Application Closed
Eligibility: National
State: Arizona
Scottsdale Public Art
Call for Artists/Request for Qualifications (RFQ)
Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd and Greenway/Hayden Loop Public Art Project
Application Deadline: January 28, 2019
Total Project Budget: $300,000
Scottsdale Public Art is accepting qualifications from artists for a public art opportunity at the intersection of Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd and the Greenway/Hayden Loop in Scottsdale. This beautification project, spearheaded by Keep Scottsdale Beautiful in partnership with Scottsdale Public Art, Central Arizona Project, The Bureau of Reclamation and the City of Scottsdale, will have a significant impact on the quality of life for locals and visitors for generations to come.
The intersection is adjacent to the Central Arizona Project Canal, The Tournament Players Club of Scottsdale, and a City of Scottsdale Water Resources facility. The project artist will be asked to work with a team of students from a collegiate design program to create a plan for enhancements for the intersection. Enhancements could include a mural, landscaping, and other streetscape improvements. The student team will be selected as part of a contest for teams to join the artist as part of the design team for the project. The project artist will be one of the contest judges.
Site Description
The Phoenix Thunderbirds host the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament every year at the City of Scottsdale’s Tournament Players Club. The intersection that is the project location sees heavy pedestrian traffic during the tournament. On the north side of the CAP Canal is a large berm that runs the length of the canal creating a barrier between the canal and the golf course. Enhancements for the berm could also be part of the project depending if the design fits the constraints imposed by the Bureau of Reclamation, Central Arizona Project, Tournament Players Club, and the Scottsdale Airport. The airport is directly SW of the project site and vertical elements designed for the top of the berm will be subject to height restrictions due to planes approaching for landing.
Scope and Project Description
The scope for this public art project focuses on working with the winning student design team to design enhancements for the project site that integrate the artist’s work and vision with the student’s creative solutions for a cohesive design from roadway to the canal berm. Once design is complete, the project artist will be contracted to work with fabricators, if necessary, and oversee installation of the designed enhancements with the student team. The opportunities for integrating enhancements into the project site could include a mural on the exterior of the Scottsdale Water Resources facility, low-water-use landscaping next to sidewalks, ground treatments like decomposed granite that can withstand heavy vehicles driving over them, improvements to the railings along the overpass over the canal, improvements to the fencing on the berm, or permanent infrastructure for rotating temporary artworks on top of the berm. A successful design for this project should address Keep Scottsdale Beautiful’s pillar to Beautify Public Places, and creatively reflect the spirit of the Waste Management Phoenix Open with respect to the event’s importance to the area, Scottsdale Water Resources tenets, the mission and purpose of the Central Arizona Project Canal, and the unique urban setting of the project site offering views of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve as inspiration.
The budget for the project is inclusive of all costs associated with the project including the artist selection process, design costs, artist’s fee, fabrication, and installation. The budget includes all travel for site visits, community meetings, and meetings between the artist and the project design team. The budget includes all taxes and insurance.
Scottsdale Public Art
In 1985, Scottsdale adopted a one percent for art ordinance and established Scottsdale Public Art with the goal to enhance the quality of life afforded area residents and visitors. Since that time more than 60 permanent, 26 temporary and 86 private developer-funded public artworks have been commissioned throughout the community. Presently 50 new works are in various stages of design and construction. Scottsdale Public Art’s projects have won local, regional and national awards. Public art has taken many forms ranging from the walls of the Pima Freeway to James Turrell’s "skyspace" at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. The Scottsdale Public Art Collection includes traditional sculpture in the public square such as Ed Mell's Jack Knife, a ground-breaking freeway project, Carolyn Braaksma’s The Path Most Traveled, and a signature pedestrian bridge by Paolo Soleri. The Scottsdale Public Art collection includes work by acclaimed artists such as Ilan Averbuch, Kevin Berry, James Carpenter, Cliff Garten, Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan, Larry Kirkland, Laurie Lundquist, Merge Conceptual Design, Dennis Oppenheim, and James Turrell. Projects underway include work by Phillip K Smith III (The Art Office), Marc Fornes and THEVERYMANY Studio, and Jody Pinto.
