Project Overview

The City of Sarasota, Florida is sponsoring an outdoor landmark sculpture for placement within a future roadway roundabout at the intersection of 10th Street and US 41 in a downtown location. This project is related to a public art initiative that is focused on acquiring public works of art that will be permanently displayed in numerous roundabouts that will be constructed during the next decade.  The City intends to construct approximately 16 new roundabouts by 2025 which will incorporate public artwork in the center islands.  These projects have many stakeholders including the City Commission, the Public Art Committee, various City Departments and other interested community organizations and individuals.  There is no central theme for the overall collection of sculpture in these future roundabouts.  This Call to Artists is only for one roundabout to be located at 10th Street and US 41; a separate Call to Artists has also been issued for a roundabout to be located at 14th Street and US 41.  A brief description of the area is located in Appendix A of the Appendices A through C document available on the City's website.

Of general note: The City of Sarasota is known for its arts and cultural amenities; located on the Gulf coast of Florida, the City is approximately 60 miles south of Tampa.  The current resident population of the City is approximately 55,000 full-time residents and Sarasota County population is approximately 407,000 full-time residents.

The first step of this design competition will be the review of application materials with the intent of identifying three artwork proposals most favored by the City's Public Art Committee.  Following this initial selection process, three artists who are selected as finalists will be invited to present their proposals in person to the Public Art Committee (finalists will be paid $1,000 honorariums to present their proposals in person and must include a site specific maquette and/or other visual depictions of the proposed artwork).  The Public Art Committee will rank the three proposals and make a recommendation to the City Commission, which grants final approval for the commissioning of this work.  Please note that the City Commission is not obligated to select the Public Art Committee’s recommendation.   Only one of the three finalists will be offered this commission.

This roundabout will be located in Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) right-of-way and must be approved by that Department.  Upon selection by the City Commission, the proposed artwork will be submitted to FDOT for review and approval.  FDOT’s process consists of two reviews with both reviews involving the local District Office and the Central Office.  First is a Concept Phase which involves submittal of conceptual drawings, site plans, and other documentation.  Second is a Final Phase which involves submittal of final documents, including site plans, a traffic control plan, structural plans, and other documents.  Please see excerpt from the FDOT Design Manual (January 1, 2018) located in Appendix C of the Appendices A through C document available for download; specifically, Section 127.2.1 – Public Art (Stand-Alone) and Section 127.3 – Approval Process.  FDOT information about the roundabout construction is located at http://swflroads.com/us41/roundabouts.

Design Criteria

Overall design criteria that will help guide the selection of artwork are:

1.   Is work that will complement its downtown location

2.   Is designed to require minimal maintenance (do not include a water feature)

3.   Is a high quality, free-standing outdoor sculpture

4.   Is of an original design (not reproduced)

5.   Does not draw viewers to it but is appreciated from a distance (i.e. non-interactive)

6.   Should not create a distracting situation for drivers using the roundabout

7.   Does not exceed 25 feet in overall height above the nearest travel lane (please design the artwork atop a base that is 3 ½ feet in height; this would leave a maximum of 21 ½ feet for the artwork itself); the City anticipates that a wall that is 3 ½ feet in height will be constructed in the center island, that the artwork will be located within the walled area, and that the top of the base shall be flush with the top of the wall

8.   Proposed work should be structurally sound and meet applicable standards of the Florida Building Code in regard to the foundation and wind loading (150 MPH winds); final work will need to be engineered and stamped/signed by a registered Florida engineer who is pre-qualified for FDOT work

9.   The artwork must have a minimum offset of six (6) feet from the edge of the inside travel lane; it is preferable to have the artwork placed in the center of the roundabout

10. Materials used must meet the demands of Sarasota’s subtropical climate (sea salt air)

11. The sculpture must not contain any signs or traffic control features, auditory devices, reflective surfaces, flashing lights, moving parts or moving illumination

12. It must be devoid of advertising, including charitable, fraternal, religious, or political signs, symbols, logos, banners or any other such device

13. The structure may not display messages with text, but can make use of alpha-numeric characters in the design format

14. Required lighting of the sculpture must not be directed at motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians

15. The artwork, including any amenities, must not obstruct any signs or interfere with any sight distance, sight triangle or view zone

16. The artwork will have an anti-graffiti coating

17. The artist will provide a two-year warranty on materials and craftsmanship

There is no stated stylistic preference; a full spectrum of high quality outdoor sculpture is anticipated to be of interest to the City.

