Budget: $45,000
Deadline: 04/21/2023

Call Summary
The City of Kettering’s CitySites Public Art Program invites artists to create a permanent outdoor artwork at Rosewood Arts Center. Created to complement or enhance the public spaces around Rosewood’s front entrance, the artwork may include new or modified hardscapes, plantings, sculptures and/or relevant design. Proposals will be accepted through April 21, 2023, with notifications to artists in May or June 2023 and the artwork to be fabricated and installed by summer of 2024. The budget is $45,000.

Budget Description
The artist will be paid $45,000 and is inclusive of all costs associated with the project, including but not limited to: artist expenses, administration, sub-consultants, travel/lodging, artwork fabrication (including materials, details and specifications), storage, transportation and installation, related permits, licenses, taxes and insurance. Any expenses that exceed the contracted amount will be the artist’s responsibility.

Project Description
The permanent outdoor artwork will complement or enhance the public spaces around Rosewood’s front entrance. The artwork should create a welcoming environment and complement the surrounding site and facility. The artwork can operate as decorative or functional and create a significant visual component to the Rosewood environment. Possibilities include, but are not limited to: artwork integrated into the hardscape, such as sidewalk art (graphics, artwork, poetry, mosaics, etc.); free standing sculptures or sculptural installations; artistically designed landscape and/or plantings, such as tree circles, art-centric materials (natural dye plants, etc.). Projects that incorporate environmental stewardship are encouraged.

Artwork Goals
The artwork should create a welcoming environment and complement the surrounding site and facility. The artwork can operate as decorative or functional and create a significant visual component to the Rosewood environment. The artwork should utilize materials that can withstand pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic and that can be easily cleaned and maintained.

Artwork Location Description
The artwork will be located at Rosewood Arts Center’s front entrance, which is heavily trafficked year-round by people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as neighborhood families with young children, Frisbee Golfers, elementary and middle school youth, and leisure athletics, such as joggers and walkers.

Rosewood Arts Center is dedicated to enriching the quality of life for the residents of Kettering and the greater Dayton area by providing creative experiences through a variety of art forms for people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Rosewood accomplishes these goals through multi-arts educational programs and classes for a wide range of skill and interest levels (in-person and virtual), artist studio spaces, exhibitions, performances and special events.

Site History
Rosewood Arts Center opened in 1985 through the City of Kettering’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts department, and is located in a former 1965 school building. Undergoing its first major renovation of the facility in over 55 years, the facility is now ADA accessible and features the city’s first commissioned mural, completed in 2022. Located within a neighborhood park that is home to an elementary and middle school, several athletic fields and a recreation complex, Rosewood and its surroundings are frequented by thousands of people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds each year.

Eligibility
Artists must demonstrate previous experience in creating public art, working with project teams, and creative and innovative thinking in using public space.

The artist must carry personal liability insurance for the duration of the project and be willing to meet all contractual obligations.

Employees of the City of Kettering and members of the Art in Public Places Committee and the Kettering Arts Council are ineligible to apply.

Application Requirements
Resume: 1 page(s) maximum
Work examples: 1 – 5
Letter of Interest : 100 word maximum
Please include your name, address, phone number and email address. Also include a description of your interest in this commission and your experience working on comparable projects, including any community engagement processes.
References: 3

Artists are allowed to apply in teams.
Artists applying as a team must split the allotted number of work examples between themselves.

Selection Process
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts staff will review the RFP submissions and work with an Artist Selection Committee, including members of the Art in Public Places Committee, the Kettering Arts Council and local stakeholders, to select the artist.

Selection Criteria
The artist will be selected with the following criteria:
1. Proven ability to create a public artwork and/or artwork that transforms a space;
2. Aesthetic significance, transformative and distinctive qualities for the chosen site;
3. Awareness and reflection on the surrounding architecture, mural artwork, and response to existing or potential for new landscape/hardscape;
4. A proven ability to coordinate and collaborate with project managers, affiliated professionals and community stakeholders from previous projects.
5. A project proposal that includes realistic materials, process and budget.

Timeline*
Selection and General Production Schedule (all dates are subject to change)
RFP Posted February 2023
RFP Application Deadline April 21 2023
Selection Committee Review and Selection May 2023
Artist Selected and Contract May/June 2023
Artwork Fabrication and Installation Summer/Fall 2023 – 2024
Artwork Dedication 2024

*Assume time zones are relative to call location.

Additional Resources
www.playkettering.org/citysites
Request for Proposals (PDF)
Attachment A – Landscape Design Concept (PDF)

Contact Information
Shayna McConville
Division Manager of Cultural Arts
2655 Olson Drive
Kettering OH 45420 United States
shayna.mcconville@ketteringoh.org
937-296-0294

Submission Instructions
Email Address
shayna.mcconville@ketteringoh.org

Questions about this project can be directed to: Shayna V. McConville, Division Manager of Cultural Arts City of Kettering Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Rosewood Arts Center 2655 Olson Drive, Kettering, OH 45420 (937) 296-0294 shayna.mcconville@ketteringoh.org