The City of Tampa’s Art Program Division and Strategic Property Partners, LLC, the developer of Water Street Tampa, along with The University of South Florida Art in State Buildings Program, seek to commission a professional artist to create a site-specific exterior artwork to be placed or integrated in the open plaza area designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The ideal artwork should incorporate multiple elements in the space and may consider relevant themes including health, well-being, the environment, weather, science, and medicine.
BUDGET: $600,000
DEADLINE: February 23, 2018 5:00 p.m. EST
ELIGIBILITY: Professional visual artists with demonstrated experience
Download complete RFQ with site images from https://www.tampagov.net/art-programs/Info/call-to-artists
About the Site
The City of Tampa is the county seat and largest city in Hillsborough County, and is the third most populous city in Florida. Approximately one-third of Hillsborough County’s population resides in the City of Tampa. The City of Tampa is the economic hub of west central Florida. Its economy is founded on a diverse base that includes tourism, health care, finance, insurance, technology, construction, and maritime industry.
Water Street Tampa will include approximately two million square feet of new office space, including the first new office towers in downtown Tampa in nearly 25 years; approximately one million square feet of new retail, cultural, educational, and entertainment space that complement the active pedestrian experience at the street level; 3,500 new rental and for-sale residences, nearly doubling the number of housing units available within downtown Tampa; and two new hotels with over 650 new rooms, including the city’s first 5-star hotel. Water Street Tampa will connect the surrounding community anchors via a network of 12.9 acres of new and enhanced parks and public areas that lead to the waterfront, the Tampa Riverwalk, and the nearby five-mile path along Bayshore Boulevard, offering a variety of recreational opportunities. In total, an estimated 23,000 people will live, work and visit Water Street Tampa each day.
Water Street Tampa aims to set a new standard for wellness and sustainability in the built environment, and will become the world’s first WELL Certified community under the WELL Community Standard, developed by the International WELL Building Institute. The WELL Community Standard guides how a community’s resources—natural, human and technological—are used effectively, equitably and responsibly to encourage health and wellness among all community members. WELL Certified communities implement design and technology strategies to improve concepts of air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, sound, mind, temperature, materials, and community.
Scheduled to open in the Fall of 2019, the University of South Florida (USF) will relocate the Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute to downtown Tampa from its current suburban campus into a new world-class facility adjacent to Water Street Tampa. Serving as a modern centerpiece of scientific innovation, world-class clinical care and lifechanging discoveries, the state-of-the-art facility will include learning and conference spaces, an auditorium, laboratories, faculty offices, and a clinical research and care unit.
The Plaza is situated between the Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute, designed by HOK, and a high-performance office tower, designed by COOKFOX Architects, which will also house Water Street Tampa’s community Wellness Center. Notably, the Plaza serves as the central space to the block and as an artery through Water Street Tampa’s network of open spaces and parks. Designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, the Plaza embraces its location within the Florida ecosystem and reveals important aspects of the region’s unique ecology while simultaneously structuring and harmonizing the public space between the adjacent buildings. The Plaza provides for an ecologically diverse and engaging urban space for both visitors to Tampa and the several distinct user groups who live, work, and learn in and around the surrounding buildings.
Selection process
The Water Street Tampa project is open to professional visual artists with demonstrated experience in the execution of projects from concept to completion, meeting a specified budget and timeframe, and working in the public realm with public agencies. The Art Selection Committee will conduct a blind review of all applicants’ submitted images. The Committee will then review artist résumés and statements, recommending finalists to submit proposals. Finalists will work with the Selection Committee and Design Team. Finalists will develop a design concept, prepare presentation materials, drawings, a model and related specifications in sufficient detail to convey design intent. Selected finalists will receive a $5,000 fee (inclusive of travel) to present a proposal and model to the Art Selection Committee and Design Team.
Timeline
This schedule is subject to change. It is desired that the selected artist will work with Plaza Design Team to integrate the proposed artwork into the design.
Submission requirements
A complete application consists of the following four items. Please be sure to clearly state name, address, email, phone, and website on all documents.
How to submit
Digital Submissions ONLY. Please upload to https://www.hightail.com/u/TampaArtPrograms or email a link from a file sharing service (dropbox, etc.) to artprograms@tampagov.net. If uploading to Hightail, all items for submission must be uploaded as one zipped folder labeled with artist’s name. You may also mail a USB flash drive to:
Water Street Tampa/USF Health
Art Programs Division
City of Tampa
306 East Jackson Street 5N
Tampa, Florida 33602
QUESTIONS? Contact artPrograms@tampagov.net or by phone (813) 274-8531
