Waterfront Seattle: Call for Artists (Public Piers)

The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in collaboration with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), seeks an artist or artist team to create a significant public artwork sited on piers being reconstructed as part of Waterfront Seattle, a 26-acre redevelopment of the Seattle Central Waterfront. The selected artist or artist team will collaborate with the project design team, including james corner field operations, to create an original artwork or series of artworks on Union Street Pier or Pier 62/63. The commissioned work can be in any medium. Though well-integrated into its site, the artwork should be very legible as an autonomous artistic intervention in the landscape. The artwork must permit the uses and functions of its larger context and be durable and low-maintenance in this marine environment.

Union Street Pier is described as "a meeting ground, gathering space, point of entry and place of learning and discovery on the waterfront," planned to include a large water feature. Pier 62/63 is conceived as "an activity pier filled with recreational amenities… a hub for sport and play," with a floating pool barge to be moored off the pier in warm weather. Both piers will host events, performances, and activities. The art plan identifies the waterfront as the intersection of three forces: ecology, economy, and community, and proposes arts and culture as active presences on a new working waterfront.

The artist will join the Waterfront Seattle team in February 2014 and will initially be contracted for concept design only. The budget for this commission is approximately $1,000,000 from Elliott Bay Seawall Bond 1% for Art funds, inclusive of design, fabrication, delivery, installation, travel, fees, taxes, and other project-related costs. This call is open to all professional artists working in the United States or internationally who have been practicing for at least ten years and have a record of successfully realizing projects of a similar scale in the public realm. Applications must include a letter of interest (2,000 character limit), resume, references, and up to 20 work sample images.