Deuces Live is seeking an artist to design permanent, outdoor artwork to be installed along the historic 22nd Street South corridor. The artwork is envisioned as part of placemaking activities led by Deuces Live with grant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the City of St. Petersburg.
Deuces Live seeks a concept for a single piece of interactive artwork that will attract the public and reinforce key characteristics of the Deuces district identity: food, music, history and culture. The exact site is not yet determined, but it will be on city-owned property. It will be accessible to pedestrians and will likely be a maximum 10′ x 10′ pad site.
Timeline
Qualifications are due by November 1, 2021 at 5:00 PM EST. Artists will be notified by December 15, 2021.
Selected artists will be provided a stipend to develop a concept proposal and budget estimate by March 1, 2022.
Eligibility criteria
• Artists must be Tampa Bay region residents.
• Artists must have experience exhibiting work in a professional gallery.
Artists that do not have experience creating public artwork are encouraged to apply.
Award amount
A commission of $2,000 each will be paid to up to four artists to develop the concept design and budget estimate for fabrication and installation. Selected artists will be paired with a mentor for assistance identifying fabricators and estimating budget.
Funding for fabrication and installation is not yet identified, however, the anticipated budget will be $150,000.
Proposal Requirements
Interested artists are asked to submit the following:
- Contact information including name, address, phone, and email.
- Resume
- Three work samples. Samples can include documents, photos (as .jpg or embedded as PDF), plans and video links (up to 15 mintes total.) Support materials such as reviews, news articles, web links or other similar information may also be included.
- {Optional) Artist’s statement of no more than 300 words in length, describing your work and interest in this project.
- {Optional) website and social media links
Submission
Proposals may be submitted via email to Veatrice Farrell, Executive Director, Deuces Live:
deuceslivestpetemainstreet@gmail.com
Documents and photos should be in a single PDF file. Video submissions may also be provided. Please submit as a hyperlink within the PDF file.
Please submit any questions or comments to Veatrice Farrell, Executive Director, Deuces Live:
deuceslivestpetemainstreet@gmail.com
About “The Deuces”
The Deuces, St. Petersburg’s historic 22nd Street South corridor, is infused with the spirit of creativity, great food, and fun. This lively thoroughfare, once home to the city’s thriving Black Main Street, is a place to discover familiar and unexpected pleasures – fine and down-home dining, family-friendly events and activities, celebrations of the city’s African American history and culture, the creativity of new and emerging chefs, artists and musicians – all in a warm and welcoming community you’ll want to visit again and again.
About The Deuces Live
Deuces Live Inc., a certified Florida Main Street, is a nonprofit organization created to revive and revitalize the historic neighborhood of St. Petersburg’s 22nd Street – dubbed “The Deuces” after its double 2s – the heart of a vibrant and prosperous African-American community on St. Pete’s South Side. More information is available at www.deuceslive.org.
NEAAward
Deuces Live seeks to build on recent successes by advancing a creative, coordinated strategy to leverage public investments.
In 2021, Deuces Live engaged Ashton Design to lead community engagement, create a placemaking framework for identity and promotion of the district, develop an activation strategy, and design vertical elements {pylon signs, bike racks, benches, wayfinding etc.) for use in right of way and parks.
The strategy will provide Deuces Live with tools to reach new, broader audiences — including 15 million annual visitors to St. Petersburg and the surrounding towns and beaches – that seek the kind of authentic experiences the Deuces can offer. Design work for physical elements will provide a blueprint for the city of St. Petersburg and facilitate fund raising by Deuces Live, generating interest and excitement for improvements that will define the character of the corridor.
This Call for Artists is intended to build upon community conversations and updated cultural district branding for the Deuces.