Miami-Dade Art in Public Places: Zoo Miami Entrance Plaza and Florida Exhibit Children's Play Area

The Miami-Dade County Park and Recreation Department and Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs invite professional artists and artist teams to create comprehensive designs for the main entrance plaza and/or the Florida Exhibit children's playground area at Zoo Miami, located at 1 Zoo Boulevard, 12400 SW 152nd Street, Miami, Florida. The total project budget is $1.2 million. Eligibility is open to all professional artists.

Two opportunities are available for public art integration. For the Main Entrance Plaza Design (estimated budget $485,000: $85,000 art-specific + $400,000 for 34,420 sq ft paving system), artists will design an integrated plaza featuring pavers, seating elements and/or walkways that complement the proposed architectural canopy and life-size animal sculptures. For the Florida Exhibit Children's Play Area Design (estimated budget $715,000: $215,000 art-specific + $500,000 for 10,290 sq ft play area), artists are encouraged to create large-scale, multi-sensory interactive sculptures with innovative technology and universal design. The children's play area is conceived as a "beach zone" incorporating water features, shade structures, and sea creature themes. Artists may express interest in one or both opportunities and must submit a preliminary statement detailing their approach to the public art components. The estimated project schedule includes an application deadline of March 31, 2011, with design work beginning June 2011 and project completion by December 2013. Artists must be able to adhere to this tight timeline and comply with all applicable code requirements in consultation with the project architect. Additional project renderings are available at http://www.miamidade.gov/publicart/artist-calls.asp. Contact: [email protected]