San Jose Transit Mall Temporary Artworks

The City of San Jose's Office of Cultural Affairs seeks artists and artist teams to create temporary artworks for the historic retail district on First and Second Streets. This pedestrian-oriented area features theaters, restaurants, retail space, institutions, a major park, and office buildings, with the SOFA District arts neighborhood immediately to the south. The corridor faces challenges including empty storefronts, parking lots, and traffic, and this project aims to creatively enliven the transit corridor with diverse temporary projects, events, and installations.

Artists are encouraged to propose projects addressing specific issues affecting downtown San Jose and to explore partnership opportunities with local businesses, humanities and arts organizations, and community members. The Office of Cultural Affairs will facilitate conversations between artists and local stakeholders throughout project development. Commissioned projects will be introduced sequentially over an 18-month period during 2007-2008. Examples of opportunities include adaptive reuse of marble water fountain bases near light rail, creation of destination locations using vacant storefronts, event-based programs, use of light rail infrastructure, temporary outdoor museum installations, projections on exposed walls, use of empty lots and alleyways, and multilingual cross-cultural projects.

This project is open to emerging and professional contemporary artists, architects, and designers residing in the Bay Area of Northern California who are U.S. citizens or have work permits. The total project budget is approximately $300,000. Selected artists will receive a $2,500 proposal fee and implementation budgets between $15,000 and $35,000. Selection occurs in two phases: Phase One involves submitting qualifications and a letter of intent; 24 artists will be invited to develop brief proposals and receive $500. Phase Two involves presenting proposals to a joint panel; up to twelve artists/teams will be selected for commissions and paid $2,500 to further develop their schemes. Artists will be selected based on aesthetic merit, experience with public art and community collaboration, and demonstrated potential for public art consideration. Submission requirements include a statement of interest (2,000 character limit), resume (no more than 3 pages), and eight digital images of previously completed artworks submitted online via CaFE. There is no application fee.