Mothership Youth Shelter Public Art Commission

The City of Denver's Public Art Program seeks to commission an artist or artist team to create original public artwork for the Mothership Youth Shelter in Denver, CO. The selection panel has identified a location for potential artworks with an allocated total budget of approximately $180,000.00 USD.

Urban Peak's Mothership Youth Shelter, situated in the Overland Park neighborhood, will offer the first youth-focused shelter for people ages 21-24, including shelter beds for more than 130 teens, and will provide life skills development, mental health services, a medical clinic, case management, supportive services, green spaces, a visual arts center, and a technology center. The panel is invested in the creation of a mural for the Contact Visitation space. Artwork should explore the question "What does home feel like?" Artists are encouraged to consider biophilic and trauma-informed design strategies that support mental health through color, pattern and subject matter. The panel is especially interested in inviting artists to apply who have relationships with homelessness, having worked with unhoused populations in the past or who were formerly unhoused themselves.

Artworks could be created using diverse media, including reliefs, mosaic and sculptural applications. Durability and ease of maintenance is important at this location. All applicants must consider long-term conservation and maintenance of public art, along with time and budget. Public art projects should be fabricated of highly durable, low-maintenance materials. Applicants will submit six digital images of past work, a résumé, and a statement of interest no longer than 2,000 characters via www.callforentry.org. The selection panel will choose three to five finalists who will create site-specific proposals and be interviewed in person or virtually. Artists will be paid an honorarium for this work. Based on the interview and proposal, an artist or artist team will be selected for this commission. The budget of approximately $180,000.00 USD is inclusive of all costs associated with the project including the artist's design fee, consultation fees, structural engineering, insurance, materials, fabrication, transportation, installation, and project documentation.