Call Detail
RFQ for Public Art at Highland Bridge Development, St. Paul, MN
Entry Deadline: 7/29/21
Application Closed
Work Sample Requirements
Images | Minimum:Min. 8, Maximum:Max. 10
Video | Minimum:Min. 0, Maximum:Max. 3
Total Samples | Minimum:Min. 8, Maximum:Max. 10
Call Type: Public Art
Eligibility: National
State: Minnesota

RFQ for Highland Bridge Public Art—Request for Qualifications 

Contact Email: colleen@publicartstpaul.org
Call Type: Public Art
Eligibility: National
State: Minnesota
Entry Deadline: 7/29/21
Budget: $150,000

 

REQUIREMENTS:
Media 
Images - Minimum: 10, Maximum: 10 
Video - Minimum: 0, Maximum: 2 
Total Media - Minimum: 10, Maximum: 12


Public Art for Highland Bridge Development, St. Paul, MN
Request for Qualifications

The City of Saint Paul seeks qualified artists or artist teams for a public art commission for a new urban village development, called “Highland Bridge,” in Saint Paul, MN. The public art will help to embody and express values, visions, and  goals of this new area, the former site of a Ford Motor Company factory.


INTRODUCTION

Public Art Saint Paul (PASP), a private non-profit,  is inviting submissions on behalf on the City of Saint Paul, to this Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) to be considered for a commission for public art at Highland Bridge, a 135-acre mixed-use development along the Mississippi River that will include residential housing, businesses, new streets, parks, and storm water systems. Within those 135 acres, four city-owned parks comprising approximately 9 acres have been platted and designed. Two of the new parks have Dakota language names, Uŋči Makȟa Park means “Mother Earth” and Míča Park, which means “coyote,” a reflection of the wildlife that live in the area. These names were recommended by the Dakota advisors to the City of Saint Paul Park’s Department. The development, and all of Saint Paul, are on the homelands of the Dakota people. The public art project may be sited in these parks but there are also other public spaces that Artists or Artists-Led Teams could select.

 PASP is looking for qualified Artists or Artist-Led Teams who have inventive public art practices—sensitive to site, environment, and community, and to the visionary goals of the Highland Bridge Development.

The intent of this RFQ is to identify qualified Artists or Artist-Led Teams who have demonstrated experience and expertise in facilitating design, fabrication, and installation of public art projects.

Public Art Saint Paul (PASP), is managing the Artist Selection Process in collaboration with the City of Saint Paul and the site’s lead developer, Ryan Companies, and with the expertise and advice of a Public Artist Selection Committee made up representatives from the City of Saint Paul; Ryan Companies (lead developer); residents of St. Paul with expertise in art, public art, and cultures that make up the City’s communities as well as their being critical stakeholders, constituencies, and/ or advisors.

The public art selection process has two phases. First, through the review of submitted RFQ materials, the Artist Selection Committee will select 3-4 Artists or Artist-Led Teams who will become finalists for the commission. Finalists will prepare, submit, and present specific concept design proposals for public art in the second stage of the process. Finalists will be paid $1,500 to develop design concepts, a preliminary budget, and will also need to indicate their recommended placement of their proposed artwork on public land within the Highland Bridge area. One Artist or Artist Team will be selected from the pool of finalists for this $150,000 commission. Commission fee covers artists fees, design development, fabrication, engineering and drawings, shipping to site, installation, conservation plan, and all related costs of implementing this project.

BACKGROUND

The Highland Bridge site offers an unparalleled opportunity for the future of Saint Paul and for the entire region. Rarely does a city have the chance to redevelop 135 acres of land on the banks of one of the world’s major rivers and in the heart of a thriving neighborhood and commercial area. Planned to be an inclusive, forward-looking 21st-century urban village, Highland Bridge is the new name for a 135-acre area in the southwest section of the City of Saint Paul, located along the Mississippi River. This new development is being built on the former home of Ford Motor Companies' Twin Cities Assembly Plant.

 

The City of Saint Paul and multiple partners spent a decade engaging with the community, studying environmental impacts, and approving a final plan for the site's redevelopment. Ryan Companies, as master developer of the site, is charged with executing the City's plan of a new connected, livable, mixed-use neighborhood with clean technologies and high-quality design for energy, buildings, and infrastructure. Highland Bridge will be woven into the existing community; support walking, biking, and transit; and provide services, jobs, and activities that every generation and people of all cultures can enjoy. Four City parks are planned for this development.

 

Goals of the development plan include economic accessibility; inclusiveness to the many cultures and generations that live in Saint Paul; ecological sustainability in energy use and in infrastructure that connects to the Mississippi River, employment opportunities for residents of the neighborhood that encourages no or low use of car commuting, mix of housing types and affordability levels from only a few single family homes to multifamily rowhouses, apartments, and condominium buildings, and deeply affordable housing choices. The Highland Bridge Master Plan requires 20% of all housing units to be affordable, with a mix of rental and owner-occupied housing options. At final build out, Highland Bridge will include approximately 763 new units affordable to households earning 60% or less of Area Median Income (AMI), with half of these affordable to extremely low-income households earning 30% or less of AMI.

