In anticipation of future commissions and opportunities, the Houston Arts Alliance (the City of Houston’s designated local arts and culture agency) invites artists and artist teams to submit qualifications for potential inclusion in the 2017 Houston Prequalified Artist Pool. The Houston Prequalified Artist Pool will be used to select artists for a range of permanent public art projects associated with the construction of new civic buildings, parks, and other areas within the City of Houston. Prequalified artists will be invited to send proposals in response to HAA Requests for Proposals. The list of artists in the pool and their websites will also be made publicly available for consideration by private developers or independent public art commissioning entities.
PLEASE NOTE: Inclusion in the Prequalified Pool does not guarantee a commission.
Through its Civic Art + Design department, HAA manages the process of commissioning, acquiring, and conserving artworks for the City of Houston Art Collection. HAA accomplishes this by entering into contracts with City departments and with affiliated local government corporations, including Houston Airport System and Houston First Corporation. Civic art projects thus constitute a collaboration between HAA and City of Houston departments and corporate entities.
HAA seeks to include visual artists working in a wide variety of media and artistic approaches. Certain projects may also offer opportunities for an artist to work as part of a design team along with the project architect/designer. For the purposes of this Prequalified Artist Pool, “professional artist” is defined as “a practitioner in the visual arts with an original, self-conceptualized body of work, generally recognized by critics and peers as a professional possessing serious intent and ability.”
The selection panel will recommend artists to the HAA Civic Art Committee and Board of Directors, who formally approve the artists selected for the pool. HAA is then able to utilize the pool, in whole, or in part, for artwork opportunities. Selection from the pool is not an exclusive way for artists to be considered for artwork commission. Additional open calls may be posted for individual projects. A selection panel will be convened for each individual project to review the qualified candidates and make short-list recommendations.
Eligibility
- As a global city, this opportunity is open to professional visual artists or artist-led teams from the U.S. and abroad.
- Houston-area artists, artist-led teams and team members are strongly encouraged to apply. Our goal is for more than half of the selected artists represent the Greater Houston area.
- Artists who apply as part of a team may not apply as individual artists.
- Artists must have strong communication skills as well as a demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and meet project deadlines.
- Subcontractors may be used and are defined as parties providing technical implementation including, but not limited to: construction, fabrication and/or assembly for portions of all of a finished product (under direct supervision and control of an artist).
- Staff, board, advisory board and family members of HAA – as well as the City of Houston, City Council and its affiliate entities – are ineligible to apply.
- Applications not meeting all eligibility criteria will be withdrawn from consideration.
Timeline
- Wednesday, July 6, 2016: RFQ released
- Wednesday August 31, 2016: Deadline for questions
- Monday, September 5, 2016: RFQ submission deadline
- By Friday, September 23, 2016: RFQ selection panel
- By Friday, September 30, 2016: Selected artists are presented for a vote to the HAA Civic Art Committee
- By Friday, October 14, 2016: Selected artists are presented for a vote to the HAA Board of Directors
- By Friday, October 21, 2016: Finalists are notified in writing, by HAA
- October 2016 – September 2017: Artists in the 2017 Houston Prequalified Artist Pool are considered for civic art commissions and are invited to submit proposals for specific projects
- July 2017: Application cycle for the 2018 Houston Prequalified Artist Pool opens
Application Requirements: All documents should be in at least 12 point font, single spaced, with at least a ½ inch margin.
- Resume of artist(s) and team members (3 page maximum, each).
- Letter of Intent: One page only, to include: Your contact information; a brief description of the inspirations/interests reflected in your work; and an executive summary of your professional experience as an artist. You may specifically want to address how that experience may qualify you for public art projects. If you have not previously executed a public art project or worked with permanent outdoor materials, you may want to address how you might envision making this transition. If you are applying as a team, address the justification for the collaboration.
- Biography/Artist Statement: 500 words, maximum.
- Work Examples: Ten (10) maximum. Digital images should be at least 72 dpi and no larger than 1600 x 1500 pixels in size. Video files should be kept to less than three (3) minutes each and should be used to show work that is kinetic or time-based. Please do not submit video documentation of static work or artist interviews. For team applications, please indicate the lead artist for each project. Teams must submit one application and are limited to ten (10) images total. Submit only images of your own original work or collaborative work for which you share ownership credit. Do not submit images of works by other artists for which you played a supportive role (fabricator, engineer, et cetera). Do not include more than two (2) images of the same work. Composite images are acceptable, but please keep them simple and readable.
- Image List: To include artist name, title, year completed, dimensions, material and retail or commission budget for each image selected in your portfolio.
- References: To include name, phone number and email address for up to three (3) professional contacts – on one page.
How to Apply
Submit applications only through this link: https://houstonartsalliance.submittable.com/submit/45239 Applicants must create a free account on Submittable in order to apply for this opportunity. There is no cost to submit an application.
Visit this page to review the full call for submissions.
