The Kroger family of stores is honored to use the talents of local artists to create an uplifting experience in their stores. The company aspires to create a safe store environment that conveys a sense of connectedness to the communities within which they operate. The objective of the commissioned art program is to create a space that encourages community gathering and celebrates the spirit of the neighborhood.  The goal is to have an artwork completed by a local artist for each of the 65 new stores opening across the country in 2016.  As a company, Kroger values honesty, diversity, inclusion, integrity, respect and safety.  These values are expressed by the artwork commissioned for each store.  For more information, see this article.

The Arts Council of Indianapolis is pleased to partner with Kroger Co. to offer two site-specific artwork opportunities for artists living in Central Indiana. Artists may submit their qualifications to execute mural projects in two new Kroger stores, opening in Fall 2016 at the following locations:

• Store #869, 11700 Olio Rd., Fishers, Indiana
• Store #735, 5961 N. State Road 135, Greenwood, Indiana

The finished murals will incorporate references to the locality’s history or culture, will engage and inspire the community, will use durable materials that require minimal maintenance, and will be resistant to vandalism or other damage.  Any medium, material, or artistic technique that can be mounted to a wall and extends 4 inches or less into the adjacent space will be considered.

Each of the two sites is interior and measures 5 ft. h. x 12-1/2 ft. w. (total 60 s.f.).  The selected artists will execute the artworks on an appropriate substrate in their own working space and will deliver it to the site ready to be installed by the store’s construction team.  Kroger will provide a plaque identifying the artist, artist’s city or town of residence, title and medium of the artwork, and date executed.  Kroger will also provide appropriate lighting for the artwork.  The artist may be present to advise during installation, but will not be compensated separately for his/her presence.

Additional information will be provided to artists selected as finalists for each site.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to submit for this opportunity, artists must:

• Live in one of the following counties: Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Clinton, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Shelby, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Tipton. All else being equal, preference will be given to professional artists living in Hamilton or Johnson Counties, as they are local to the Fishers and Greenwood project sites respectively.
• Be age 18 or over
• Be willing to meet all contractual obligations and adhere to a strict budget and timeline

Project Budget

Each project carries a commission fee of $7,500.  This fee is to cover all of the artist’s compensation and anticipated expenses including (but not limited to) artist design fee, artist labor, materials, and delivery of completed artwork to site.  The artist will not be responsible for installing the artwork.  Finalist artists will be paid a flat $250 fee to develop a proposal for the site.

Selection Process

Artists must submit their qualifications to the Arts Council on or before 5:00 p.m. on July 15, 2016.  Representatives from Kroger, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and the store host community will review submitted qualifications and select up to three finalists for each site to create an artwork proposal for the indicated location.  The proposals are reviewed by the same representatives and one proposal will be commissioned for each site.

Note:  while this is the intended selection process, in the event of an insufficient number of qualified applicants the Arts Council of Indianapolis reserves the right to invite an artist to propose, or to directly select an artist or artwork; and also reserves the right to cancel the opportunity entirely at any point and for any reason.

Selection Criteria

Finalists will be selected based upon the following criteria:

• Artistic quality:  artist’s past work is appropriate to its context, innovative, creative and stylistically distinctive
• Aesthetic sensibility:  artist’s submission displays an aesthetic that would be desirable for the store in question
• Technical ability:  artist’s submission indicates professionalism and skill with materials and techniques

Project Timeline

This timeline represents the project as it now appears.  Changes may be necessary as the project progresses.

• Release Request for Qualifications:  June 22, 2016
• Deadline for qualifications submissions:  July 15
• Selection panel review:  July 19-22
• Notification of status:  by July 31
• Finalist proposals due: by August 30
• Notification of selected projects:  by September 9
• Commissioning, final design and fabrication:  September 10 – October 28
• Delivery:  October 31 (Fishers) or November 7 (Greenwood)
• Installation:  TBD between October 31-November 2 (Fishers) or between November 7-10 (Greenwood)
• Dedication and preview party:  November 2016, TBA

How to Apply

Artists must submit the following information digitally. The Arts Council will not accept hard copy submissions.

1. Applicant Information: Complete the form below and submit in .doc, .docx or .pdf format.  An editable copy is available on request.
2. Professional Resume or CV: No longer than 3 typed pages.  Submit in .doc, .docx or .pdf format.
3. Examples of previous artwork: Submit 2-10 digital images in .jpg format of past work. Please limit the file size of each image to 2MB or less.  Include images of at least 2 previous projects that are appropriate to the conditions described in this brief, and are of a similar size and budget to this commission opportunity.  You may submit any number of projects and any number of images for each project, but do not exceed the maximum of 10 total images.
4. Image information sheet:  Submit a sheet with the following information about each submitted project:  title, date completed, client/neighborhood/site name, total artwork budget, and a brief (1-2 sentences) description of the site and challenge, and how your artwork met the challenge.  Include a directory of which image titles you have submitted are associated with each project.  (example, for an artist named Smith:  PROJECT X:  images Smith1, Smith2, Smith3.  … PROJECT Y:  images Smith4, Smith5, Smith6.)  Submit this sheet in .doc, .docx or .pdf format.

Delivery of Submissions

Submissions may be mailed, hand-delivered, or shared via Dropbox.

Mailed or delivered submissions must be burned to a single CD, DVD or flash/jump drive. CDs and/or flash/jump drives must arrive at the Arts Council’s offices by 5:00pm (EDT) on July 15, 2016.  The mailing and delivery address is:

ATTN:  Kroger Murals

c/o Julia Moore, Director of Public Art

Arts Council of Indianapolis

924 N. Pennsylvania St.

Indianapolis, IN  46204

A Dropbox share request must be time-stamped before 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 15, 2016 and sent to jmoore@indyarts.org with a message indicating it is for the Kroger mural projects.  All materials must be available in the folder as of 5:00 p.m. on July 15. If any item is missing or the upload timestamp for any item is after 5:00 p.m. on July 15, the entire submission will be disqualified.  The Arts Council is not responsible for transmission delays or service outages resulting in the Dropbox share request being delivered after the deadline.  Please ensure that all materials are uploaded before the share request is sent, and that you start your transmission of the share request in plenty of time to allow for delays or outages.

For questions, contact:

Julia Moore, Director of Public Art, Arts Council of Indianapolis

(317) 631-3301 x240   or jmoore@indyarts.org

Kroger Mural Project

Applicant Artist Information Form

Please limit the information provided on this form to one typed page.

Artist Name:

Mailing Address:          City/State/ZIP:

Day or Mobile Phone:          Evening or Home Phone:

Email Address:

Website (if applicable):

I would like to be considered for the following store project:

___ Fishers       ___ Greenwood     ____ Both

Do you have a personal or professional connection to the location where you would like to execute a project?  If so, what is it?

How do you see this project fitting in with your past work, artistic interests and experience?

Briefly discuss the direction your work might take for the location you are applying for.  DO NOT SUBMIT ANY SKETCHES, PHOTOS OR DESIGNS AT THIS TIME.