Water Street Parking Garage Facade Enhancement RFQ

The Art in Public Places Program and the City of Jacksonville Office of Public Parking are accepting qualifications from artists or artist teams for a multi-site public art opportunity as part of Phase Two infrastructure enhancements at the city-owned Water Street parking garage in Downtown Jacksonville. The finished artwork(s) should be incorporated into the building's exterior and physical site to create an appealing, distinctive, safe, and accessible parking facility. The Water Street Parking Garage is a seven-level structure of over 70,000 square feet with capacity for nearly 1,500 vehicles, located at 541 Water Street.

Artists or artist teams should demonstrate a proven track record of large-scale public art projects and experience in environmental, iconographic, and conceptual solutions for public art. A wide variety of artwork(s) may result from the joint efforts of the project design team, including functional elements, freestanding and relief sculpture, murals, light projection, and sound art at multiple locations within the site. Artists will submit portfolios, CVs, artist statements, letters of interest, references, and other relevant information. The Artist Selection Panel will select finalists to join the project design team, which will then engage surrounding businesses and stakeholders to develop the overall conceptual design.

This call is open to all US professional artists. The budget for the artwork(s) component is up to $300,000, including all expenses related to project completion, site preparation, design fees, materials, fabrication costs, documentation, transportation, installation, and travel. Finalists will receive a $1,500 stipend for travel expenses related to site visits and interviews. Work sample requirements: 4-8 images, 0-1 audio file, 0-2 video files (4-11 total samples). The application deadline is September 5, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. MDT. Finalists will be notified October 1, with design work beginning mid-October/November and a dedication ceremony planned for Summer 2015.