The commissioned work of art will become part of the City’s permanent public art collection.  Artists are required to submit qualifications, illustrations (images, renderings), and a brief statement describing an initial concept idea for this project.  It is hoped that a full range of art mediums suitable for an outdoor environment and styles will be represented.

This is an intersection of a collector road (10th Street) and a major arterial road (US 41).  The roundabout will be a two-lane design.  It is preferable to have artwork centrally located in the roundabout.  At the time of this Call to Artists issuance, the design plans show a center island with a varying diameter of 97 feet to 118.8 feet.  The City anticipates that a wall that is 3 ½ feet in height will be designed and constructed in the center island of the roundabout and the artwork shall be located within the walled area.  Therefore, the entire center island will not be able for the artwork display.  The artist should anticipate a display area that is up to approximately 15 feet in diameter. 

The three finalists will make in-person presentations to the Public Art Committee at a Public Art meeting which will be open to the public.  Public comment will be allowed during the meeting.  Artist honorariums of $1,000.00 (one-thousand dollars) will be paid to the three finalists.  Presentations must include a site specific maquette and/or other visual depictions of the proposed artwork.

For general information regarding the City’s public art program and images of completed works within the City's collection, please visit https://www.sarasotafl.gov/our-city/public-art.

Artist Eligibility

Artists who have successfully completed projects of similar scale and budget.

Budget

The City’s project budget is not to exceed $150,000.00 (One-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars).  This artwork budget will reflect all costs associated with the project, including but not limited to such items as: design and site plan, engineering (including the foundation design), production, transport, installation, site preparation, lighting, travel expenses, and required insurance.  It is anticipated that some of the associated artwork project costs such as electrical conduit being run to the sculpture location and an artwork base platform will be covered within a general construction budget separate from the maximum $150,000 allocated for this commission.  However, if unusual foundation needs are proposed by the artist, these costs must be accounted for within their proposed artwork budget.

Submittal Documents

1.   Upload a written description of proposed artwork for this project including the title, explanation of how the artwork relates to the location and represents the community of Sarasota, type of media, dimensions, and weight; up to 8 images of the proposed artwork; and fabrication information (please submit only one artwork proposal for this roundabout);

2.   Artists are requested to submit a resume outlining their experience;

3.   Proposed budget estimate for the project;

4.   Upload images of previous artwork listing title, type of media, dimensions, and year of completion or upload artwork from your gallery and be sure to include an ID sheet;

5.   3 or more professional references; and

6.   A disclosure statement regarding any professional or personal relationship with any City of Sarasota official, employee, or advisory board member (located in Appendix B of the Appendices A through C document).

Time-line

Deadline for submission: February 28, 2019

General review of applicants by the Public Art Committee: April/May 2019

Finalist presentations to the Public Art Committee: July/August 2019

Recommendation of the Public Art Committee presented to City Commission for selection approval: September 2019

Upon City Commission approval, anticipate contract signing within 30 days after which a workplan and Concept Phase documentation will be submitted to the City within 60 days

Florida Department of Transportation Concept Phase and Final Phase: anticipated Fall/Winter 2019

This roundabout is scheduled for completion at the beginning of January 2020.  Site prep and installation to begin upon FDOT Final approval which will occur after completion of the roundabout.

Selection Process

The City of Sarasota Public Art Committee will review all submitted material and select three artist finalists.  The three selected finalists will be paid $1,000.00 honorariums for an in-person presentation of their proposed site-specific artwork which shall include a maquette.  Each of the three selected artists will be responsible for transportation, lodging, and food costs when making the in-person presentation to the Public Art Committee.  The Public Art Committee will rank the three finalists’ proposals and make a recommendation to the City Commission.  The City Commission makes the final determination of the selected artwork and is not obligated to select the Public Art Committee’s recommended artwork.  Upon selection by the City Commission, the proposed artwork will be submitted to the Florida Department of Transportation for review and approval in accordance with FDOT’s application process.

All applicants will be notified about the outcome of their submissions.  Please do not call or e-mail for an update on the status of the submission.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria