Seattle City Light North and South Service Center Commissions

The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, in partnership with Seattle City Light, is seeking two artists to create semi-permanent, site-specific installations for City Light's North and South Service Centers. Each artist will create up to two artworks that capture the "electricity" of City Light's activities. The call is open to artists residing in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and British Columbia. There is no age restriction; however, students are not eligible to apply.

The North and South Service Centers serve as the hub of City Light's infrastructure activities, housing more than 400 employees and the fleet of vehicles necessary for fieldwork. Each service center contains an auditorium with two large walls available for two- or three-dimensional, wall-hanging artwork. The North Service Center walls are approximately 10 to 15 feet wide x 9.5 feet tall, and the South Service Center walls are approximately 10 feet wide x 8.5 feet tall. The artwork will not be structurally embedded and may be moved in the future. The primary audience will be City Light employees using the auditorium.

Five selected artists will receive $750 each to present proposals, and two artists will receive $23,500 each for the creation of their artwork. The selection process takes place in two parts: a panel of arts professionals will review images of past work and select up to five finalists to create proposals. Each finalist will have one month to prepare and present their proposal and will receive $750 for this work. The panel will then select two artists to complete their proposed artworks. Selected artists will participate in an interactive workshop with Seattle City Light employees and install their artwork in coordination with the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. Finalists will be notified by mid-November, and the two selected artists will be notified by mid-December.

Applications require 16 images of past artwork, image descriptions (not to exceed 1,000 characters), a letter of interest (not to exceed 2,000 characters), and a résumé. Selection criteria include strength and artistic merit of past works, ideas expressed in the letter of interest, creativity of approach, ability to complete a project on time and within budget, appropriateness for the public setting, artistic diversity, and completeness of application.