The City of Sarasota, Florida, is sponsoring an outdoor landmark sculpture for placement within a future roadway roundabout at the intersection of 10th Street and US 41 in a downtown location. This project is related to a public art initiative that is focused on acquiring public works of art that will be permanently displayed in numerous roundabouts that will be constructed during the next decade.

Budget:  $150,000

Eligibility: Professional artists

Deadline:  February 28, 2019

Review full call with site images and required forms, and apply, here.

Project Overview

The City of Sarasota is known for its arts and cultural amenities; located on the Gulf coast of Florida, the City is approximately 60 miles south of Tampa.  The current resident population of the City is approximately 55,000 full-time residents and Sarasota County population is approximately 407,000 full-time residents.

This is an intersection of a collector road (10th Street) and a major arterial road (US 41).  The roundabout will be a two-lane design.  It is preferable to have artwork centrally located in the roundabout.  At the time of this Call to Artists issuance, the design plans show a center island with a varying diameter of 97 feet to 118.8 feet.  The City anticipates that a wall that is 3 ½ feet in height will be designed and constructed in the center island of the roundabout and the artwork shall be located within the walled area.  Therefore, the entire center island will not be able for the artwork display.  The artist should anticipate a display area that is up to approximately 15 feet in diameter.

The commissioned work of art will become part of the City’s permanent public art collection.   It is hoped that a full range of art mediums suitable for an outdoor environment and styles will be represented in the permanent collection.  For general information regarding the City’s public art program and images of completed works within the City’s collection, please visit https://www.sarasotafl.gov/our-city/public-art.

Selection Process

The first step of this design competition will be the review of application materials with the intent of identifying three artwork proposals most favored by the City’s Public Art Committee.  Following this initial selection process, three artists who are selected as finalists will be invited to present their proposals in person to the Public Art Committee (finalists will be paid $1,000 honorariums to present their proposals in person and must include a site specific maquette and/or other visual depictions of the proposed artwork).  Each of the three selected artists will be responsible for transportation, lodging, and food costs when making the in-person presentation to the Public Art Committee. The Public Art Committee will rank the three proposals and make a recommendation to the City Commission, which grants final approval for the commissioning of this work.  Please note that the City Commission is not obligated to select the Public Art Committee’s recommendation.   Only one of the three finalists will be offered this commission.

This roundabout will be located in Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) right-of-way and must be approved by that Department.  Upon selection by the City Commission, the proposed artwork will be submitted to FDOT for review and approval.  FDOT’s process consists of two reviews with both reviews involving the local District Office and the Central Office.  First is a Concept Phase which involves submittal of conceptual drawings, site plans, and other documentation.  Second is a Final Phase which involves submittal of final documents, including site plans, a traffic control plan, structural plans, and other documents.  Please see excerpt from the FDOT Design Manual (January 1, 2018) located in Appendix C of the Appendices A through C document available for download; specifically, Section 127.2.1 – Public Art (Stand-Alone) and Section 127.3 – Approval Process.  FDOT information about the roundabout construction is located at http://swflroads.com/us41/roundabouts.

All applicants will be notified about the outcome of their submissions.  Please do not call or e-mail for an update on the status of the submission.

Design Criteria (for final artwork)

There is no stated stylistic preference; a full spectrum of high quality outdoor sculpture is anticipated to be of interest to the City.

Overall design criteria that will help guide the selection of artwork are:

• Work that will complement its downtown location
• Designed to require minimal maintenance (do not include a water feature)
• Free-standing outdoor sculpture
• Original design (not reproduced)
• Does not draw viewers to it but is appreciated from a distance (i.e. non-interactive)
• Should not create a distracting situation for drivers using the roundabout
• Does not exceed 25 feet in overall height above the nearest travel lane (please design the artwork atop a base that is 3 ½ feet in height; this would leave a maximum of 21 ½ feet for the artwork itself); the City anticipates that a wall that is 3 ½ feet in height will be constructed in the center island, that the artwork will be located within the walled area, and that the top of the base shall be flush with the top of the wall
• Proposed work should be structurally sound and meet applicable standards of the Florida Building Code in regard to the foundation and wind loading (150 MPH winds); final work will need to be engineered and stamped/signed by a registered Florida engineer who is pre-qualified for FDOT work
• The artwork must have a minimum offset of six (6) feet from the edge of the inside travel lane; it is preferable to have the artwork placed in the center of the roundabout
• Materials used must meet the demands of Sarasota’s subtropical climate (sea salt air)
• The sculpture must not contain any signs or traffic control features, auditory devices, reflective surfaces, flashing lights, moving parts or moving illumination
• It must be devoid of advertising, including charitable, fraternal, religious, or political signs, symbols, logos, banners or any other such device
• The structure may not display messages with text, but can make use of alpha-numeric characters in the design format
• Required lighting of the sculpture must not be directed at motorists, bicyclists or pedestrians
• The artwork, including any amenities, must not obstruct any signs or interfere with any sight distance, sight triangle or view zone
• The artwork will have an anti-graffiti coating
• The artist will provide a two-year warranty on materials and craftsmanship

Project Timeline

• Deadline for submission: February 28, 2019
• General review of applicants by the Public Art Committee: April/May 2019
• Finalist presentations to the Public Art Committee: July/August 2019
• Recommendation of the Public Art Committee presented to City Commission for selection approval: September 2019
• Florida Department of Transportation Concept Phase and Final Phase: anticipated Fall/Winter 2019

This roundabout is scheduled for completion at the beginning of January 2020.  Site prep and installation to begin upon FDOT Final approval which will occur after completion of the roundabout.

What to Submit

Artists are required to submit qualifications, illustrations (images, renderings), and a brief statement describing an initial concept idea for this project.

1. Written description of proposed artwork for this project including the title, explanation of how the artwork relates to the location and represents the community of Sarasota, type of media, dimensions, and weight; up to 8 images of the proposed artwork; and fabrication information (please submit only one artwork proposal for this roundabout);
2. Resume outlining experience;
3. Proposed budget estimate for the project;
4. Images of previous artwork listing title, type of media, dimensions, and year of completion or upload artwork from your gallery and be sure to include an ID sheet;
5. 3 or more professional references; and
6. A disclosure statement regarding any professional or personal relationship with any City of Sarasota official, employee, or advisory board member

How to Submit

Submit materials ONLY through the CaFE system.