Highland Bridge will be a connected, livable, and sustainable neighborhood that will serve as a world-wide model for a 21st Century Community. It will look to the future with clean technologies and high-quality design for energy, buildings and infrastructure. The redeveloped site will support walking, biking and transit, and provide services, jobs and activities that every generation can enjoy. The site can be redeveloped in a way that respects the history and context of the neighborhood, while designing a thriving community that significantly lowers its impact on the environment. A redeveloped Ford site can demonstrate that residents, employers, workers, and visitors can enjoy all the amenities and comforts of modern living while using much less energy, producing clean energy on site, reducing waste, reducing and treating storm-water runoff, restoring a natural ecosystem, and providing an infrastructure system that reduces vehicle trips and encourages walking, biking and transit.

Highland Bridge is two to seven miles from MSP’s International Airport, the downtowns of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ,and the Mall of America. It is in the heart of a thriving business community, near dozens of educational and research institutions, has transit and nearby rail corridor access and sits along the unique gorge of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. This active, amenity-rich area will attract residents, visitors, employers and employees to create a robust neighborhood.

Resources:

 

Development: https://highlandbridge.com

Site Plan: https://highlandbridge.com/explore/


\https://www.stpaul.gov/sites/default/files/2021-04/Highland-Bridge-Ford-Master-Plan-052820.pdf

https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/planning-and-economic-development/planning/ford-sitehighland-bridge

 

SAINT PAUL’S PUBLIC ART ORDINANCE

The public art commission for Highland Bridge is funded by the City’s Public Art Ordinance, related to Capital Improvement Bonds (CIB). This Ordinance was founded on the aspirations and vision of civic leaders, artists, and the community for a creative city at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It arose from decades of exploration and observation as the City planned its future, as its population diversified, and as the practice of public art evolved. The City Council passed the Ordinance in 2009, creating a powerful tool that places artists at the core of civic action in shaping the form and experience of the city.

Public Art Saint Paul, a private non-profit that often partners with the City of Saint Paul, was charged by the City Council in 2005 to draft significant revision to its existing ordinance. Public Art Saint Paul researched and reviewed the history of public art development in Saint Paul; the City’s existing public art ordinance, policies and practices; the work of non-profits and community organizations to develop and care for public art; city-wide and neighborhood plans that reference public art; plans and policies that express the City’s capital development values; and the public art policies and experiences of other cities nationwide.

A host of artistic, urban planning, and design, heritage preservation, and community partners participated in this work. City staff from the Departments of Planning and Economic Development, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Libraries, and Financial Services offered essential insights and ideas. Representatives of the Saint Paul arts and cultural community, district councils, and community organizations were vitally engaged.

Many neighborhood and city-wide planning documents testify to the value citizens place on public art. Citizens see public art as promoting the city and individual neighborhoods as desirable places to live, work and visit, and improving the attractiveness and pedestrian friendliness of city streetscapes. Planning studies articulate the potential of public art for expressing neighborhood history, identity, and sense of place, and for fostering intercultural harmony and understanding in our increasingly diverse city. City officials and staff, business owners and residents embrace public art as a key component in promoting the vitality of commercial nodes and creating distinctive places that foster attachment, awe, and appreciation among visitors and residents.

Since its passage in 2009 and implementation in 2012, Saint Paul’s Public Art Ordinance has provided more than $2 million in funding for public art throughout the city.

www.stpaul.gov/publicart

PUBLIC ART SAINT PAUL

Public Art Saint Paul (PASP) is a private, non-profit organization that often works in partnership with the City of Saint Paul to imagine and create a more just, sustainable, and beautiful city. By placing artists in leading roles, the organization helps to shape public spacesimprove city systems, and deepen civic engagement.

 

PASP engages artists to research and help to plan public projects and developments, such as Kellogg Mall and Mears Parks. They also commission, produce, and tend to public art—from Minnesota Rocks to 1,200 poems stamped in sidewalks to Urban Flower Field, a green space design that provides a transition from brown field to future city park. PASP transforms civic life through such innovative art projects as City Artist Program, The University Avenue Project, Pop Up Meeting, Western Sculpture Park, CREATE: The Community Meal, and The Art of Food in Frogtown and Rondo. From small-scale gestures to large-scale events, Public Art Saint Paul creates more beautiful communities and fosters more inclusive civic life. Over 33 years, the organization’s work has been woven into the fabric of daily life in Saint Paul.

 

PASP has been a public art leader in many areas, such as its City Artist Program, in which an artist on staff with the nonprofit is embedded in the City of Saint Paul and works across departments to spur new thinking and innovation, to contribute to more equitable processes and projects, and to create artistic interventions that help the city meets its goals for sustainability, equity, and livability. Now in its 16th year, the City Artist Program is the longest-lived artist-in-residence program in the country. Many PASP programs and projects are emulated and adopted by cities and towns across the nation.

 

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria