This open call is intended to establish a roster of artists eligible for commissions of site-responsive works of art at K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and state agencies throughout the state of Washington. The Roster is used to choose artists for about 40 projects per year. Accepted artists serve a three year term, after which they may reapply. This will be the only open roster call until 2021.

Budget: Project budgets range from $45,000 to $200,000 and above
Eligibility: Professional visual artists and artist teams working in the U.S. or British Columbia
Deadline: 06/26/2018, 3:00 PM Central Time

The full Roster Call is available here.

Program History
In 1974, the state Legislature formed the Art in Public Places program. Washington is home to one of the nation’s largest and most diverse state-owned art collections, containing over 4,600 artworks in a wide range of materials. The collection is sited primarily at colleges, universities, state agencies, and K-12 public schools, and includes two- and three-dimensional artworks by contemporary artists of local and national renown.

Project Description
The goal of the Roster is to provide local Art Selection Committees with the best range of artists to choose from for their projects. A successful Roster will include a variety of artistic disciplines, subject matter, and cultural viewpoints. Artworks created through the program become part of the State Art Collection, managed by ArtsWA.

Applying for the Roster indicates a willingness to:

• Design and propose artworks for review and approval by program staff, professional conservators, and local Art Selection Committees;
• Travel to the project site up to three times during the proposal/design process to meet with the local Art Selection Committee and project managers;
• Work within fixed budgets and with committees that include non-arts professionals;
• Maintain registration as a WA State vendor and adhere to relevant state permitting and licensing requirements, including those relating to contracting and the paying of prevailing wages; and
• Enter into contracts with ArtsWA and fulfill those requirements, including paying applicable taxes.

Inclusion on the Roster does not guarantee a project.

Artwork Goals
ArtsWA’s Art in Public Places Project Managers work with local Art Selection Committees to develop a list of artwork criteria and goals for each individual project. Works are sited in both interior and exterior locations at state-owned facilities (mostly state university buildings and state agencies).  Art Selection Committees review the portfolios of artists available within the budget range of their projects. Program staff determines suitable budget ranges for artists on the Roster based on each artist’s demonstrated experience and their selected choices from the application. If selected for the Roster, portfolios submitted for the Call for Applications are the same ones viewed by local Art Selection Committees. Accepted artists may update their portfolio materials once per year during their term.

Timeline

• Applications to the roster are due by 3pm Central time on June 26, 2018.  ArtsWA will notify applicants of the results of this call for applications by August 17, 2018.
• Artists serve 3-year terms on the Roster. This Roster term is from August 2018-August 2021.
• If selected for a project, artists will usually have 6-9 months to develop a design proposal and an additional 9 months to fabricate and install the artwork.

Selection Process

Program staff will pre-screen applications to confirm each meets the eligibility requirements. This includes the receipt of completed, on-time materials and residency.  To ensure that the Roster includes a range of artists working within budgets that are proportional to projected project opportunities, staff will divide applications into two categories for the panel review:

• Those who would accept projects with budgets below $100,000, and
• Those only comfortable working on projects with budgets above $100,000.

Staff will forward complete and eligible applications to the selection panel.

The selection panelists are:

• Reham Aarti, Artist, Boise ID
• Ginger Ewing, ArtsWA Board, Spokane
• RYAN! Feddersen, Artist, Tacoma
• Horatio Law, Artist, Portland OR
• Ruri Yampolsky, Director of Public Art, Seattle

Selection Criteria
The panel will review and score portfolios based on the following criteria:

• Appropriateness (5 pts):  Evidence of the artist’s ability to execute artwork at an appropriate scale and using materials suitable for permanent artwork in public places, or demonstrated potential for successful transition to public art;
• Site Responsiveness (5 pts):  Evidence of the artist’s ability to create artwork that addresses the physical and/or community context of its placement; and
• Artistic Excellence (15 pts): Evidence of some or all of the following: mastery of skills and techniques, professional approaches to process and presentation, and/or communication of unique vision or perspective.

Application Requirements

The following materials are required:

1. 8 digital images of applicant’s artworks (in jpg format, 1200 pixels on longest side, under 1.5 MB);
2. Artwork information for each image (title, date, medium, project budget, commissioning agency, etc.) and a short descriptive statement for each submitted image (250 character limit per image);
3. Artist’s statement (1,000 character limit);
4. A resume (PDF, DOC, or RTF format; PDFs are strongly preferred); and
5. Current contact information.

How to Submit
Apply online ONLY at https://www.arts.wa.gov/public-artist-and-curator-rosters/2018-public-artist-roster-call

QUESTIONS?  Contact Deane Shellman, 360-753-5894 or deane.shellman@arts.wa.gov