City of Chicago - Public Art Planning Consultant

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), in collaboration with the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) and the Department of Transportation (CDOT), seeks professional artists, arts consultants, urban designers and planners with public art and infrastructure experience to serve as consultants. Consultants will lead a community engagement process to scope and identify priorities for new public art and infrastructure investments, prioritizing INVEST South/West (ISW) neighborhood corridors.

The Public Art and Infrastructure Program aims to integrate public art into capital and infrastructure projects, with an initial investment of $6M over two years and additional funding anticipated in the remaining years of the Five-Year Capital Plan. The program prioritizes communities with histories of disinvestment and will focus on 12 key commercial corridors in 10 communities on Chicago's South and West Sides.

Consultants will manage a four-phase community engagement process over approximately six months: Phase 1 (Research, 6 weeks) involves reviewing existing cultural and public art planning efforts, researching best practices, and assembling an advisory group; Phase 2 (Visioning, 6 weeks) includes facilitating advisory meetings and community workshops; Phase 3 (Public Art Priorities, 8 weeks) focuses on creating summaries of public art opportunities and identifying locations for activation; Phase 4 (Public Art Corridor Vision, 8 weeks) involves drafting a public art plan and organizing a public share-out. Each consultant may be assigned one or more ISW corridors.

Eligibility: Applicants must be professional artists, arts consultants, urban designers or planners with experience in public art, infrastructure, and community engagement who live and work in the United States. Applicants must not be enrolled full-time in undergraduate studies, must be actively creating new work or demonstrating success in the field, and must have at least a two-year history of public presentation or publication. Selection will be based on professional merit, creative and administrative skills, commitment to equity, knowledge of diverse artists in Chicago, ability to translate complex concepts, advanced knowledge of graphic design and digital platforms, and range of ideas for interpreting data. The budget per INVEST South/West neighborhood is $50,000, which includes all costs associated with delivery of the community engagement process and public art plan.