Eastern Virginia Medical School seeks to commission an artist to design and create a sculpture for the L.D. Britt Terrace at the new Waitzer Hall building in Norfolk, Virginia.

Budget: $100,000

Eligibility: (not stated)

Deadline: August 3, 2020

Project Description

Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) provides the critical healthcare workforce and infrastructure to Hampton Roads. In fact, EVMS was founded by
visionaries who realized the only way to attract and retain quality doctors was to build a medical school. Many of the 11,000 alumni choose to stay and practice in the state, and the school’s impressive portfolio of teaching affiliates include 16 of the region’s foremost medical centers and approximately
150 private practices.

EVMS is the largest biomedical research institution in southeastern Virginia. More than 100 EVMS faculty members are engaged in basic and clinical research focused in areas where the community has pressing needs. Innovative research has brought EVMS to the forefront of groundbreaking discoveries — from the pioneering of in vitro fertilization in America, to the recognition of new cancer detection and treatment methods and innovative therapies for individuals suffering from the debilitating side effects of diabetes. We continually strive to enhance our research enterprise in order to improve the health of the people of Hampton Roads and beyond.

As the population continues to rapidly grow and diversify, it is important that the health care system continues to understand how to serve more patients from a wide range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. Training and attracting new providers is critical to meet the state’s health care needs. But
a strong health care workforce should also reflect the growing diversity of communities. Diversity and inclusion is important at every level and position in our institution. We understand diversity is an evolving concept, and continually strive to be inclusive of individuals and groups in the broadest possible manner.

Site Description

The new building, Waitzer Hall, is located adjacent to downtown Norfolk, VA along one of the busiest thoroughfares near the Elizabeth River Waterfront. It takes up an entire corner of the medical corridor that includes Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. The Red Cross, Public Health, and other medical facilities are nearby.

The proposed site of the sculpture is a tiered terrace located in front of the building’s main entrances, with excellent sight lines down Children’s Lane all the way through the medical campus. The artwork will be a fixture of the bustling medical campus and will be viewed by students, faculty, medical patients and pedestrians.

Additionally, the terrace in front of the entrance to the new building, Waitzer Hall, will be named in honor of Dr. L.D. Britt, The L. D. Britt, MD Terrace. This visible entrance is the gateway for students, faculty and visitors to enter the academic and administrative building where the President’s office is located.

Artwork Theme

The sculpture will honor and pay tribute to Dr. L. D. Britt. The work should be clean, welcoming, forward-thinking and purposeful. We hope the
figure will become a suitable icon for the diversity and inclusion efforts on campus, and appropriately honor the distinguished work of Dr. Britt.

Dr. Britt joined the EVMS faculty in 1986 and has served as Chair of EVMS Surgery since 1994. For the first 25 years of his career, he traveled
more than 30 miles every Tuesday to see patients who couldn’t make it to Norfolk. Dr. Britt has received numerous awards for his outstanding contributions to medical education. He was the first African-American in the nation to have an endowed chair in surgery, and he has held several
leadership positions, including Director on the American Board of Surgery, past Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons and past President of the American College of Surgeons. He was the first faculty member from EASTERN VIRGINIA MEDICAL SCHOOL ever to be elected to
the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine. Within NAM’s 2,000 members elected over more than four decades, Dr. Britt is the first acute-care-specialty surgeon. Of the more than 850,000 practicing physicians in the United States, less than 1 percent are elected to NAM. An active participant in the community, Dr. Britt has received numerous awards for public service. Dr.
Britt is the recipient of the 2010 Colgate Darden Citizen of the Year Award and the 2011 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Award. Ebony magazine has listed him as one of the most influential African Americans in the nation.

Timeline

• Deadline for Submissions:  August 3, 2020 2:00 p.m. E.S.T.
• Selection Announced: Fall 2020
• Completion of Sculpture: Spring 2021

Selection Criteria

The commission will be awarded based on many factors such as aesthetic value, creativity and contemporary relevance of the proposed piece. Eastern
Virginia Medical School will consider the diversity of values, beliefs and general standards of decency of the donors who fund the commission and purchase of the proposed piece. The award will be made to the responsible offeror whose submission is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to Eastern Virginia Medical School taking into consideration the evaluation factors set forth in this Request for Proposal.

The following criteria will be used in the evaluation process:

• Artistic Merit (excellence, creativity, originality and innovative approach) as evidenced by submitted materials (30 points)
• Professional artist experience to fulfill the requirements of this project either in studio, educational, community, employment and/or art projects, and
• the ability to undertake the design, creation and installation of the artwork (30 points)
• Appropriateness of materials, style and concepts in relation to this prospectus (30 points)
• Small, Women, and Minority Vendors (SWaM) (A copy of the certificate(s) must be provided) (10 points)Total: 100

What to Submit

1. Signed STATEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING. (Attachment A)
2. LETTER OF INTEREST, outline your interest in this project and how you will approach artwork design and creation. (500 word max).
3. RESUME, maximum two (2) pages, outlining your professional accomplishments. If submitting as a team, please submit a separate resume for each artist.
4. ARTWORK IMAGES, a selection of up to ten (10) images of artwork most relevant to thisopportunity. You may submit up to two (2) video files if relevant to showing the artwork.
5. REFERENCES, three (3) professional references, including name, affiliated organization (if appropriate), email address, phone number, and relationship to each reference.

How to Submit

Proposals may be mailed, sent by overnight/express courier, or hand-delivered.

Mail, Overnight or Express Courier

Eastern Virginia Medical School
Materials Management
Attn: RFP No: EVMS BRITTSCULPT21-101
714 Woodis Avenue
Norfolk, VA 23510

Hand Delivery

Eastern Virginia Medical School
Materials Management
Subject: RFP No: BRITTSCULPT21-101
711 Southampton Avenue
Norfolk, VA 2351

QUESTIONS? Contact Michele Jean, jeanma@evms.edu before July 27, 2020.  Answers and addenda will be posted at http://www.evms.edu/about_evms/administrative_offices/materials_management/solicitations/ (look for EVMS BRITTSCULPT21-101)