Lionel Forti Aquatic Facility Public Art Commission

The City of El Paso Public Art Program seeks to commission a professional artist or artist team to design, fabricate, and install site-specific artwork at the Lionel Forti Aquatic Facility, located at 1225 Giles Road adjacent to Hacienda Park near Gateway Boulevard East. The facility will be reconstructed in a modern water park format serving seniors, adults, teens, and families of all abilities, with an overall park area of 39,000 square feet (minimum). The selected artist will work collaboratively with the design team to investigate the best approach for public art integration at the site.

This is an open competition with a total project budget of $150,000 to include design, fabrication, and installation. The budget is all-inclusive and must cover design fees, travel expenses, all materials and fabrication costs, insurance costs, engineering expenses, shipping and transportation to the site, and installation. Additional costs may include foundation, infrastructure, contracting services, and permitting. Artists must submit an artist statement, previous work examples, resume, and letter of interest via the CAFÉ Website. Applications will be reviewed by an Artist Selection Panel, which will select a finalist to proceed to the design proposal phase. The finalist will be placed under contract to provide design proposals for review and approval by the Public Art Committee, Parks & Recreation, and stakeholders prior to fabrication and installation.

Artist's scope of work includes contracting with the City of El Paso, collaborating with City and stakeholders to generate artwork proposals, conducting site research and community meetings, preparing verbal, written and visual presentations, and completing fabrication and installation. Design proposals will be evaluated based on artistic merit, appropriateness in scale and form, feasibility of construction and installation, budget and timeline feasibility, and alignment with project goals. Anticipated timeline includes submission deadline January 2018, artist selection panel review and notification in early 2018, design work in 2018, fabrication in 2018, and installation in 2019.