, timeline for completion and installation requirements. 

Selection Process:
The selection process will take place in two parts.

Part 1: During the first round, the Selection Panel consisting of two Arts Commission Members, City Administration representative, City Council member, two community members and one project design team member, will review the applicants’ responses (Letters of Interest or Statements of Interest), statement of qualifications, resumes, images, and other materials. The panelists will identify up to six finalists to interview/present at a second panel meeting approximately a few weeks later.

Part 2: The Selection Panel will request proposals from the finalists - Artists selected to make presentations, may use physical representations, power point, slides or other visual means for illustration purposes, in addition to verbal presentation.  Presentations will be made to the Selection Panel and will be limited to thirty minutes with additional time for questions.  Presentations will be evaluated on the criteria below, with the addition of 0-10 points for presentation skills and 0-10 points for references.

Selection Criteria:
The selection panel will review all proposals submitted.  Incomplete or responses submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed.  The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.  Designs not selected will remain the property of artists or team of artists.

Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• The creativity of approach and theme/spirit of the artwork and how it relates to the Civic Campus and more specifically, a new outdoor public gathering place aka Town Center Park/plaza, new City Hall/Police Station Addition (0-25points).
• The function of the artwork in relationship to Civic Campus and more specifically, a new outdoor public gathering place aka Town Center Park/plaza, new City Hall, and Police Station Addition (0-25 points).
• Ability of complete the artwork within given budget and time schedule (0-20 points).
• Good planning and communication skills - proven ability to coordinate and collaborate with project managers, design professionals, and community stakeholders (0-20 points).
• Ability to produce durable outdoor art that is low maintenance and vandal resistance (0-10 points).

Past work(s):

• The Selection Panel will also take into consideration the quality of concept, design, and craftsmanship of past works.

The panel will select one artist or team of artists to be recommended for award of the commission. 

The Mountlake Terrace Arts Advisory Commission encourages diversity in its collection. Artists whose work is well represented in the city’s collection are eligible to apply, but the artist selection panel will consider artistic diversity as one factor in the selection process.

Notification of Results:
Applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision/recommendation within approximately one month of final presentations. The City of Mountlake Terrace reserves the right not to select any of the applicants.

We’re Here to Help:
Please contact Stephen Clifton, Assistant City Manager, at SClifton@mltwa.gov or 425-744-6209 if you have questions about the process.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria