Ewald Park Public Art RFQ

The City of Alexandria's Public Art Program is commissioning public art within Ewald Park—an existing a 3.88-acre neighborhood park located within the West End of Alexandria at 4452 Duke Street that is planned for renovation. The park largely serves the surrounding community, including the Wakefield Tarleton, Brookville Seminary, and Foxchase neighborhoods. The park features a playground, a basketball court, an open field, and a parking lot, and is popular for pick-up soccer and basketball games. Ewald Park has been under consideration for renovations for several years and was recently approved for park improvements in June 2025. Anticipated improvements include the renovation and relocation of the playground, Parkour fitness equipment, and access improvements. The Park Improvement Goals are to: Be a safe place for children to explore. Be a place to create social connections. Be a place full of community activities. The park has also been identified as a location for public art to reinvigorate the park and further the goals of the park renovation. Two primary public art opportunities have been identified to reinvigorate the park and further the goals of the park renovation – a gateway feature to improve the visibility of the park and draw in visitors from Duke Street and a ground mural on the existing basketball court. Both projects will embrace the diverse community that uses Ewald Park and celebrate park as a hub of activity and will be commissioned as separate projects by separate artists, although coordination between the selected artists for both projects will be encouraged. This public art call is specifically for the “gateway” artwork. The ground mural opportunity will be commissioned as a separate regional call to artists. The selected artist or artist team will collaborate with the project team—including Public Art Program managers, the Public Art Task Force, the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, residents, and stakeholders—to develop a design that integrates into the plans for the park renovation. The selected artist is expected to attend public meetings in collaboration with the project team. Upon approval of the final concept design, the artist will oversee the fabrication and installation of the public art.