Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Salt Lake City, UT: Regent Street Public Art RFQ


Submission Deadline: Monday, June 22, 2015 by 11:59 p.m. MDT
 
The Salt Lake Art Design Board announces a new public art opportunity, funded by the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, to be located on Regent Street in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. 
 
INTRODUCTION
A new state-of-the-art performing arts center, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater, will open in downtown Salt Lake City in the fall of 2016. The theater will become the region’s premier entertainment venue and a contemporary landmark for Utah’s capitol city. The construction of the theater has generated an exciting development opportunity to redesign and revitalize the adjacent street, Regent Street, which is one of downtown Salt Lake City’s most interesting streets – both historically and culturally.
 
PROJECT BACKGROUND
REGENT STREET – A STREET OF STORIES
Regent Street is a small street on the east (back) side of the Eccles Theater situated between two busy, highly developed streets; Main and State Streets. Formerly named Commercial Street, it was one of the first streets to be cut through Salt Lake City’s large city blocks. The new street became home to some of the valley’s earliest immigrant groups who arrived to work on the railroad system in the early 1870’s. Greeks, Russians, Poles, Chinese, Japanese, Swedes, English and Mexicans congregated in this small downtown hub to work and live. The street was colorful, lively and provided culturally diverse experiences not found elsewhere in the overall conservative downtown business district that was prominent during that period. The street featured a variety of small markets, businesses and shops, restaurants and saloons and Salt Lake City’s first brothels.  
 
In the early 1920’s, the street’s name changed to Regent along with the overall character as it became the center for publishing Salt Lake’s two daily newspapers, The Salt Lake Tribune and The Deseret News. For over 80 years the two papers’ printing presses ran on Regent Street as well as other professional businesses including an engineering/landscaping firm, law offices, and a local electrical company.
 
The redevelopment of Regent Street offers an opportunity to merge history with the contemporary to create a welcoming, dynamic urban environment unlike any other found in Salt Lake City. Led by the local firm GSBS Architects, the project design team is developing Regent Street into a new public experiential gathering place that will engage its visitors as they shop, dine, socialize and stroll. Regent Street is a place where well-conceived ideas and projects are focused on activating the street and enhancing the public spaces. It will become a hub for unexpected experiences with permanent and temporary public artwork and installations. The spaces will play host to festivals, performances and interactive opportunities celebrating Regent’s exceptional stories of past and present. Regent will also become the place for locally-owned restaurants, clubs, bars and boutiques as well as a mixture of surprising micro-shops and specialty food carts.
 
Recognizing Regent Street’s important role in history as the center for publishing and printing Salt Lake City’s two daily newspapers, the design team incorporated “press sheet” imagery in the streetscape. The press sheet begins at each of the four entry points as wayfinding markers, is embedded into the street and sidewalks, on some vertical surfaces and, in a few locations, emerges into steel bench seating elements on the sidewalks. 
 
Regent Street will be used in a variety of ways. In addition to functioning as the back stage door and load-in for the theater, the plaza will also be used for events, festivals, temporary art installations and performances and daily passage for workers. Regent Street may be temporarily closed off completely to accommodate some events and festivals.
 
PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
In addition to the Eccles Theater and Regent Street projects, there are two new privately developed, commercial projects on adjacent properties.
 
The first project, which is under construction, is a 23-story, 440,000 square foot office tower on the corner of Main Street and 100 South; the north side of the Eccles Theater. The construction will be complete in the summer of 2016.
 
The second project, currently in the planning stages, is a 14-story, 146 guest-room boutique hotel with condominiums on the top four floors. The hotel will be located on the southeast corner of Regent Street and 200 South. Architectural drawings are not available at the time of issuance of this Call for Artists however they may be available for the finalists’ site visit in July. The hotel is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2017.
 
ELIGIBILITY
The Call for Artists is open to all professional artists and/or artist-led teams, based in Utah, nationally and/or internationally. Interested artists will have demonstrated experience in innovative placemaking and are welcome to propose work in all media and materials that meet the “ARTWORK CRITERIA” and are durable and suitable for Utah’s variable climate.
 
PROJECT BUDGET
The commission budget is $1,400,000.00 - $2,000,000.00 USD. Budget is inclusive of all artist’s fees, travel, design, engineering, insurance, permits, fabrication, labor, shipping and installation.
 
PROJECT TIMELINE
Issue Call for Artists:     Tuesday, May 19, 2015
 
Submittal Deadline:     Monday, June 22, 2015 by 11:59 p.m. MDT
 
Finalist Selection:         Tuesday, June 30, 2015
 
Finalist Notification:     Wednesday, July 1, 2015
 
Finalists’ Site Visit:         Tuesday, July 14, 2015
 
Finalists’ Written
Materials Deadline:     Tuesday, August 25, 2015, by 5:00 p.m. MDT
 
Finalists’ Interviews &
Proposal Presentation: Tuesday, September 1, 2015
 
Artist Selection
Notification:                 Thursday, September 3, 2015
 
Contracting Process:   September
 
Project Completion:    June 2016
 
ARTWORK CRITERIA
This project, including the selected integrated artwork, will serve as a catalyst for positive economic and social change and enhanced quality of life in the downtown business and cultural district. The artwork is considered a part of the architectural whole and requires cooperation with architects, project partners and others. The artwork should exemplify strong, imaginative design and content and should contribute to a visually stimulating environment that lends itself to thought and adds character to the site. Artists are encouraged to consider an element of interactivity in their artwork to extend the spirit of performance art and/or street theater. The artwork should be prominent at all hours and proportionate to its surroundings. The artwork could be suspended and/or attached to existing, permissible buildings. Permanently installed or integrated elements on the street may be considered as long as access to and the function of the street is not compromised. The artist will likely work with the Design Board and project design team to further conceptualize the project including determining preparation of the site, i.e. structural, electrical requirements, city codes, etc. and the method in which the work will be installed or integrated.
 
SALT LAKE CITY PUBLIC ART PROGRAM
The Public Art Program, which commissions artists' work for City-owned buildings and public spaces, was established by ordinance in the early 1980’s. Its purpose is to add to the value and experience of the built environment and spaces with original, high quality and site-specific artwork. The Salt Lake Art Design Board is the advisory group of five citizens with related expertise that oversees the Public Art Program. By ordinance, they make recommendations to the Mayor for final approval for all artist selections for each City public art project.
 
REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS
The Salt Lake Art Design Board will review all of the artists’ submissions and select the finalists based on the materials submitted. Attending the Review Meeting, in addition to the Salt Lake Art Design Board, will be representatives from the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City, GSBS project design team, Layton Construction and Salt Lake City Corporation.
 
The selection of the finalists will be based on the following criteria:
 

  • Artist’s consideration of and experience in creating artwork that incorporates multimedia elements, e.g. light, digital, sound, and/or may have an interactive component in its design.
  • Artist’s professional experience represents a developed and successful body of site-specific public art projects of a similar scope as demonstrated by visual documentation.
  • Ability to understand sense of place and design in a context-sensitive manner as demonstrated by visual documentation.
  • Willingness of the artist to consult and work with the design and construction teams to successfully integrate the work into the site and meet any construction requirements, schedules and deadlines.
  • Ensure that the artwork is of a permanent nature, does not require excessive maintenance or repair costs and meets public safety issues and Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) standards.
 
FINALISTS
Up to four finalists will be invited and required to visit Salt Lake City for a full-day site orientation on Tuesday, July 14, 2015 (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided).  The site visit is meant to orient the artists with the project and to hear from and ask questions of the architects, the design team and project partners. Additional materials will be made available to finalists during the site visit. Finalists will receive a $1,500 travel stipend which is inclusive for travel expenses, hotel, meals, etc. Artists traveling internationally will receive a $2,000 stipend. Utah artists will receive a stipend based on receipts (stipend payments will be issued within two weeks following the visit).
 
On Tuesday, September 1, 2015, each finalist will present their conceptual proposal to the Design Board and Review Committee. Finalists’ site-specific proposals should convey their ideas and plans through scale designs, renderings and/or scale models with a statement that describes, in detail, the project's intent, proposed materials, fabrication and installation methods, project schedule and an itemized budget.
 
All written materials and a color rendering of the concept must be emailed to the public art program by Tuesday, August 25, 2015, by 5:00 p.m. MDT. Materials will be distributed to the Design Board and Review Committee prior to the finalists’ presentations.
 
A $4,000 honorarium will be awarded to each finalist for their proposal and is all inclusive for design, travel expenses, shipping, etc. (honoraria payments will be issued within two weeks following the proposal presentations).
 
ARTIST’S COMMISSIONED WORK AGREEMENT
The selected artist/team will enter into a two-party Agreement between Salt Lake City Corporation and the artist/team. The selected artist/team will be required to provide General Liability and Auto insurance as specified in the Agreement.
 
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
The Salt Lake City public art program uses the CaFÉ online digital application and selection process.  Full application information can be found at www.callforentry.org
 
Deadline: The application, images and other required materials must be submitted electronically by midnight (MDT), Monday, June 22, 2015
 
Contact:                       Roni Thomas, roni.thomas@slcgov.com
Website:                       http://saltlakepublicart.org/for-artists/calls-for-artists/
           
 
The Salt Lake Art Design Board and Salt Lake City Corporation reserve the right to reject any or all applications, to reissue the Call for Entries, or to terminate the selection process or project at any time without prior notice.
 

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