Youthful Offender Facility Public Art Commission - Charlotte, NC

The Mecklenburg County Jail North is expanding its Youthful Offender Housing Facility in Charlotte, NC. Opened in 1994, this Direct Supervision Facility was designed to house 614 sentenced inmates and places special emphasis on programming that provides inmates opportunities for education on substance abuse, life skills, domestic violence, parenting, health, GED and a high school curriculum.

Youthful Offender Housing will include approximately 120 single occupancy bed spaces arranged in secure housing units of 12 beds. Each housing unit will contain dayroom/dining space and a small outdoor recreation space. Centrally located housing support areas will include case coordinator and program staff offices, a video visitation room, and storage areas. This project is open to national and regional artists. Site opportunities have not been determined at this time and are open to discussion by the project design team; two and three dimensional work and site specific installations will be considered. Project Budget: $59,500.

Submission Deadline: October 31, 2006 by 5:00 p.m. MST. An Artist Selection Panel will review applications and recommend finalists. The Public Art Commission and the Board of the Arts & Science Council will approve and contract with the artist. The selection panel will meet in fall 2006, with an artist commissioned by early 2007. Artists who have received a commission or purchase for over $25,000 cannot be considered for another commission or purchase for three years after the date of a signed contract or letter of agreement. ASC staff, County or City staff, Public Art Commission members or their immediate families are not eligible for this program. Applicants must be willing to complete artwork that is a unique reflection of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area.

Required submission materials: Artist's statement (max 2000 characters), current professional resume including public art experience with budget sizes of past projects, annotated image list (8 images) including dimensions, date of execution, title, descriptive notes, media, and location of work, and a list of four professional references. No original artwork, photographic prints, maquettes or other such materials will be accepted. Applications that are primarily gallery scale work or digitally produced proposals will not be accepted. There is no application fee.