The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is seeking artists to create a major public artwork outside the city’s new Tobin Montessori and Vassal Lane Upper Schools complex, as part of a reconstruction of the educational and community hub at 197 Vassal Lane.
BUDGET: $650,000
ELIGIBILITY: Professional artists and artist-led interdisciplinary teams
DEADLINE: November 9, 2020
The Tobin Montessori and Vassal Lane Upper Schools (197 Vassal Lane) serve preschool through eighth grade students and draw from across all city neighborhoods. Preliminary schematic concepts for the new complex feature guiding themes of climate change and sustainability; trees; water; early childhood and play (a significant population of students will be very young children); community wellness; natural materials that relate to the site’s former role in the brickmaking industry, its proximity to Fresh Pond, and the Montessori educational philosophy. The net-zero-emissions design will include new facilities for the Tobin Montessori elementary school and the Vassal Lane Upper School, in addition to the Special Start (the city’s preschool program serving children with disabilities), preschool, and afterschool programs, serving approximately 975 students in total. In addition to the buildings, significant open space will contain various programmatic areas for recreation and open play, incorporating the existing Reverend P.H. Callanan Playground, an important space for the surrounding community. The landscape design will also include multi-use paths through the site that connect with adjacent neighborhoods. As with all the city schools, outdoor space is open to the community when school is not in session.
The city seeks qualifications from artists who would be able to develop a concept that responds specifically to the multi-faceted aspects of the site, both its physical attributes and its educational and community purposes.
WHAT TO PROVIDE
HOW TO APPLY
Upload your materials to the Cambridge Arts Public Art Registry. The application form is at the link.
QUESTIONS? Contact Hilary Zelson, hzelson@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4388.
