City of Seattle: Elliott Bay Seawall Light Artwork Commission

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Seattle Department of Transportation, seeks an artist or artist team to join the Elliott Bay Seawall Project design team to incorporate integrated or discrete artwork that contributes to the play of natural and artificial light on Seattle's Central Waterfront. The art may conceptually tie to habitat restoration goals of expanding light levels in the marine environment adjacent to the seawall. The budget is estimated to be $300,000 inclusive of all project-related costs. This call is open to professional artists who have been invited by Arts to apply.

The Elliott Bay Seawall Project will replace the existing deteriorated seawall in downtown Seattle from South Washington Street to Broad Street with a structure that meets current ecological, safety, and design standards. The central seawall, the focus area of this art opportunity, is between South Washington Street and Virginia Street. The new seawall's service life will be approximately 75 to 100 years. Construction is anticipated to occur over three years, with completion scheduled for early 2016.

One artist or artist team will be selected to collaborate with the project design team to create an original artwork or series of artworks within the project site. The selected artist will study phenomena of light along the Central Waterfront and Puget Sound region and identify methods and sites for incorporating integrated or discrete artwork into the Seawall Project. Sites for artwork must fall within the Central Waterfront area between South Washington and Virginia Streets. Artwork must be durable and low-maintenance in this marine environment. The selected artist is anticipated to join the Seawall Project team in April 2013, initially contracted for concept design. A conceptual direction for the artwork must be developed in spring to early summer 2013 to meet the compressed project schedule.