Country Acres Dog Park Public Art Commission

The City of Wichita invites professional artists and artist teams with demonstrated experience completing complex, permanent outdoor public art projects to submit qualifications for a $50,000 public art commission for Country Acres Dog Park. Construction is scheduled to begin in late spring/early summer 2024, with completion anticipated in late July/early August.

Country Acres Dog Park is a new dog park being built at Country Acres Park (754 N County Acres Ave.) featuring three off-leash dog pens, an entry plaza, and parking lot. The selected artist will be responsible for design, construction, and installation of the artwork. The artist will contract directly with the City of Wichita and work alongside landscape architects and engineers from Baughman Company, the lead design firm. A separate contract with the awarded general contractor will cover construction and installation. This project is funded through the City of Wichita's Percent for Art Ordinance, which allots 2% of capital improvement funds for commissioning on-site artworks that become part of the citywide collection.

The City envisions public artwork that creates a sense of place, is unique to the park, and provides complementary identity to the surrounding community. The artwork should resonate contextually and historically, be durable and structurally suitable to extreme Kansas weather, and be kinetic and tactile based on community input. Audial, electrical, water, and found object elements do not apply. The entry plaza is ideal for a single large sculptural work, with smaller pieces potentially sited throughout the dog park. The $50,000 art budget is inclusive of all costs from design through installation. Applicants must be located in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area (Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, Kingman, and Sumner counties). Emerging artists are encouraged to apply. The selection committee will give preference to artists planning to utilize local resources for engineering, fabrication, and installation.