Scottsdale Public Art seeks to incorporate the highest quality art in Scottsdale's public places in order to enhance the City's cultural and artistic identity and presence. Scottsdale Public Art seeks to instigate a renewed commitment to the public domain by way of such projects that may invigorate social, cultural, historical, or environmental issues. Projects may possess a direct social relevance that is community referential or they may push the "place making" envelope and involve the viewer in the complexities of the urban desert experience. Public art in Scottsdale is meant to combine a spirited perspective of traditional and new iconographies as well as celebrate and invigorate the vitality of public life.
Scottsdale Public Art advocates, promotes and enables the integration of the work and ideas of artists into many facets of planning, design and building in the community. Public art effectively invites community participation at all phases, from artist selection to dedication. During the design process, an average of 250 people may review each public art project. Artists compete for a commission at a specific location; a project panel comprised of city residents and art and design professionals chooses the artist; and the artist's design is then presented at public meetings prior to approval and fabrication. In many cases, the artist becomes an integral member of the project design team.
Scottsdale Public Art is managed by the Scottsdale Cultural Council, a private, non-profit 501 (c) (3) management organization that administers the arts and cultural affairs of the City of Scottsdale, Arizona and also manages the Scottsdale Center for the Arts, and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is the major resort center of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Although not all of the local major resorts are located in the city, the city contains the core of specialty shopping, art galleries, and recreational facilities and many of the cultural and sporting events that attract and sustain the local tourism industry. Because of the lack of services in most areas adjacent to the city, Scottsdale’s retail centers, parks, employment centers, and libraries are heavily used by residents outside of the city. The high quality of the visual environment and character areas in the city is an important component of maintaining the tourism industry and civic framework.
In his 2000 study entitled “Scottsdale City Image” (a report to the City of Scottsdale’s Urban Design Studio), Todd Bressi reports that “Scottsdale is a city whose visual character is especially important to its residents, and where the sense of landscape and openness in the city are valued.” He suggests specific values that would contribute to a strengthened identity of Scottsdale’s civic framework and primary spaces of public experience: recognize the importance of the pedestrian scale of Scottsdale’s civic framework; celebrate the places that make Scottsdale great; strengthen the design of the arterial grid; reconnect with the Sonoran landscape. These values hold true today and motivate the efforts of Scottsdale Public Art.
Selection Process
An artist-selection panel will be convened to evaluate all submissions and select one artist and an alternate for the project. Selection criteria include: the applicant’s professional qualifications; proven ability to complete projects of a similar scope; artistic merit as evidenced by the submitted materials; and demonstrated ability to work with government agencies and stakeholders in the creation of site enhancements for a public art project.
The project artist(s) will be recommended by the selection panel for approval by the Scottsdale Public Art Advisory Board based on the review of images and other application materials. The Advisory Board approves art concepts and the project scope and budget, thereby allowing the artist creative license within the established project plan. Contract and project plan are to be negotiated with Scottsdale Public Art. The Advisory Board reserves the right to reject any and all applications.
Timeline
January 28, 2019 Deadline for response to RFQ (Midnight MST)
Spring 2019 College Student Design Team Contest
Summer 2019 Design Process
Fall 2019 Fabrication
December 2019 Installation
January 27, 2020 Project Complete
Specific proposals are not requested for this stage in the process.
All materials submitted become the property of Scottsdale Public Art.
Submission Requirements
- Digital Images: 5 digital images of previously completed artwork.
- Resume or CV: Current professional resume or curriculum vitae (CV) including artist address, email, and phone number. Teams must submit one resume/CV per team member.
- References: 2 professional references for you.
- Statement(s) of Intent: Address how the applicant’s previous experience and current artistic direction will result in a successful public art project.
For Further Information
All questions regarding this Request for Qualifications are to be directed to Kevin Vaughan-Brubaker, Public Art Manager, Scottsdale Public Art, at kevinv@scottsdalearts.org. Please include artist name and contact info in all correspondence.