Laveen Watercourse Public Art Project

The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture invites artists and artist teams to submit qualifications for a new public art project. An artist or artist team will be commissioned to develop a proposal for artistic and functional enhancements to the Laveen Watercourse in Phoenix, Arizona. The project site is a six-mile-long constructed flood corridor that will double as community green space. The flood channel is 200-feet wide with a low-flow channel at its center. Planned enhancements will add grass slopes, desert xeriscape landscaping on the banks, a shared-use concrete path on the north bank and a crushed granite trail on the south. The watercourse corridor will feature a number of neighborhood pocket parks and connections to other city trail systems.

Finalists will be invited to recommend approaches to enhancing the watercourse green space. Design possibilities may include stand-alone sculpture, landscape modifications, seating nodes, shade structures, and pavement enhancements. This project is open to any professional artist or artist team. A team may include another artist, an architect, landscape architect, or other technical consultants. The anticipated total cost for design, fabrication, and installation of public art enhancements is $200,000 - $300,000. This project is funded by City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department Storm Sewers Percent for Art Funds.

Based on qualifications submitted, up to five finalists will be selected to develop a preliminary conceptual proposal for presentation to the selection panel. Finalists will be paid a $1,500 design fee for their proposals, in addition to travel reimbursements. Applications must be submitted online via CaFÉ and include: a current resume for each artist and/or team member; twelve digital images of relevant work with accompanying image annotation listing media, size, title, date and brief description; and a written statement not to exceed 500 words addressing the artist's/team's preliminary concept or potential approach for the project. The application deadline is 11:59 p.m. M.S.T. on Wednesday, April 27, 2005. For questions, contact Chris Kelley at (602) 534-5084 or [email protected].