Call to Artists for K Street Gateway Project
Call to Artists: K Street Gateway
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities provides grants, professional opportunities, education enrichment, and other programs and services to individuals and nonprofit organizations in all communities within the District of Columbia. The Arts Commission is supported primarily by District government funds and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Golden Triangle Business Improvement District
The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (GT BID), in partnership with the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH), is seeking professional qualifications from artists or design teams for the design, fabrication and installation of a permanent work of public art to be installed at the 2100 block of K Street NW, where K Street emerges from beneath Washington Circle.
The total project budget for the selected commission is $480,000. Up to five semi-finalists may be selected to create site-specific concept proposals. Each artist/artist team will be paid a $4,000 design proposal stipend.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Pedestrian and vehicular traffic from K Street or Washington Circle greets visitors with a combination of asphalt, metal and cement that does not reflect the vibrant character of the neighborhood. In seeking to both brighten and soften this gateway to the iconic section of the K Street Corridor. DCCAH and GT BID are seeking to commission a work of public art that achieves the following goals:
PROJECT GOALS
- Create a more transit-oriented and pedestrian-scale designed environment (make the space feel more livable).
- Produce a modern aesthetic that reflects and enhances the existing neighborhood feel.
- "Soften" or "humanize" the space, which currently feels very hard due to the prominence of metal, concrete and asphalt.
- Create a strong visual impact on the space evident during the day and at night.
- Encourage a place that is safe for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
SITE LOCATION & ARTWORK FOOTPRINT
The available spaces for the proposed artwork are along the railings and dividing medians on the west portion of the 2100 block of K Street NW.
ELIGIBILITY
This request for qualifications (RFQ) is open to all professional artists and design teams residing in the United States. DC-based artists and design teams will be given preference in the instance of identical scoring.
BUDGET
The project budget is $480,000, which is inclusive of artist design fees of no more than 20% of the project budge) and costs associated with design, fabrication, transportation, shipping, installation, insurance, engineered drawings (stamped by a DC-licensed engineer), permits and photo documentation of the artwork.
Each Semi-Finalist will be awarded a $4,000 honorarium to create a site-specific proposal to include a 2-D schematic design, 3-D scale model, itemized budget, implementation schedule, and project narrative that they will present to an Art Selection Panel for the project award.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Submissions must be received by: 11:59PM (EST) on June 24, 2016.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications must be submitted online via SlideRoom. Please follow the link http://dcarts.slideroom.com and select the GT BID K Street Gateway Project to upload all requisite application material. In order to access the application portal, all applicants will first be prompted to create a SlideRoom account, at no cost. Once logged into the newly created account, applicants will be allowed to submit all materials outlined above. SlideRoom will allow applicants to save incomplete applications and return to them for completion until 11:59 PM on the June 24, 2016 deadline. Any incomplete submissions at that time will be disqualified.
For complete details on the application process, please click here.
PROJECT MANAGERS
GOLDEN TRIANGLE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (GT BID):
Ted Jutras, Planning Manager
1120 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 260
Washington, DC 20036
DC COMMISSION ON THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES:
Tonya Jordan, DCCAH Public Art Project Manager
200 I (Eye) Street, SE Suite 1400 Washington, DC 20003
About the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities provides grants, professional opportunities, education enrichment, and other programs and services to individuals and nonprofit organizations in all communities within the District of Columbia. The Arts Commission is supported primarily by District government funds and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
