Call Detail
STL Airport 2020 Legacy Project
Entry Deadline: 8/26/19
Application Closed
Work Sample Requirements
Images | Minimum:Min. 8, Maximum:Max. 12
Audio | Minimum:Min. 0, Maximum:Max. 5
Video | Minimum:Min. 0, Maximum:Max. 5
Total Samples | Minimum:Min. 8, Maximum:Max. 12
Call Type: Public Art
Eligibility: International
State: Missouri

ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
LAMBERT ART AND CULTURE PROGRAM
2020 LEGACY PROJECT: REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

St. Louis Lambert International Airport (“the Airport”), owned and operated by the City of St. Louis, is seeking qualifications from artists and artist teams to create an original work of art for a highly visible two-story wall in the C-Concourse Checkpoint/Exit area of Terminal 1. The project coincides with the 100-year anniversary of aviation at the current Airport site. The project will provide a new focal point for visitors, passengers, and employees as the Airport celebrates its extensive past and bright future.

Qualifications will be reviewed by the Airport Art Advisory Committee (AAAC) and one artist will be recommended to create a site-specific proposal for the space. The submission requirements are described below. The budget for the project is $200,000. Qualifications are due by August 26, 2019. 

BACKGROUND

ABOUT ST. LOUIS LAMBERT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Major Albert Bond Lambert, a World War I veteran and student of the Wright brothers, first leased 170 acres of Missouri farmland in 1920. The land was initially used for hot air balloon flights, a National Guard base, mail delivery, air races, and even early transcontinental flight. Lambert later bought the field and sold it to the City of St. Louis in 1928, to establish one of the first municipally-owned airports in the country. Throughout its history, the Airport has influenced significant aviation milestones: Charles Lindbergh; impact on the Space Race through the growth of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (later Boeing); and the historic Minoru Yamasaki-designed Terminal. The Airport continues to meet the ever-changing challenges of air travel and the aviation industry, connecting the St. Louis region to the world for nearly a century and thinking innovatively into the future.

ABOUT THE LAMBERT ART AND CULTURE PROGRAM

The Lambert Art and Culture Program builds upon the culturally rich legacy of St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Our mission is to elevate the visitor experience and uplift regional pride through the presentation of artwork created by local, national, and international artists.

The goals for the Lambert Art and Culture Program are to: 

  • Feature the best local, national and international talent.

  • Enhance gathering places for airport customers.

  • Complement and build upon the established visual identity of the airport.

  • Generate community pride while inspiring joy and wonder.

  • Create a visually outstanding impression of St. Louis.

  • Endure multiple visits to the airport.

The Art and Culture Program grew out of the 2008 Airport Experience Program, a major renovation project to improve the airport’s operations and pay tribute to the building’s iconic architecture and historic role as a civic space and landmark. To date, the Lambert Art and Culture Program has commissioned ten permanent public art projects. In 2011, nine St. Louis-based visual artists (Lauren F. Adams, Sarah Giannobile, Tom Huck, Joan Hall, Jana Harper, William LaChance, Eva Lundsager, Edna Patterson Petty, Mel Watkin) were commissioned to create work that was translated in art glass screens and installed throughout the A and C Concourses. In addition, artist Alicia LaChance was selected to design a terrazzo floor medallion that is located just past the Concourse C security checkpoint. These were the first public art commissions at the Airport since the installation of the Black Americans in Flight mural created by Spencer Taylor and Solomon Thurman in 1990.

In 2017, the Airport commissioned three long-term temporary public art projects in Terminal 2. Two murals were created in the Baggage Claim area: Alight on St. Louis by Ellie Balk and Ebb and Flow IV by Megan Singleton. Also a collaboration with Washington University's Sam Fox Scholl of Design & Visual Arts Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design resulted in the creation of Spectroplexus, a suspended 100’ installation in the ceiling of the Ticketing area.

In addition to public art, the Lambert Art and Culture Program has a growing temporary exhibitions program throughout the Airport. The Lambert Gallery, in Terminal 1 Bag Claim, opened in 2012 and has since featured curated exhibitions from more than 25 local arts and culture institutions. Many additional display areas have been added to the program since 2012, including multiple locations throughout the Airport for showing two-dimensional artwork. The exhibition program currently boasts more than ten locations throughout the Airport, which highlight the efforts of local artists, cultural and historic institutions, and curators on a rotating basis.   

The Lambert Art and Culture Program is advised by the Airport Art Advisory Committee (AAAC), consisting of seven highly qualified local arts professionals appointed by the Mayor of St. Louis. The AAAC will serve as the Selection Panel for the 2020 Legacy Project.

For more information about Lambert’s Art and Culture program, visit www.artoftravelstl.com.

ABOUT THE 2020 LEGACY PROJECT

The site for the 2020 Legacy Project is a wall located post-security in the C-Concourse area of Terminal 1. Prominent to the C-Concourse security checkpoint, visible from the pre-security area on the level above, and a potential milepost for arriving passengers exiting the C-Concourse, the wall has the potential to help define the experience of passengers arriving and departing, visitors awaiting friends and families, and TSA and Airport employees moving through their day. A two-dimensional or low-relief artwork can be applied to this wall within the light-filled atrium in the Yamasaki-designed Terminal 1. The artwork could be a painted or mosaic mural, a large-scale painting, or a wall installation using glass, tile, wood, plastic, fabric or other materials. The selected artist should make use of the multiple sightlines and the height of the space to create a unique and engaging site-specific two-dimensional artwork.

