Background
The Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) is inviting artists and artist teams to submit their qualifications to be considered for one or more permanent art commissions at a new park in Boyle Heights located at 318 N. Mathews Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033, in the City’s 14th Council District, Councilmember Kevin de León. The new park will be constructed on a horizontal-shaped lot measuring approximately 8,500 square feet in a residential neighborhood. The community has expressed their interest in seeing artwork that represents the community’s history and culture, and in particular the Latino heritage featured in tiles in the center plaza area. This public art opportunity is administered by DCA, in compliance with the City’s Public Percent for Art Program. Funding for this artist opportunity is through a Proposition 68 grant.
Description of the Art Opportunity
The Department of Cultural Affairs is using a bifurcated process for the public art commissioning approach for the project. In an effort to create an opportunity for studio artists who have an interest in working in the public realm, DCA will assemble a team of Project Mentors to be available to provide technical assistance to any artists who may require it during the design, fabrication, and installation phases of the project. Virtual workshops, lectures and/or one-on-one sessions with a Project Mentor will be made available to help the selected artists develop the necessary technical and project management skills needed to successfully complete a public art project.
Criteria
Local artists with little or no public art experience who are interested in entering the public art field are encouraged to apply. Artists working in any media may apply individually or as an artist team. Artists with no public art experience should demonstrate:
- An interest in learning about and working in the public art realm;
- An interest in or prior experience working on community-centered projects;
- Artistic merit and conceptual strength;
- Respect and acknowledgment of the social and/or historical context of the local community;
and Artists with prior public art experience should demonstrate:
- Innovative approaches to materials, methodologies, and public engagement;
- Professional and technical capacity to plan, coordinate, and execute a public artwork in collaboration with DCA staff, City representatives, contractors, and the general public;
- Ability to respond to the built environment; and
- Artists and artist teams pre-qualified for other DCA-administered public art projects are not prevented from responding to this RFQ. Artist teams may not change over the life of the project.
Selection Process
An artist selection panel may be composed of, but not limited to, up to three (3) independent arts professionals, a Recreation and Parks representative, a project engineer, and a local community representative. Upon review of all submissions, the panel will select up to five (5) artists as finalists to develop a proposal. The project mentors will be available during the proposal development process to assist the artists if they require it. The five finalists will be invited to present their proposals virtually to the selection panel and based upon the proposal reviews and interviews, the artist selection panel will award up to two artists and/or artist teams to receive a commission. The commissioned artists will need to be available to present their proposal to the community and appropriate City agencies for review and approvals. The commissioned artworks will also be required to comply with all applicable City codes, such as those dealing with safety, accessibility, and seismic concerns.
Eligibility
The maximum budget available for both public art projects at the new park is $200,000. The specific budget for each art project will be announced at the proposal development phase. Project budgets must cover all costs associated with the design, fabrication, and installation of the public art project including engineering and city permits as required, as well as any public programming associated with the artwork. The new park is funded by the Proposition 68 Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program.
How to Apply
All applications must be submitted electronically via SlideRoom by visiting https://culturela.slideroom.com. Incomplete and late applications will be deemed ineligible and not be considered. Deadline to apply is SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m.
A complete application must include:
- CONTACT INFORMATION Including full name, business name (if applicable), mailing address, telephone, and email. Teams must identify one artist to be DCA’s primary contact for the team, as well as contact information for each artist on the team.
- STATEMENT OF INTEREST (PDF or DOC format only, 1 page max) in creating a public art project for the new park.
- CURRICULUM VITAE (PDF or DOC format only, 4 pages max); Please submit a CV for each staff person on the primary team.
- ARTWORKS OR PAST PROJECTS / MEDIA FILES [max ten (10) files; JPG format only, 72 DPI min, 5 MB max per file]; Submit images of completed artwork; teams are encouraged to include projects created by the team. Each of the image files must include the title of the image, year, size, materials, and brief description. For any commissioned project(s), also include the client, budget, and location.
Applicants should not include any specific proposal(s) at this time. Any such elements will be redacted from the application prior to review by the selection committee (refer to the “Selection Process” section), or the application may be deemed disqualified and not be reviewed.