Connective Corridor: Public Art to Complete a Major Streetscape

Request for Qualifications

Location: Connective Corridor - Syracuse, NY

Total funding: $650,000 for an estimated six to ten installations

Submission Deadline: March 1, 2015 by 11:59 p.m. EST. 

Call to Artists

The Connective Corridor in partnership with the Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts invites artists to submit letters of interest and qualifications, along with initial concepts, to be considered for the commission of permanent artwork to be installed at various sites along the Connective Corridor inSyracuse, NY. The call is open to all professional artists and artist teams, based locally, nationally, and internationally. Selected artists should demonstrate expertise in creative placemaking and are welcome to propose work in all media and materials. Creative placemaking is an evolving field of practice that leverages the power of the arts, culture and creativity within the context of community revitalization in ways that catalyze positive economic and social change, and enhance quality of life.

The selection panel is interested in commissioning artists or design teams who are enthusiastic about engaging and collaborating with the university and community on finalized designs for installation. Artists may propose one installation or a thematic series of installations at sites along the Connective Corridor.

Installations will become permanent public art located on properties along the Connective Corridor streetscape (see map attached in site details). Works in the public right-of-way must be accepted, owned and maintained by the City of Syracuse through the Syracuse Public Art Commission (SPAC). 

Conceptual Theme 

“Illuminating the Connective Corridor through Public Art”

The Connective Corridor is an initiative of Syracuse University, the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County that embodies best practices in urban design.Illumination has been a “literal” theme of the Connective Corridor, including innovative lighting projects that highlight the City’s iconic architecture and urban spaces.  Public art along the Connective Corridor will “metaphorically” illuminate the city as a vibrant, radiant place to live, work and engage. Proposals do not need to incorporate lighting as a primary element, but applicants should consider how their work might be creatively illuminated after dark.

All media and materials will be considered. The jury is looking for meaningful enduring work that is informed by the physical aspects of the specific site, as well as Syracuse’s overall historical and cultural context. Applicants are encouraged to think about how their proposals relate to creative placemaking within Syracuse. Engagement will be an important component of this project and successful applicants will work with the steering committee, comprised of university and community members, to finalize proposals. In addition to submitting a Resume/CV and artist statement, artists are asked to submit a letter of interest that reflects why they are interested in a public art project in Syracuse, as well as their approach to community engagement.  Applicants are encouraged to articulate how an initial concept or their body of work relates to the goals of the overall Connective Corridor project, described below. 

Background on Syracuse, NY

Syracuse is the fifth largest city in New York State, with a population of approximately 145,000 and a metropolitan area that exceeds 650,000. It is located at the geographic crossroads of the state, and the Central New York region is the gateway to popular tourism areas such as the Finger Lakes, Thousand Islands, Adirondacks and the Great Lakes. It is within driving distance of major metropolitan regions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, as well as Canadian cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Syracuse, like many post-industrial cities, is redefining itself as it shifts from a robust manufacturing industry to an innovation economy. It is emerging as a national example of urban revitalization and regional transformation, winning the U.S. Green Building Council’s Global Leadership Award for its commitment to smart growth, sustainability and civic engagement. It was also recently named America’s Best College Town by Travel and Leisure Magazine. The City of Syracuse is seeing an accelerated pattern of investment in downtown neighborhoods and business districts, with more than $350 million in new downtown investment currently underway. More than 40% of that investment activity is new residential development, and downtown residential occupancy is at 99%. Downtown residential population has increased over 30% in the past three years, with much of that growth in the young professional age cohort. The city is compact and walkable, and features striking 19th century architecture that is seeing a new wave of mixed-use redevelopment. The city has a robust arts scene, with 40 museums and galleries, including the nationally known Everson Museum of Art, designed by I.M. Pei, along with live/work neighborhoods for emerging and established artists like the SALT District. 