The goals for the 2020 Legacy Project are to:

  • Reflect, juxtapose, or otherwise create a dialogue with the iconic design, modern grandeur, celebration of air travel and/or formal relationship to flight and aerodynamics provided by the context of the Yamasaki-designed Terminal 1 building.

  • Enhance the environment and provide a focal point for passengers waiting in the security queue.

  • Continue the spirit of innovation and forward thinking that led Albert Bond Lambert to begin the airport in 1920.

  • Celebrate 100 years of the Airport as a link between the region and the world.

  • Work at the scale of the space.

The selected artist will work with Airport staff to determine weight limitations and appropriate wall surface preparation. The site is located near the Security Checkpoint, therefore artists should avoid projects which have distracting technology, including flashing lights, sound and moving imagery.

SELECTION PROCESS

Artist qualifications will be reviewed by the AAAC based on the following criteria:

  • Artistic excellence and innovation as demonstrated by past work and the submitted materials.

  • Understanding of the project and ability to create an artwork that responds to the goals of the project.

  • Ability to meet the timeline.

  • Ability to create artwork that provides interest in public spaces and continues to engage viewers through multiple visits as demonstrated by past work and submitted materials.

The AAAC will recommend the selection of an artist based upon qualifications, interview and references. Upon all necessary approvals, the selected artist will be placed under contract to develop a two-dimensional concept proposal, narrative description and budget.

ARTIST SCOPE OF WORK

The selected artist will be responsible for designing, fabricating, and installing the artwork, including:

  • Developing a concept design and presenting it to the AAAC for review and recommendation to the Airport Director for approval.

  • Executing the final design on schedule and in a manner that conforms to the approved concept.

  • Communicating with the Airport throughout the design development, fabrication and installation process in order to facilitate reviews and coordination of installation.

  • Managing installation of the artwork.

  • Participating, as requested, in community outreach and attending dedication events.

BUDGET

The budget for the artwork is not to exceed $200,000. This budget includes all costs of designing, fabricating and installing the artwork, including but not limited to all design fees, fabrication, materials and equipment costs, professional fees, travel and lodging during design, fabrication and/or installation, insurance, overhead, site work, shipping, and installation costs. The Airport will prepare the wall surface to receive the artwork based on the agreed-upon specifications in the concept design.

TIMELINE 

  • August 26, 2019             Qualifications due

  • September 2019             AAAC review of artists and recommendation of finalists. 

  • October 2019                 Staff checks references and AAAC interviews finalists. AAAC makes recommendation                                                          for selection. 

  • Early March 2020           Artist presents concept design to AAAC for recommendation to Airport Director for                                                                 approval.

  • March, 2020                    Artist proceeds with final design. 

  • April 2020                       Final design approved.

  • April-October 2020         Fabrication 

  • TBD 2020                       Artwork installed

TO SUBMIT

To submit your required materials, go online to the CaFÉ homepage at www.CallForEntry.org and create a free artist account. CaFÉ is free to use and there is no entry fee for this call. Under “Find Calls” search for “STL Airport 2020 Legacy Project”. Follow the instructions for submission, upload the required images and files, and submit. All materials are due before 11:59 p.m. Central time on Monday, August 26, 2019.

You will be asked to submit the following response in your online submission:

  • Brief letter describing your interest in the project (no more than 2 pages)

You will be asked to attach the following files in your online submission:

  • A resume/CV no longer than 3-pages, including current contact information and email address (PDF). 

  • Three professional references with current contact information (PDF). 

  • Up to 10 sample images of previously completed projects that represent your body of work (JPEG).

  • Information about each work sample, including: artist's name, artwork title, a brief description of the artwork (100 words or less), media, completion date, dimensions, location, and total budget/cost (please use the Price/Value fiels in CaFE). In the description field, please state the commissioning agency if applicable, and state your role in the creation of the artwork if other artists or design professionals were involved in its creation. 

PLEASE DO NOT SEND SPECIFIC PROPOSALS AT THIS TIME.

QUESTIONS

Please submit all project questions via email to Angie Villa of Via Partnership villa@viapartnership.com no later than August 5, 2019. Responses to all questions will be posted on artoftravelstl.com/home by August 12, 2019.

For technical questions about CaFÉ, please click on “Help” on the CaFE website

ATTACHMENTS

  1. Photo of exterior of Terminal 1

  2. Photo of art wall in context, seen from atrium above

  3. Photo of art wall close-up with dimensions

  4. Longview Photo of art wall, seen from atrium above

  5. Photo of art wall and exiting passengers, seen from atrium above

  6. Photo of art wall, as seen by passengers who have just passed through Security Checkpoint

  7. Photo of exiting passengers approaching art wall from Concourse-C

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria