Art Match City of Bend Oregon: Riverbend Community Park Public Art Commission

Art in Public Places (AiPP) seeks to commission a permanent large-scale work of art for the roundabout at Riverbend Community Park, located at 799 S.W. Columbia Street in Bend, Oregon. The roundabout is situated in the new 14-acre Riverbend Community Park, which borders Columbia Street to the north and the Deschutes River to the south. The park serves as a gateway to the Deschutes River Trail and is designed to host community events, picnics, and provide paved pathways, trails, beach and river access.

The roundabout center area available for artwork and landscaping is 48 feet in diameter. The artwork must be fabricated in durable, permanent, outdoor media that is safe, easily maintained, and has proven viability in public artworks. The scale of the artwork should be at least 20 feet in height to be well seen in the park and surrounding open areas. There are no restrictions on artistic interpretation; existing roundabout sculptures in Bend range from traditional wildlife representations to abstract works to kinetic sculptures. The committee will evaluate submissions based on artistic merit, the artist's past experience, and ability to work in large scale.

Funds available for the commission shall not exceed $75,000, provided through the ArtMatch program funded by Brooks Resources and the Bend Foundation. The completed sculpture becomes the property of the City of Bend; the artist retains copyright and grants Art in Public Places and the City of Bend a license to display the work and create reproductions for archival or promotional purposes. This is an open competition for professional artists residing in the Northwest United States, specifically Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Northern California. Teams are welcome to apply with one application per artist or team. Applicants must submit a current resume, 4 artwork images with medium, dimensions, location, and price noted, and a statement of interest expressing initial ideas for the roundabout artwork. The application deadline is June 30, 2009. Questions may be directed to Marcelene Trujillo at [email protected].