Civic Art – Old Orchard Park

The City of Santa Clarita is seeking artwork to be permanently located at Old Orchard Park. The City intends to select one artist or team of artists to design and fabricate an original, site-specific sculpture. The all-inclusive budget for this project is $46,000.

Old Orchard Park is a small municipal park located at 25023 Avenida Rotella, Santa Clarita, CA 91355. The park is expected to receive enhanced play area features, modernization of building improvements, and updates appropriate to current building codes. The new design is also expected to reduce water usage by nearly one-third through the removal of non-essential turf areas and the planting of native and drought-tolerant plants.

Artwork must be an original design suitable for viewing by all ages and site-specific to Old Orchard Park and the City of Santa Clarita. Sculptures should be no less than 6 feet and no more than 15 feet in height excluding the base, and should weigh no more than 3,000 pounds. Artwork must be constructed of durable materials able to withstand harsh desert weather conditions (high winds and extreme temperatures) and must comply with standard engineering practices and ADA standards. The artwork must be installed with sufficient anchoring to prevent removal, breakage, or overturning due to wind or earthquake. Artists will be required to outline a suggested maintenance schedule in their proposal.

Up to five semifinalists will be invited to create site-specific artwork proposals and will receive a $1,000 honorarium. Semifinalists will participate in a 30-minute virtual interview with the Artist Selection Committee. The selected finalist is responsible for all associated expenses related to design, fabrication, transportation, installation, and engineering documentation from a California-licensed engineer. The artist must provide a maintenance guide and is responsible for insurance coverage during the installation period. Installation is scheduled for Spring 2025.

Eligibility: Artists 18 years of age or older with a US mailing address are invited to submit individual or collaborative applications. Artists must have completed at least one sculptural public art project with a minimum $30,000 budget. Application materials include resume or CV, up to five images of previous sculptural artwork (at least one existing public artwork), image descriptions, and responses to application questions. Evaluation criteria include visual impact, interpretation and creativity, composition and design, craftsmanship, clarity of project-specific intent and artistic vision, and adherence to design and eligibility guidelines.