Parks Maintenance Facility Exterior Sculpture

Adams County seeks a professional artist to design, fabricate, and install an exterior sculpture at the new Adams County Parks Maintenance Facility located at 9500 Riverdale Road, Thornton, CO 80229. The sculpture will be positioned at the building's main entrance, visible from Riverdale Road, the parking lot, and through the primary conference room windows. The installation site is adjacent to Pelican Ponds Open Space and the South Platte River. The artwork should be impactful from all vantage points and work in harmony with the facility's landscaping and the wider nature-scape.

The sculpture design should reflect the mission of the Parks, Open Space, and Cultural Arts Department to "significantly enhance quality of life, enrich communities, and INSPIRE" and celebrate maintenance work performed by Parks staff. Artists are encouraged to use or reference natural materials and draw inspiration from the site's history of industry and nature, tools and machinery used by Parks staff, and the vast trail system, manicured parks, and wild Open Spaces maintained by Parks staff across the county's 2,166 acres.

The Artist Selection Panel will review applications and select 3-5 finalists for in-person interviews. Each finalist will receive a $700 honorarium for submission, development, and presentation of a detailed proposal. The selected artist will be paid $10,000 (5% of the $200,000 project budget) upon contract execution, with remaining payments determined based on the artist's project-specific proposal. The project budget includes all costs associated with design, fabrication, materials, installation, insurance, permits, and maintenance planning. Applications must include 5-10 photos of past exterior sculpture projects, rough sketches or digital renderings of the design concept, a brief written description of the initial concept, and a description of the approach to execution including proposed materials, installation method, and timeline. Submissions are made through the CAFÉ online application system with no application fee. Open to professional artists nationally.