City of San Jose Public Art: Environmental Artist (FOG Project)

The City of San Jose Public Art Program is seeking an experienced artist or artist-led team to collaborate with the City's Environmental Services Department and Department of Transportation to develop a community engagement protocol and pilot artwork for education and awareness around the residential waste water system, specifically focusing on proper management of Fats, Oils, & Grease (FOG) to support the health of the City's waste water system infrastructure.

This opportunity is open to individual artists or artist-led teams working or living in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, Solano, and Marin counties. If submitting as a team, a professional artist with public art/community engagement experience must be the lead team member. All applicants must have all necessary documentation and permits to work in the United States at the time of submittal. Artists currently under contract with the City of San Jose Public Art Program are not eligible unless their current project will be complete by June 2013 or is currently suspended.

The selected artist will conduct background research, lead community focus group investigations in three pilot geographic areas, develop a FOG outreach conceptual strategy with city staff, participate in staff reviews and community feedback sessions, and support city approvals. Anticipated outreach includes 10-15 focus group/community meetings and 8-10 internal meetings. The project budget for the design phase is $20,000, covering artist fees for research, investigation, collaboration, design, writing, rendering, transportation, accommodations, insurance, and other project-related expenses. The contract is anticipated to be effective through September 2014, with contract execution in September 2013, research and focus group meetings from September 20 – October 11, 2013, draft strategy report due October 11 – November 11, 2013, staff and community feedback November 12 - December 6, 2013, and Public Art Committee approvals on December 17, 2013. Work samples must include a minimum of 8 and maximum of 8 images, 0-2 videos, for a total of 8-10 samples.