Call to Artists or Artist Groups: Re ‐ Imagining the Holidays in Downtown Silver Spring deadline July 15, 2013
Staff Writer
2013-07-13
.dmvblogspot.bloggieblog.com .
Call to Artists or Artist Groups: Re ‐ Imagining the Holidays in Downtown Silver Spring APPLICATION DEADLINE: Monday, July 15, 2013, midnight, EST ELIGIBILITY
Open to professional, practicing artists or artist groups residing in the United States, preferably with prior experience in installation art or public art. PROJECT DESCRIPTION Downtown Silver Spring has retained the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County to assist in the selection of an artist or an artist group to reimagine the holidays. The artist or artist group will create original decorations for Silver Spring’s holiday tree to be located on the fountain plaza. Peterson will provide the metal tree armature and lighting. The artist (or a group of artists) is free to propose a theme, designs, and materials as per guidelines below. The artwork is a temporary installation, expected to be on view for approximately ten weeks, and must be effective for day and nighttime viewing.
Downtown Silver Spring is owned by The Peterson Companies, Foulger ‐ Pratt and ARGO Investment Company; it is managed and leased by The Peterson Companies. ARTWORK GUIDELINES • Artist or artist group needs to produce adequate work to fully cover a 30’ high metal framework. Total distributed weight cannot exceed 2,000 lbs. Individual elements cannot exceed 8 lbs. • Tree framework will be wired with electricity. Artist or artist group must consider illumination of art and tree as part of overall concept. Peterson with provide and coordinate lighting with artist or artist group. •
There may be no religious symbolism. This Holiday Tree is intended to capture the spirit of the Silver Spring community. • Materials must be durable and appropriate for an exterior location. PROJECT BUDGET $7,500 includes artist fee (suggested 20%), materials, and fabrication, delivery of work to the site.
Downtown Silver Spring and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County will provide: • Metal tree framework • Lights • Fencing around tree • Installation and de ‐ installation assistance, including fork lifts; • Project management and coordination; • Review and vetting of the design, fabrication, and installation; •
Publicity SCHEDULE Submission Deadline | Monday, July 15th midnight EST Notification | Week of July 22nd Finalize Agreement | July 31st Review Final Designs and sample fabricated decorations | September 3rd (At this meeting, to be held in Silver Spring, the commissioning panel will evaluate design, size, material, weight, method of attachment and number of original designs and/or multiples artist or artist group will make.) 50% Fabrication inspection | October 1 st 100% Fabrication inspection | October 24th Install| Nov. 7 th and 8th Unveiling and Re ‐ imagining the Holidays Celebration | November 9th Deinstall | Week of January 7th SPECIFICATIONS Click here for design of metal armature. PROPOSAL SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS • Is there evidence of artistic excellence, innovation and originality as represented in past work and in this proposal? •
Are the proposed materials and assembly durable enough to last the duration of the installation with minimal maintenance? • Can the work be installed and removed easily? • Does the work pose any public safety issues or create an undue risk of liability to the site owner? • Is the artist willing to work with The Peterson Companies and the Arts and Humanities Council to tweak the design or proposed materials if necessary? • Does the artist or artist group have experience doing installation art or public art? SELECTION PROCESS There will be a jury consisting of representatives of The Peterson Companies, Foulger ‐ Pratt, the Arts and Humanities Council and the Silver Spring community. The artist or artist group will be selected on the basis of past work and concept for this project. TO APPLY To propose a project for this temporary public art installation, submit the following materials, not to exceed 12MB, to
http://fs23.formsite.com /ahcmc/form14/index.html 1. Resume – (please submit in Word or PDF format) 2. Artist Statement explaining your artistic vision – (250 words max) 3. Project Concept – (500 words max) addressing theme for this project and how it connects to your work and the Silver Spring community. 4. Visuals to support project concept. This can be a photograph of a sample ornament or a PDF of a sketch. 5. Work Samples ‐ Up to 8 images, JPEGs only, max size 1 MB per image. Work sample images must be representative of your current work. If submitting as a group, each group member should be represented by a minimum of one image. Artists who submit as a group will be evaluated as a group. ARTIST SELECTION PROCESS After the RFP deadline, Arts and Humanities Council staff will organize and chair a panel, consisting of arts professionals and representatives of the funder and community, to evaluate proposals and select a finalist. Applicants will receive notification of the panel’s decision by e ‐ mail the week of July 22nd. The panel may elect to meet or Skype with the finalist before awarding the project. The selected Artist or Artist group will contract directly with The Peterson Companies. There will be 5 payments: $1,500 upon signing of MOU; $1,500 upon completion of final design; $2,000 upon 50% fabrication completion; $1,500 upon 100% fabrication; $1,000 upon installation. ANY QUESTIONS, please contact Michele Cohen, Public Art Consultant, at michele.cohen@creativemoco.com or cell at (917) 710 ‐ 6176. SOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION For reference photos of comparable artist ‐ designed trees: http://204.12.6.174/consumer/images/events/PDF2 ‐ INSPIRATIONALEXAMPLES.pdf For information about Downtown Silver Spring : www.downtownsilverspring.com/homepage.cfm?id=3 For information about The Peterson Companies, visit www.petersoncos.com For information about public art in Silver Spring, visit www.silverspringdowntown.com/arts ‐ and ‐ entertainment/public ‐ art ‐ in ‐ silver ‐ spring . For information about the Arts and Humanities Council, visit www.creativemoco.com