Background on the Connective Corridor

The Connective Corridor is a partnership of Syracuse University, the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County, managed through the Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development. Partners leveraged approximately $46 million in external public/private funding to implement improvements along a two-mile urban corridor connecting the University Hill area with downtown business and residential districts. This public solicitation is unique in that it aligns public art within this larger context.

Components of the Connective Corridor include:

• New complete “green streets” with bike and pedestrian pathways to help create a more livable, walkable community; 


• New network of green infrastructure to capture and manage 26 million gallons of water annually through a variety of advanced technologies;


• Redesigned public parks and spaces, along with landscaping and signage for key gateway nodes to central business districts, along with extensive tree planting;


• A free public bus system connecting campus and community venues, with ridership numbers that have grown from 6,000 to 200,000 rides annually;


• A better connected arts, cultural and heritage district, with more than 40 cultural/community venues working together to program and co-promote the district;


• Public spaces featuring interactive technologies and a large-scale outdoor urban video installation;


• New downtown signage, civic strip wayfinding and the development of an interactive information kiosk system designed to enhance the Syracuse experience;


• More than 70 building façade improvement projects designed to augment the new complete streetscape; 


• Innovative lighting projects designed to illuminate the City’s iconic architecture and public spaces through a “Corridor of Light”;


• A new public art corridor based on principles of creative placemaking;


• A working partnership with the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County to direct investment in key urban parcels for mixed use redevelopment along the Corridor;


• Collaborative design with Syracuse University faculty and students that translate multi-disciplinary research and pedagogy into practice through implementation projects.

Location of Art

Projects must be located on properties along the Connective Corridor streetscape. The Connective Corridor is a two-mile east-west urban pathway from Syracuse University to the heart of downtown Syracuse. The “Civic Strip” of the Connective Corridor is a north-south loop around Syracuse’s arts, cultural, heritage, and downtown tourism/convention district. Potential locations have been pre-identified as possible areas of interest (see website for details and photos), however artists are encouraged to explore other locations directly on the Connective Corridor (highlighted in red on the map). Priority locations are indicated on the map on the website below:

http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu/rfq/locations

Budget

The Connective Corridor has allocated $650,000 for permanent public art through this solicitation. These funds will be split among finalists, and the amount per project may vary depending on the scale of the work and site, and the nature of the proposal.  It is anticipated that individual awards will range from $50,000 to $75,000 per installation, however a larger award could be made for a significant proposal at a key site. The panel will also consider larger awards to an artist or design team for a series of installations that “connect” a number of sites thematically. Smaller proposals for modest projects will also be considered. Each award will be structured as a lump sum all-inclusive “design-build” contract for permanent art. Applicants should factor in all costs, including artist’s design fees (including travel), all materials, fabrication, and final installation (including necessary sub-contracted services). Artists are responsible for installation. 

Long-term Conservation

Syracuse is a snowy city and projects will be exposed to extreme temperature differentials, moisture and varied weather conditions. Finalist's proposals should reflect highly durable, UV-resistant materials that lend themselves to long-term conservation and maintenance in four-seasons. Proposals on public property or in the public right-of-way will be reviewed by the City of Syracuse’s Department of Engineering and the Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency for conformity with city regulations, as well as maintenance and durability (see the City’s handy on-line guide).  Artists submitting proposals on public property will need to work with the City of Syracuse’s Public Art Commission through the planning, review process, and approval process (see City’s handy on-link application).  The Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development (CEED) will assist artists that are selected through this process.

Section Process 

Jury panel and steering committee

RFQ responses will be evaluated by a panel of jurors comprised of artists and design professionals who are alumni of Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts faculty, professional artists and curators, and members of the Syracuse community who have expertise in creative placemaking. A local steering committee is comprised of SU faculty and staff, Syracuse-Onondaga County Planning Agency staff and a representative of the downtown business community.

Semi-finalists

The jury will select a cohort of semi-finalists based upon the artist’s quality of past work, experience, and interest in specific sites, as demonstrated in responses to the RFQ. Selected artists will be interviewed in April 2015 by the steering committee and jurors.  Artists will be encouraged to visit locations and may be asked to make a public presentation as a guest lecturer at Syracuse University. More details will be given to semi-finalists upon selection. Proposals will be evaluated on the artistic merit, the artist’s consideration of location, engagement with theme and the community, as well as durability.

