Sprout Fund: Downtown Pittsburgh Public Art Project

The Sprout Fund seeks to commission an experienced professional artist or artist team to create a new work of wall-based public art for Downtown Pittsburgh. The ideal candidate should have a personal connection to Pittsburgh and a strong commitment to engaging the community as an integral part of the work's development.

The artwork will be located on the southeast-facing wall of the Law and Finance Building at 429 Fourth Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh, facing the front entrance of Pittsburgh's City-County Building. The work must be durable, low-maintenance, and site-specific, taking into consideration the high amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, existing architecture, and the adjacent parking lot. Sprout is interested in artists working in various disciplines including wall-based sculpture, mosaic tile, light, video, electronic art, murals, and mixed media. Art with an environmental focus or green component will be considered. The project budget is $100,000, which includes the artist's design and management fee, travel, materials, fabrication, transportation, insurance, and installation.

Eligibility is open to professional artists or artist-led teams with experience completing public art projects of similar scope and budget. Applicants must be currently living in the Pittsburgh region (Southwestern Pennsylvania), formerly from Pittsburgh, or able to demonstrate a significant connection to the city. Artist teams are eligible if artist-led or with a practicing visual artist as an integral component; at least one team member must live in or have a connection to Pittsburgh. All applicants must be eligible to work in the United States and at least 18 years old. A selection committee will review portfolios and advance 3 to 5 finalists, each receiving a $2,500 stipend to create a site-specific proposal. Finalists will have 6 weeks to complete designs, which will be unveiled on December 31, 2011 during First Night festivities. The selection committee will then select a single artist or artist-led team for the commission.

Applications must be submitted online via CaFÉ at www.callforentry.org with no application fee. Required materials include a statement of interest (no more than 750 words), current résumé or curriculum vitae, twelve digital images of previous work in high-quality JPEG format with annotated descriptions, and professional references (at least 3) with complete contact information. Optional support materials may include web links or bibliographies of reviews and publications. Submissions are due by 11:59pm EDT on Friday, September 16, 2011.