Letters of interest and qualifications are requested from artists interested in creating site specific art for a public area of the new Southern Utah University Academic Classroom Building in Cedar City, Utah.

SUU Academic Classroom Building
Located on the corner of 200 South and 800 West in Cedar City, Utah, the Academic Classroom Building has a timeless design, that reflects the campus and the region with durable exterior materials and aesthetics based on providing a sense of the Cedar Breaks National Monument color. The building is designed to just over 90,000 gross square feet (GSF) as a general classroom building initially housing Art/Design/Film, Aviation, Math, History. Anthropology, CETL, General Classrooms, Study Areas, Program Space, Faculty Offices and Common Spaces.

The building has been designed as a 360 degree building with no front and rear, but rather a community-facing side and campus-facing side. The campus facing side on the north/east creates an enclosure that forms open “Quad” where open green public space can be accessed by both students and the public. The design of the building’s community facing side considers its visual prominence to drivers and pedestrians entering and leaving campus from the 800 West parking lot to the west. Considerable thought was taken to reflect the Cedar Breaks National Monument in both color and form of the building. Its configuration, massing and other design features respect and relate to the campus buildings and the community as well as expresses the art elements and other purposes that occur within the building.

The interior palette is a warm and subtle to tie into the natural environment of the areas and reinforce the theme of Southern and Central Utah. The primary entry to the building is the north entry which is a major pedestrian walkway. The southwest and eastern entries will likewise become significant entries for students.

Current state of the construction site: https://www.suu.edu/it/webcam/academics-building.html

SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY www.suu.edu
Southern Utah University’s more than 140 undergraduate and 19 graduate programs across six academic colleges are fully accredited. Southern Utah University is committed to providing the most innovative and relevant university experience. SUU offers world-class project based learning giving students professional experience before they enter the job market.

Southern Utah University is the home of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, which provides an important economic and cultural infusion to the area. The professional quality of the plays produced each summer, employing talented professionals from all over the United States, is becoming known around the world. The Festival won the 2000 Tony Award for outstanding regional theatre.

The college was founded in 1897 as a branch of the State Normal School (University of Utah). In 1913 it became a branch of the Utah State Agricultural College of Logan. In 1968 the state legislature transformed it into a four-year college of liberal arts and sciences with elementary and secondary teacher education programs. On January 1, 1991, it attained university status and its present name.

CEDAR CITY, UTAH cedarcity.org
Cedar City, with a population of 35,000, is the largest community in Iron County and is located at the mouth of Coal Creek in south-central Utah. Its elevation is 5,800 feet above sea level, and it lies in a semi-arid part of the state with 10,000-foot mountains to the east and a vast desert area to the west. Cedar City's economy is based on tourism, agriculture, some mining, the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Southern Utah University with an enrollment of 12,000 students. Cedar City is the tribal headquarters of the modern Southern Paiute Indian Reservation. The history of the area includes the Fremont people who lived in the Parowan Valley from about A.D. 750 to 1250. Remnants of that culture are evident in an unusual variety of petroglyphs of different periods in the cliffs of the Parowan Gap—about 13 miles northwest of Cedar City. Pioneer settlement began on November 11, 1851, with the arrival of a group of 35 men from Parowan, 20 miles northward, to establish an iron works. Beginning in 1858, the town's economy started to become agrarian in nature although iron mining continued strongly through World War II and into the 1980s. The coming of the railroad to Cedar City in 1923 exposed Utah's national parks to the world of tourism, and Cedar City was promoted as the "gateway to the parks." This references the abundance of national and state parks nearby. https://visitcedarcity.com/things-to-do/outdoor-activities/national-parks/ 

ART SELECTION COMMITTEE STATEMENT 
The Selection Committee is looking forward to working with an artist to help contribute to this important facility for the State of Utah and Southern Utah University. The Committee has identified an interior site located towards the north entry as a gateway for the primary student entrance. The Committee hopes this site specific work will, like the building design, help create an inviting and welcoming vibe and feel for the space as students make their way towards the "geek bar," and other study areas. Cove seating is positioned directly across from the site for viewing, relaxing and study. Generous ceiling heights and the wall area has been designed as invitation to artists working in diverse media for consideration.

The corridor at the site varies from 12’ to 9’ wide and 17’ high. The faceted walls of the site are approximately 14’ x 17’ (Front), 23’-6” x 17’ (middle) and 15’-6” x 17’ (end.) 

BUDGET
$166,000 has been allocated by the Utah State Legislature to commission public art work(s) for this facility. These funds are intended to cover all costs associated with the artist’s public art commission(s) including but not limited to; travel, installation and related expenses.
Finalists will be offered an honorarium to assist with costs associated with time and expenses of a full proposal presentation and interview with the selection committee. The honorarium will become part of the total commission award for the selected artist(s).

ELIGIBILITY Resident American or legal resident artists / artist teams are eligible for this commission. Utah artists are strongly encouraged to apply. Art selection committee members, Utah Arts & Museums staff and employees, subcontractors or consultants of MHTN Architecture or Layton Construction are not eligible for this project. 

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIRED MATERIALS 
Interested artists may submit applications via CaFE.org

The application platform will ask for:
•Up to 10 images of previous site-specific public work.
•Information on each of the images to include title, medium, dimensions, site information, etc.
•A letter of interest of up to 5000 characters. This letter asks the artist’s reasons for their interest in theproject how their work and/or experience may relate to the project.
•A professional resume or CV

Utah Arts & Museums will not be responsible for applications delayed or lost in transit. While all reasonable efforts will be taken to access applications, neither the Utah Division of Arts & Museums nor the SUU Art Selection Committee will be liable for late or lost files. Faxed or e-mailed applications cannot be accepted. The SUU Art Selection Committee reserves the right to withhold the award of a commission or re-release the call for entries.

DEADLINE:
Complete application must be RECEIVED on or before January 7, 2022 - 11:59 p.m. MDT

SELECTION PROCESS AND SCHEDULE
The Selection Committee will review all applications from which a short list of semi-finalists will be selected. These semi-finalists will be invited and paid an honorarium to develop a full proposal to include concept, budget, and timeline. The finalist honorarium will be applied toward the commission amount for the artist(s) awarded the commission. The Committee reserves the option to commission more than one artist. Final selection(s) will be made from the semi-finalists.

January 7, 2022 - Deadline for receipt of qualifications
January 21, 2022 - Committee review & notification of finalists following.
March 18, 2022 - Finalist presentations / proposals
March 2023 - Building completion

ART SELECTION COMMITTEE
Clint Bunnell - Project Manager, DFCM
Colette Cox - Community Representative, Cedar City
Marvin Dodge - SUU, Vice President for Finance & Administration
Tiger Funk - SUU, Director of Facilities Management and Planning
Kevin Garcia - MHTN Architects
Jessica Kinsey - Director, Southern Utah Museum of Art

Please do not contact committee members. If you have any questions information is available at: https://artsandmuseums.utah.gov/publicart/
Or contact: Jim Glenn at 801-245-7271 or e-mail at: jglenn@utah.gov
Images courtesy of MHTN Architects

Application Requirements

•Up to 10 images of previous site-specific public work.
•Information on each of the images to include title, medium, dimensions, site information, etc.
•A letter of interest of up to 5000 characters. This letter asks the artist’s reasons for their interest in the project how their work and/or experience may relate to the project.
•A professional resume or CV

Eligibility Criteria

Resident American or legal resident artists / artist teams are eligible for this commission. Utah artists are strongly encouraged to apply. Art selection committee members, Utah Arts & Museums staff and employees, subcontractors or consultants of MHTN Architecture or Layton Construction are not eligible for this project.