The City of Bloomington, through the Bloomington Arts Commission, seeks an artist or artist team to create a unique, durable, site-specific artwork at the Trades District.
BUDGET: $80,000 to $100,000
ELIGIBILITY: Professional visual artists, architects, or designers age 18 or over
DEADLINE: December 6, 2018, 5:00 p.m.
BACKGROUND
The Trades District, a 12-acre portion of the Bloomington Certified Technology Park, is a place for innovation, attraction, and job-creation for the City of Bloomington. Located just north of the downtown district on a site formerly occupied by the historic Showers Brothers Furniture Company, the Trades District will serve as an innovation district - a new cultural and economic destination for the community. Ideally, the artwork should reflect, resonate, or otherwise aim to represent the mission and themes of the Trades District.
Artists, designers, and architects are encouraged to join in to a public webinar to talk with Economic and Sustainable Development Staff to review the site, location, and project on October 23rd at 1-2 PM EST. Please email Starowis@bloomington.in.gov to RSVP.
ARTWORK GOALS
The artwork must be durable, low maintenance, appropriate to the site, and able to weather Bloomington’s four-season climate. The artwork may not contain mechanical water features. The artist/artist team should take into consideration the high amount of pedestrian viewership from within the site. No expectation should be made that it will be kept secure – design and fabrication must take into account the likelihood of unsupervised viewer interaction.
One of the City's objectives for the One Percent for the Arts Program is to encourage artists new to the public art process to consider this opportunity. Artists who wish to respond but lack the capital for up-front expenses may be eligible to receive a CDFI business loan. If desired, the City will assist the selected artist/team to pursue funding through a CDFI.
Artists, designers, and architects from all levels of public art experience are encouraged to contact the following vendors. Each has shown interest in working with artists who respond to the City of Bloomington’s public art projects.
SELECTION PROCESS
This Request for Qualifications (RFQ) does not require artists to submit actual design drawings. However, each artist or artist/team is required to include a separate one-page description outlining their conceptual and material approach to the project. A selection panel will review qualifications, including letter of interest, conceptual and material approach to the project, resume/vitae, images of past work, image list, and names of three references. Through interviews and review of work submitted, a selection panel shall choose up to three finalists to recommend for the Trades District. The finalists will each be asked to provide further detailed drawings, renderings and or models of a proposed concept and will be compensated with a $1,000 honorarium. The selected artist/artist team will be contracted to refine the project design. With final design approval the artwork will be installed in coordination with City staff.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Applicants must demonstrate the following qualifications and qualities:
WHAT TO SUBMIT
Please submit all written materials in PDF format.
Please note that the design, ownership, copyright, and original source (Illustrator, Photoshop, PDF) files must remain with the City and that all work product created as part of this submission will be the sole property of the City.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Email proposals to starowis@bloomington.in.gov with subject line, RFQ Trades District. Applications received after 5:00 PM on December 6, 2018 will not be considered.
Packets can be also mailed, though digital submission is preferred:
Sean Starowitz
Assistant Director for the Arts
Department of Economic and Sustainable Development
401 N. Morton St., Suite 150
Bloomington, IN 47404
QUESTIONS? Contact Sean Starowitz at 812-349-3534 or email starowis@bloomington.in.gov
