West Palm Beach Seeks Artist to Create Gateway Signage Artworks

The City of West Palm Beach Art in Public Places (AiPP) Program and the Engineering Department is seeking to commission one artist team to design, build and install five site-specific Gateway Public Artworks at predetermined locations within the City of West Palm Beach. The intent is to bring awareness to the City’s multiple entry points.

Budget
$265,000, includes a $15,000 design fee PLUS $250,000 for engineering, fabrication, installation, insurance, etc.

Eligibility
Open to all professional artists over 18 who are USA residents with experience in public art projects. The selected artist’s team will include a Professional Engineer, who will assume all responsibility for signage integrity, engineering, field verification, measurements and installation, etc. and be responsible for providing a structurally designed foundation including all required structural supports for each artwork design. If shortlisted, the artist team’s engineer will need to provide the following: name, state license and registration numbers, and proof of applicable insurance certificates including professional liability insurance.

The Goals of the Project
• The proposed design should beautify and enhance the aesthetics of the surrounding area
• The artwork design will visually enhance and complement the surrounding area
• The artwork design should increase public awareness of City limits and Districts
• The artwork design should be a welcoming feature that is unique and original
• The artwork should not require extraordinary maintenance and should have a life expectancy of at least 20 years

Project Description
The selected artist team will create new artwork designs that will function as wayfinding signs. The proposed Gateway design should reflect the diverse culture of the City of West Palm Beach.  The artist team is encouraged to be original and contemporary, while being mindful of the gateway design as a wayfinding tool. Proposal(s) should demonstrate connectivity within wayfinding, while creatively connecting each of the five districts in the city. Encouraged are designs that preserve or incorporate existing native vegetation, and integrate architectural features and pedestrian facilities.

Selection Criteria
The primary criteria for selection will be based on the following:

• Innovative and effective approaches to creative projects and the probability of successful execution and completion of the work/project in a timely manner;
• Clarity in visual consistency and strong design standards;
• Experience working as a member of a team.
• Artistic merit in artist body of work;
• Ability to design work that is relevant to the context/theme as requested within this Call;
• Innovative and effective approaches to creative projects and the probability of successful execution and completion of the project in a timely manner;
• Experience working as a member of a team.

The Committee will also consider the range of versatility of past work, and appropriateness of media and demonstrated proficiency, as it relates to the scope of this project.

Timeline

The City reserves the right to change these dates as deemed necessary:

• Submittal Deadline: October 17, 2016
• Short list selection: Week of November 9, 2016
• Final Interviews: Week of November 30 2016
• Finalist Submittal: December 2016
• Finalist Selection: Dec. 2016/January 2017
• Artwork Installation: June - August 2017
• Complete work: September 2017

How to Apply

Applications up to 2 MBs must be sent as email attachments to aipp@wpb.org

Applications must include the following:

1.     Letter of Interest: Describe your interest in this project, any relevant past experience/projects, and how you and your team would approach and meet the project goals..

2.     Professional Resume: please highlight public art experience.  No more than two pages per team member

3.     10 digital images of relevant past work per application. Only submit images of completed projects.

• Submit in .jpeg file format at 72 DPI less than 2MB file size.  Each file should be labeled and correspond to the annotated list.  Image size 1920
• Annotated Image List that includes the lead contact’s name as a heading and a brief description of each image, including title, date, medium, dimensions.

QUESTIONS?  Contact Sybille Welter, scwelter@wpb.org