Project Summary and Goals
The City of Greenville, the Pitt County Arts Council (PCAC), Uptown Greenville, and the North Carolina Arts Council are seeking qualifications from professional artists or artist teams to create a vision plan for the Emerald Loop, a new urban trail in downtown Greenville, NC.  The selected artist will work closely with City of Greenville planners and their consultants to develop concepts for a series of art projects along the new urban trail, and to enhance the connection with the surrounding neighborhoods and city districts.  This Emerald Loop Vision Plan will provide a framework for potential public art opportunities along the trail corridor (map provided upon request). The goals of this project are:

• To activate and enhance the cultural connectivity, economic vitality and walkability in downtown Greenville through engaging artwork and creative placemaking.
• To add to Greenville’s growing collection of public art.
• To create community pride and celebrate Greenville’s diverse community.
• To beautify and add character to downtown and reflect the unique characteristics and assets of Greenville.
• To create vision that incorporates interactive and engaging elements of creative placemaking referencing the Emerald City (lighting, etc.)

The Emerald Loop and its arts overlay are designed to create a distinct urban trail in downtown Greenville that will connect the many assets of the City including Vidant Medical Center campus, East Carolina University campus, historic neighborhoods, the Tar River, Town Common Park and Greenville Uptown district that is home to galleries, museums, breweries and businesses. This is a high traffic area with lots of visibility, commerce, and potential to attract artists and creatives to live and work. The SmART Greenville team envisions a necklace of gems connecting Greenville’s assets to the Emerald Loop.
 

Community Profile
Greenville is one of eight cities in the North Carolina Arts Council’s SmART Communities program, which demonstrates how the arts transform downtowns and fuel sustainable economic development.  Greenville is widely recognized as the cultural, educational, economic and medical hub of Eastern North Carolina. Named for American Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene, it sits on the south bank of the Tar River and is North Carolina’s 10th largest city with over 92,000 people.

The City of Greenville is a vibrant, innovative, and inclusive community with unique and sustainable neighborhoods; an abundance of first-class arts, cultural and recreational opportunities and a strong business climate supported by entrepreneurialism and top-quality educational institutions.  Vidant Medical Center is the third largest Level I Trauma Center in the nation and serves as the teaching hospital for Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.  East Carolina University boasts a diverse student population representing 48 states and 44 countries and has strong performing arts, visual arts and creative writing departments.

Greenville is an important part of The African American Music Trails of North Carolina (AAMT), which celebrates the contributions of eastern North Carolina musicians in gospel, jazz, funk and popular music.  Jazz pianist Billy Taylor is from Greenville and the Billy Taylor Jazz Festival is an annual event. The city is home to many art galleries including Emerge (also the home of the Pitt County Arts Council), and Gray Gallery on ECU’s campus.  The Greenville Museum of Art houses an impressive collection of 20th-century American art. 
 

Budget
The total amount to be paid to the artist is $60,000, inclusive of the research and engagement process; preliminary reviews of draft plan; public presentations of plan draft; artist travel and final documents (digital and presentation format).

Artist’s Responsibilities
Phase I Community Engagement:  The selected artist or artist team would spend 8-10 days over a two-to-three month period in Greenville researching the community, meeting with key community stakeholders, the Greenville SmART team, Greenville Parks & Recreation planning staff, and working with PCAC to facilitate community workshops and presentations to build enthusiasm for the Emerald Loop Plan and gather information and feedback.  A strong collaborative process is a highly desirable outcome for this project.

Phase II Feedback:  The artist will develop a report on their findings, provide recommendations, and make presentations to the Greenville SmART team, key stakeholders and the community.  During this phase, the artist and Greenville SmART team will review and recommend one of the concepts to be fleshed out as a potential first project for implementation.

Phase III Draft Plan:   The artist will develop a draft of the Emerald Loop Vision Plan incorporating feedback and information received during Phase II.  The concept plan should include example images, descriptions of projects, recommended budgets, locations, and an overall “arts overlay” for the Emerald Loop Vision Plan. The design of a potential first project should also be included in the draft.

The artist will present the plan to the Greenville SmART team and should anticipate additional review by government officials, downtown development and City planning staff.  The artist should focus on the artistic, cultural, and historic assets within the Uptown Greenville map, existing greenways, and strategize for the phasing and funding for the arts overlay plan.  The artist should also plan to assist the SmART team in a presentation of the Emerald Loop Vision Plan to the Greenville City Council for adoption.

Phase III Deliverable:  The artist will produce a final Emerald Loop Vision Plan document (digital file for printing and a Power Point summary of the Plan for presentations) describing and illustrating:

• Summary of research
• Concepts and themes
• Identification of sites and opportunities
• Public art projects with a range of recommended budgets
• Illustrations and/or images of examples of public art projects, artistic wayfinding and examples of project opportunities
• Detailed concept drawing for potential first project

Submittals & Eligibility
Local, regional and national professional artists and artist teams are invited to submit applications electronically through Cafe. Applications and all materials must be received by May 6, 2019 no later than 11:59 pm to be considered. Applicants must be age 18 or older, and are eligible regardless of race,religion, national origin, gender, gender identification, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical ability. 
 

Submission Guidelines

• An artist statement of interest in the Emerald Loop Vision Plan
• Three references with e-mail and telephone contact information
• Artist resume or bio
• Examples of other relevant works and/or reviews of similar work. Maximum of 10 images.
• Suggested plan for community engagement activities

Selection Process and Schedule
There will be a two-step selection process.  After applications are received, the selection panel will invite up to three artists to come to Greenville and interview.  Finalists will be paid a stipend of $1,500 for their interview and travel. 

Evaluation Criteria

• Artistic accomplishment as demonstrated by images of previously completed artwork.
• Technical competence and comparable scale of past works.
• Demonstrated ability to create artwork that reflects the distinctive characteristics of the place and community.
• Demonstrated ability to complete projects on time and within budget.
• Experience with planning and collaboration with multiple stakeholders in urban settings.
   

Artist Selection Committee
The committee is comprised of leaders from the SmART Greenville team, which includes representatives from the public and private sector, public art experts, and stakeholders in the community as well as artists and art professionals from the area.  The selection committee will review all material properly submitted.  Finalists will be selected based upon the competitiveness of the applicant’s qualifications.

Timeline – subject to change
May 6, 2019 | 11:59pm (EST)  Deadline for application.
June 4, 2019                            Interview Finalists   
June 5, 2019                            Notification of selected artist and all applicants
June 2019                                Execute hiring contract
July – August                           Artist makes first site visit
September – December          Two or three site visits (as necessary)
January 2020                           Final draft Emerald Loop Plan
February 2020                         Plan adopted

For additional information on this project: contact Denise Dickens, Public Art Specialist, denise.dickens@townofcary.org or visit the Pitt County Arts website here. 

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria