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THIS CALL HAS CLOSED. |
| Budget: $74,000 |
| Activated: 01/07/2016 Deadline: 02/18/2016 |
| Call Summary The City of Austin Art in Public Places (AIPP) program of the Cultural Arts Division, Economic Development Department (EDD), seeks to commission a permanent public artwork for the Austin Convention Center (ACC) 2nd St. Garage Elevators project.This commission provides the opportunity to create a highly visible landmark in downtown Austin that should reflect the mission of the ACC to promote Austin as a premier destination, energize the urban fabric of the street intersection, and employ integrated design approaches and/or sustainable materials in the creation of the artwork. |
| Budget Description The AIPP funding for this project is generated from 2% of the estimated construction budget for the 2nd Street Garage Elevators and an eligible portion from other construction within the Convention Center. The total award for an artist contract is $74,000 inclusive of design, fabrication and installation, including engineering and permitting fees, travel and shipping expenses, insurance and other project-related costs. |
| Project Description The City of Austin Art in Public Places (AIPP) program of the Cultural Arts Division, Economic Development Department (EDD), seeks to commission a permanent public artwork for the Austin Convention Center (ACC) 2nd St. Garage Elevators project. This commission's location and scale provides the opportunity to create a highly visible new landmark for downtown Austin on the exterior of the ACC parking garage. The selected artist will engage the entire height of the building corner and may include the ground plane within their work. This artwork opportunity is expected to encompass the verticality of the building. It may also incorporate the ground plane, but it not required to do so The selected artist will work with the project design team, designing an artwork that supports a cohesive experience of the building as a whole. The artist will also be expected to work within the schedule for construction, without impeding operation, public safety and building access. A range of materials and conceptual approaches are welcome for this commission as long as the parameters and goals of the project are met. The Austin Convention Center Department manages the Austin Convention Center and two corresponding parking garages, as part of the Department’s downtown footprint. Located between San Jacinto and Brazos, and Cesar Chavez and 2nd Street, it is one of the Austin Convention Center’s two parking garages. This garage serves the downtown community, a mix of residents, visitors, and workers. At present, the garage has one set of elevators on the west side (Brazos Street entrance) of the building, while the east side (San Jacinto Street entrance) houses a stairwell. To reduce wait times for patrons of the garage and enhance their experience, two new elevators will be installed on the northeast corner of the Convention Center Parking, at 2nd Street and San Jacinto Blvd. Funding for the 2nd Street Garage Elevators was approved as part of the Austin Convention Center Department’s FY 2015 budget, and is being managed by the Austin Convention Center and Public Works Departments. It will include the design and construction of an elevator bank with two elevators, and ADA-compliant thresholds. The City hired McKinney York Architects to develop the schematic design. Completion of construction documents is anticipated in 2016 with construction beginning in summer of 2016. |
| Artwork Goals The Art in Public Places program seeks to commission works of art of redeeming quality that advance public understanding of visual art and enhance the aesthetic quality of public places through the selection of a qualified artist or artist team who can innovatively and thoughtfully design within the context of this project. The goal of the 2nd Street Garage Elevators project is to select an artist/artist team who will design artwork that: -reflects the mission of the Austin Convention Center to promote Austin as a premier destination for business and leisure -energizes the urban fabric of the street intersection -employs integrated design approaches and/or sustainable materials -is easily maintained and vandal resistant in an exterior environment -contributes to the depth/breadth of the City of Austin’s public art collection. |
| Artwork Location Description This site is at a busy and highly-visible downtown intersection, diagonally across the street from one of Austin’s premier hotels. The site for this artwork opportunity is the northwest corner of the parking garage at the corner of 2nd Street and Brazos in Austin's downtown core. |
| Site History In 1983, Austin City Council unveiled a concept for a $35 million convention center as part of a $350 million complex of hotels and parkland on the south shore of Town Lake (now Lady Bird Lake). Resistance to this plan by neighborhood groups near the proposed site and downtown business leaders caused the city to consider several other sites, finally choosing a downtown site near Waller Creek, at 500 East Cesar Chavez, for construction. Financing was provided for by a $69 million bond sale, approved on July 29, 1989. The grand opening ceremony took place on July 4, 1992. On September 1, 1999, construction began on an expansion aimed at nearly doubling the size of the facility from 441,000 square feet to 881,400 square feet. The grand reopening of the expanded facility took place on May 18, 2002. The enlarged Convention Center's five exhibit halls have a combined 247,052 square feet of column-free space. There are 54 meeting rooms and two ballrooms. In 2006, AIPP commissioned artist Ann Adams to design an exterior piece for Austin Energy’s chiller facility at the corner of 5th Street and Red River, which is part of the ACC. Traditionally a fiber artist, Adams interpreted her work into the public realm by designing Big Chiller Blues, ten thousand square feet of glass tiles in shades of blue installed at the corner of 5th Street and Red River. The Austin Convention Center houses several other public artworks commissioned by the AIPP program, including: Index for Contemplation by Margo Sawyer; Waller Creek Shelves by Damian Priour, Confabulating Orbits by Ben Livingston, Texas Botanicals by Jill Bedgood, and Macro/ Micro Culture by Rolando Briseño. The complete list of public artwork at the Austin Convention Center can be found here: http://www.publicartarchive.org/search/apachesolr_search/convention%20center?filters=im_work_coll_nid%3A65554 |
| Eligibility Professional visual artists, or artist teams, at least 18 years of age who live and work in the seven county Austin area (Williamson, Travis, Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Burnet and Blanco counties) are eligible to apply. A professional visual artist is defined as “a practitioner in the visual arts with an original self-conceptualized body of work, generally recognized by critics and peers as a professional possessing serious intent and ability.” Full-time, permanent City of Austin employees including employees of the Austin Convention Center Department and the Economic Development Department, and project consultants and their employees and sub-consultants are ineligible to apply. Applications not meeting all eligibility criteria will be withdrawn from consideration. Artists who currently have one active contract with the Art in Public Places program or who have more than two permanent works in the AIPP Collection are ineligible to apply. Artist teams are considered as separate entities; their projects do not count as projects by the individual artists. |
| Application Requirements |
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Resume: 3 page(s) maximum Work examples: 10 Letter of Interest: 600 word maximum In your letter of interest, please describe your interest in the project, any relevant creative experience that would make you a good match for the project; and any initial thoughts (not a proposal) on how you might approach this opportunity within the stated parameters, budget, and goals. If you are applying as an artist team, please name all members in your introductory paragraph. References: 3 |
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Artists are allowed to apply in teams.
Artists applying as a team must split the allotted number of work examples between themselves. |
| Selection Information |
| Selection Process Applications must be received online via www.PublicArtist.org no later than 11:59 pm (CST) on February 18, 2016. The application includes: » Letter of Interest stating why they are interested, what makes them a good match for the project, and how they might approach the project within the given parameters » 10 images of completed relevant artwork with the required descriptions » 3-page resume » 3 professional references. |
| Selection Criteria The selection of an artist, or artist team, shall be based on whose qualifications best meet the requirements contained in this Request for Qualifications. In addition to the standard AIPP project selection criteria found on the City of Austin’s Art in Public Places website under Guidelines & Policies, www.austintexas.gov/department/aipp-policies, the Selection Panel will also review and consider the following evaluation criteria: » Artistic merit and technical expertise » Demonstrated successful, innovative and effective approach to public art projects of a similar scope » Ability to successfully execute a public art project » Expressed interest in creating artwork within this project’s site and context. |
| Timeline Tentative Schedule (subject to change) January 5, 2016 Request for Qualifications (RFQ) released January 28, 2016 Artist Information Meeting February 18, 2016 RFQ Deadline for Applications March 10, 2016 Selection of Finalists March 22, 2016 Finalist Orientation Meeting April 12, 2016 Finalist Interviews and Selection of Artist + Alternate May 9 + 16, 2016 Approval of Artist and Alternate by AIPP Panel and Arts Commission May or June 2016 City Council authorizes negotiation and execution of contract July 2016 Mid-Design review Summer 2016 Construction Documents Scheduled for Completion Sept. or Oct. 2016 Final Design review TBD Notice to Proceed with Fabrication February 2016 Construction Begins TBD Artwork installed |
| Additional Resources |
| www.austincreates.com |
| Unnamed Resource (PDF) |
| Contact Information |
| Susan Lambe AIPP Program Administrator Austin TX United States susan.lambe@austintexas.gov 512.974.7852 |
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