The Allentown Arts Commission, in partnership with Materials Conservation of Philadelphia, seeks artist responses via this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to commission an original, site‐specific work of art in Allentown, PA by a professional artist(s). The work of art may take the form of mural, low‐relief sculpture or other appropriate forms of art (or a combination of these), and is open to artists with the demonstrated capacity to create a fully‐realized work of art in any of those forms. The development of the work of art must include significant and meaningful
engagement of the school community.
BUDGET: $22,000
ELIGIBILITY: Professional artists living in the United States
DEADLINE: June 12, 2020
BACKGROUND
Since the early 2000’s Allentown – the third largest city in Pennsylvania ‐ has seen a wave of population growth, with the current population being the highest in the city’s history. Allentown is a majority minority city: about 53% of the city population is Hispanic, 34% white, 8% black, and 2% Asian. Over 6,000 households in Allentown speak a language that is not English or Spanish. It is also an especially young city, with 16% of the population alone between the ages of 20 and 29. The City of Allentown values this diversity and how it makes for a more vibrant city and a stronger economy.
In Allentown Vision 2030, The City of Allentown’s recently completed comprehensive and economic plan, public investment in the arts has been identified as a way to highlight the city’s diversity and create a more welcoming and unified city. To that end, Allentown has initiated a multi‐year public art effort to create works of art across the city of Allentown, with this being the second project in that effort.
ABOUT THE ALLENTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT
The richness of the Allentown School District’s diversity is strengthened by its central role in educating our students for America’s future through academic excellence and celebrating the culturally responsive, athletic and artistic range of talent in the schools. ASD students originate from 51 countries and speak 26 languages. During the 2016‐2017 school year, the district enrolled 16,628 students across 15 Elementary & Early Childhood Centers (7,976), 4 Middle Schools (3,421) and 3 High Schools (5,231). 89.1% of our families are denoted as Low Income, and 100% receive Free/Reduced Lunch. ASD is the third largest urban school system out of 500 Districts in the Commonwealth and serves a community with a poverty rate of 38.64% of the City's population. (2013 Census).“
THE SCHOOL
ASD’s new school (which will soon be officially named) will be a state‐of‐the‐art facility and will combine communities from two nearby schools: Cleveland Elementary and McKinley Elementary. The K‐5 school will officially open in September 2020 and will be the first time that these two school communities have joined as one. The new building replaces two smaller, aging facilities, and will offer students and community members
a sunny and cheerful place for students to learn and grow. The design of the building embodies ASD’s commitment to 21st century learning initiatives, which prioritizes equity of access, collaboration, and integration of technology. Attached to the school will be a 10,000 square foot community service building that will be in use throughout the day and will house pre‐K classrooms, adult education spaces and a food pantry. Unlike other urban schools, the playground and school yard amenities will be open for use by the community even when the school is closed. This makes the school truly the heart of this community. In fact, when asked about what makes the school special, every stakeholder we spoke to responded with the answer “Community.”
PROJECT GOALS
The goals for the work of art include:
SCOPE OF WORK
The artist will create a work of art on the side façade of 1232 ½ W. Gordon Street, a 3‐story row home. The work of art should address all or part of the wall and must be visible from surrounding streets. Exact dimensions for the painted brick and stucco wall will be provided for artist finalists.
The artist must develop and implement at least 2 meaningful community engagement sessions related to the art and its creation. These ideas must be approved by the school and implemented in coordination with them. Additionally, in the spirit of capacity‐building, the selected artist will be asked to mentor an emerging local artist by having the local artist participate in the project in an appropriate and meaningful way. The artists will have to think creatively about how to safely plan and implement community engagement due to COVID‐19. Such planning may also require a general re‐thinking of public art community engagement.
The selected artist will execute a contract with Materials Conservation, and the work of art will be owned by the City of Allentown and will be a part of their collection of permanent public works of art.
As the selected artist will engage with children and families they may be required by the ASD to obtain and present clearances as required by the Child Protective Services Law, including FBI clearances, the Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Record Check, and a TB test. Artists who are unable to provide proof of such clearance may not be awarded the project.
PROJECT SCHEDULE
**Please note that the selected artist will be expected to begin work on the project soon after selection.
SELECTION PROCESS
Artists who are interested in being considered for this project must submit their response to this RFQ by 1pm on June 12, 2020. Up to 3 artist applicants will be selected as finalists, notified, and invited to attend a site visit (which will likely occur virtually). These artist finalists will be offered a $500 honorarium in return for creating a proposal that they will present to Allentown stakeholders in mid‐July, 2020. Full proposal details
and requirements will be released to artist finalists at the time that they are selected.
WHAT TO SUBMIT
HOW TO SUBMIT
Materials can be submitted via email or mail to arrive by 1pm on June 12, 2020.
Materials Conservation Co.
1625 N. Howard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
ATTN: Julia Guerrero
QUESTIONS? Contact Julia Guerrero, jguerrero@mccollab.com
