City of Albuquerque BioPark Botanic Garden Public Art Competition

The High Desert Rose Garden site at the BioPark Botanic Garden is seeking public artwork for its entrance. The main focal point will be the entrance to the High Desert Rose Garden, which provides potential for an exterior mobile/hanging or recessed type (stained glass) artwork that considers the use of New Mexico's natural light and how the work will transform the surrounding area via the interaction of light and shadows. The work must be structurally sound to withstand short intense wind bursts and should enhance the visitor experience.

The intent of the High Desert Rose Garden is to demonstrate that roses have a place in the southwest xeric landscape. Artists are encouraged to incorporate New Mexico's open skies and natural light into their work using traditional and nontraditional ways of manipulating light. The Art Selection Committee will consider a variety of media and styles including glass, stone, metal, wood, or other media that integrates well with the existing architecture and natural southwest environment. Artwork must be suitable for long-term outdoor display with durability and minimal routine maintenance as desirable aspects.

This is a national, open competition for artists and artist teams residing in the United States. A maximum of $50,000 is available to the selected artist to design, fabricate, transport, and install the work at the BioPark Botanic Garden's rose garden. The Art Selection Committee will offer a $500 stipend per selected finalist (not to exceed 5 finalists) for preliminary design concepts, or may select a single artist/team from original submissions. Submission deadline is December 30, 2017. Submit a letter of intent (not to exceed 1000 words), up to 8 digital images of past work, an annotated image key, and a resume (not to exceed 3 pages). All text documents should be in PDF format and images as jpegs no larger than 300 dpi. Questions may be directed to Matthew Carter at (505) 768-3804 or [email protected].