City of El Paso Traffic Circles Citywide Public Art Project

The City of El Paso seeks professional artists residing within the city to design and develop public art pieces for traffic circles citywide. All professional artists residing within the City of El Paso, Texas are eligible to apply except for employees of the City of El Paso, their spouses, or members of the Public Art Committee. The City does not accept qualifications from undergraduate students.

Project budgets will vary from $10,000 to $50,000, all-inclusive to cover design fees, travel expenses, materials, fabrication costs, lighting, insurance, engineering, shipping, and installation. Artwork will be sculptural in nature, placed within a 45-foot radius at the center of traffic circles. Artwork should serve as a focal point and assist in calming traffic while maintaining visibility of directional indications. Artists must consider safety and design measures to produce artwork viewable from a distance and from all angles. The Public Art Program prioritizes larger traffic circles with high visibility, especially those near or in tourist attractions, scenic drives, historic landmarks, and cultural districts.

The selected artist will contract with the City of El Paso and work closely with the design team. Responsibilities include conducting site research, collaborating on artwork proposals, preparing verbal, written, and visual presentations with preliminary drawings, three-dimensional renderings or models, narrative descriptions, site plans, photographic surveys, material samples, ADA documentation, and budget outlines. The artist must participate in approximately three in-person meetings with stakeholders, engage subcontractors if necessary, create engineer-approved construction documents, perform site preparation, fabricate and install artwork, submit documentation images and maintenance reports, and participate in ribbon-cutting ceremonies if requested. Submission deadline: September 30, 2011. Artist Selection Panel Review: October 6, 2011. Public Art Committee Review: October 11, 2011. Notification to Selected Artist: October 14, 2011. Applications require a letter of interest, current resume, and six images of completed past artworks with title, dimensions, medium, year of completion, three-sentence description, and insurance value. Images must be 1920x1920 pixels, baseline JPEG format, no more than 1.8 MB each. Artist teams must include a lead artist who permanently resides in El Paso, Texas. Selection criteria include original vision and creativity, technical competence, experience in public art, experience working with architects and engineers on complex projects, ability to interpret architectural drawings, understanding of materials and construction techniques, demonstrated interest in the project, communication skills, and availability to meet fluctuating deadlines.