Rhode Island State Council on the Arts: Wickford Junction Station Public Art Commission

The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) are seeking artists or art teams for a public art commission at Wickford Junction Station in North Kingstown. Wickford Junction is a new commuter rail station on the Northeast Corridor serving the Providence/Stoughton Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail, with service expected to begin in spring 2012.

The commission offers three possible sites: an 11' high by 9' wide panel on the side of the station tower; exterior parcels bordering Route 102; and/or the center oval of land in front of the station. The artwork should focus on the history of North Kingstown and the history of transportation. Panelists are interested in work that creates relationships between the sites and may include traditional forms such as murals, mosaics, or sculpture, as well as interactive technological artwork with digital, wireless, or electronic/technological means. Stationary work is preferred over kinetic. Maintenance and durability are critical considerations for this exterior commission.

This is a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) preliminary round. Applicants must submit six digital images of relevant artwork completed within the past ten years, a resume, and a brief description of their potential site-specific proposal with a rough outline of expenses not to exceed $315,000. Three finalists will be selected and each will receive a $2,500 honorarium to develop detailed proposals including scale models, renderings, and an itemized budget. The commissioned artist will be selected from the finalists. All applications must be submitted through CaFÉ (www.callforentry.org) in digital format. There is no application fee.