Finalists

Following interviews and selection as finalists, artists will be asked to submit final proposals that are site specific within the scope of the project and site selected. Upon review, finalists will enter into a contract process with Syracuse University to commission and install permanent work. Finalists proposing work on public property must secure approval from the Syracuse Public Art Commission (SPAC).

SPAC’s criteria can be viewed via this link:

http://www.syracuse.ny.us/uploadedFiles/Departments/Planning_and_Sustainability/Public_Arts_Commission/Content/PublicArtApplicationInstructionsandForm.pdf

Finalists proposing work on private property must demonstrate property owner consent and agreement to accept and maintain the work for a period of a minimum of five years. A certificate of liability insurance is required for all finalists, providing evidence of coverage as part of contracts that will developed with individual artists through the Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development (CEED).

Installation of artwork is expected to begin spring 2016 and must be complete by June 30, 2016. As a resource for selected artists, a team of undergraduate and graduate students in a Public Art course in Syracuse University's School of Art is expected to be assigned to each artist. Project management is through the Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development (CEED) and the College of Visual and Performing Arts, with Quinton Fletchall (VPA graduate student and CEED engagement scholar), coordinating this public art solicitation. 

Submission Deadline

All responses must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on March 1, 2015. All materials must be submitted online, via the CaFÉ™ website (www.callforentry.org). There is no application fee to apply or to use the CaFÉ™ online application system.

Submission Details

Please read this section carefully. Incomplete applications will NOT be considered. The applicant’s name must appear on all materials submitted.

Artists who are interested in submitting their work for review should provide the following material online via the CaFÉ™ web site.

Completed Application Form (on CaFÉ™ application page)

Current Resume/CV (PDF or Word format - up to 4 pages preferred length)

Note: If this is a group submission, please submit a single resume for the whole team, with individual resumes integrated into one document. Also note that there is an opportunity to upload examples of your work later in this application.

Artist Statement & Letter of Interest (PDF or Word format - up to 4 pages preferred length)

In addition to your artist statement please provide a letter of interest addressing the following: Is there something about a particular site, the City of Syracuse or the Connective Corridor that especially intrigues you?  How would you align your conceptual proposal within that context?  Share examples of community projects you have done in the past, and the engagement approach you bring to projects. Do you have an initial concept? If so, please describe.

Examples of Work

Please upload to CaFÉ™ 5 to 20 samples of past and recent work with descriptions. For descriptions of public art installations please also include location, commissioning organization, and budget for the work submitted as illustrative examples.

Instructions on how to format images to CaFÉ™ specifications can be found at www.callforentry.org/imaging_tips.phtml. Assistance in using the CaFÉ™ system is available during regular business hours by calling 303-629-1166 or 888-562-7232, or via email at cafe@westaf.org.

Project Timeline

March 1, 2015:  

RFQ deadline (11:59 p.m. EST)

April 1, 2015:          

Announcement of semi-finalists

April 2015:            

Semi-finalists interviews

May 2015:            

Jury selects finalists

May/June 2015:  

Finalists work with steering committee to finalize locations, budget and actual costs

July/August 2015:  

Preliminary Approval by Syracuse Public Art Commission for projects in the public right-of-way / Contracts with artists developed

September 2015:    

Review and Approval – Artists working in the public right-of-way present proposals to the Syracuse Public Art Commission for approval / Contracts executed

Fall 2015/Winter 2016:        

Fabricate projects

Spring 2016:          

Install projects

June 2016:  

All projects complete and final invoices submitted for reimbursement. Invoices submitted after June 30, 2016 will not be reimbursed.

Additional Information

Questions may be addressed to Quinton Fletchall at corridorpublicart@gmail.com

Or visit: http://connectivecorridor.syr.edu/