September 15, 2023
CALL FOR ARTISTS
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY is inviting interested artists to provide responses to this REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS for an exterior artwork/sculpture for Branchton Park located in Hillsborough County, Florida.
INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS
PROJECT TITLE: PUBLIC ART PROJECT FOR BRANCHTON PARK
PROJECT GOAL: TO PROVIDE AN EXTERIOR SCULPTURE / ARTWORK FOR BRANCHTON PARK
LOCATION: BRANCHTON PARK, 15712 Morris Bridge Rd, Thonotosassa, Florida 33592 in Hillsborough County, Florida
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: TUESDAY, October 31, 2023 AT 5:00 PM
DELIVER PROPOSAL BY E-MAIL TO: PublicArt@hillsboroughcounty.org
PHYSICAL ADDRESS OF PROGRAM: DEPARTMENT OF CAPITAL PROGRAMS, PUBLIC ART PROGRAM, COUNTY CENTER, 22ND FLOOR, 601 E. KENNEDY BLVD., TAMPA, FL 33602
1.0 PROJECT INFORMATION:
1.1 Project Overview: Hillsborough County (County) is interested in receiving submissions from artists demonstrating their ability to provide completely realized three-dimensional artwork for exterior display at the Branchton Park now under construction. The park is located in the northwest section of Hillsborough County. Possible themes for the artwork include subjects relating to nature. The piece should require very low maintenance. The selected artist(s) will be responsible for the design, fabrication, and installation of the permanent artwork, including foundation structural design and related permitting. The proposed art location map in Branchton Park is included in Exhibit A of this document.
1.2 The project will have several stakeholders including the Public Art Committee, various County Departments, and other interested community organizations and individuals. The desired theme for the artwork is an exterior sculpture with a theme relating to nature. The piece should be comprised of a natural material and require very low maintenance. The selected artist will be responsible for the design, fabrication, and installation of the artwork, including foundation structural design and related permitting of the base/pedestal and the art/sculpture. The artwork will become part of the County’s permanent public art collection. Artists are required to submit qualifications, and encouraged to provide illustrations (images, renderings), and a brief statement describing an initial concept idea for this project. It is hoped that a full range of art mediums suitable for an outdoor environment will be represented.
It is preferable to have artwork viewable from all directions. The artwork is expected to create a significant landmark at this location. The artist should include in his/her design a plinth that is proportional to the artwork and location. The sculpture, not including plinth, must be fifteen to twenty-five (15-25) feet high. The artwork is anticipated to be centrally located in Branchton Park within an approximate 35’ diameter area, refer to Exhibit A.
Three finalists will be selected to provide site specific proposals. Each selected finalist will be paid an honorarium of up to $750.00 (seven hundred and fifty dollars). Site Specific Proposals must include a site-specific maquette and/or other visual depictions of the proposed artwork.
1.3 Design Criteria:
- The artwork will be located in Branchton Park in approximate location shown in Exhibit A.
- The desired theme for the artwork is an abstract, free-standing sculpture.
- Artwork to be designed for minimal maintenance.
- Artwork to be designed with an appropriate plinth.
- Artwork to be a high quality, free standing outdoor sculpture.
- Artwork to be an original design (not reproduced).
- Artwork shall be placed on a plinth; plinth shall be proportional to Artwork, and made of natural materials (such as concrete, with an inlay such as stone or brick).
- Artwork should be structurally sound and meet applicable standards of the Florida Building Code and Hillsborough County Public Works requirements in regard to the foundation, wind loading, placement, etc. Final work design will need to be engineered and stamped/signed by a registered Florida professional engineer.
- Materials used must meet the demands of Hillsborough County’s local climate.
- The artwork should be fifteen to twenty-five (15-25) feet in height, not including plinth.
- The artwork must have appropriate lighting for night-time visibility. Lighting fixtures to be provided by Artist.
- The artwork must be devoid of advertising, including charitable, fraternal, religious, or political signs, symbols, logos, banners or any other such device.
- The artwork must have an anti-graffiti coating.
- The artist must provide a two-year warranty on materials and craftsmanship.
2.0 SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS:
2.1 Artists who wish to be considered for this project must submit the materials described below electronically. Ensure that all files sent electronically have been scanned by up-to-date virus scanning software. Files with detected viruses will be destroyed and will not be considered. All images and documents must be accessible in the MS Windows environment. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
The following documents are required:
- A current professional resume of no more than two (2) pages for each submitting artist.
- A list of exterior sculpture/artwork installations completed in the last 5 years. Please include owner contact information.
- A maximum of 8 digital images of completed exterior sculpture/artwork. The images shall be in .JPG format. Any masking or borders should be black, not white. Image files must be properly labeled each with artist’s last name and a number (1-8) assigned per image list. (e.g.:smith_1.jpg, smith_2.jpg). Artist’s name should NOT appear on the image. The first five artworks presented should be those that are most related to this call. Provide details, close-ups or multiple viewpoints of large or complex artworks.
- Image ID sheet, explain the content and context of each image.
The following documents are optional:
- A written description of proposed artwork for this project including the title, type of media, dimensions, and up to 8 images/graphics to convey the design intent of the proposed artwork.
- Scans of publications, reviews or other items that may assist the County in evaluation of the artist’s capabilities. (No more than 3 items of this type should be included in the submission.)
- Instructions for electronic submission:
2.3.1 Submissions may be made by e-mail to: Publicart@Hillsboroughcounty.org. Large files may be zipped.
2.3.2 As an alternative to email submission, a USB flash drive may be mailed to the address below:
Amy Jarman, Public Art Coordinator
P.O. Box 1110
Tampa, Florida 33601
2.4 Additional Information and Instructions
2.4.1 Proposals will be reviewed by a Site Advisory Committee and the County’s Public Art Committee.
2.4.2 The intent of the review is to short list a group of up to three artists to provide more specific proposals for the artwork. The County intends to contract with only one artist or artist group to fulfill the requirements of this project.
2.4.3 Hillsborough County does not guarantee that any commissions will result from this call.
3.0 ESTIMATED BUDGET, SCHEDULE AND SELECTION PROCESS:
3.1 Estimated Budget for the Project: $90,000.
Estimated Schedule:
– October 31, 2023
Call for Artist submission deadline
– December 2023
Artists are selected to provide a site-specific proposals
– February 2024
Review and ranking of artist’s submissions
– May 2024
Artists notified of selections and an Agreement is negotiated with top-ranked proposer.
3.3 Selection Process:
3.3.1 For this project, a Site Advisory Committee composed of members of the public, County staff associated with the location, the County project manager, and members of the Public Art Committee will propose a short-list of a minimum of three artists to develop site-specific proposals. Short-listed artists will be given further information on the project. Using this information, each artist will develop site-specific proposal(s). Artists may use models, drawings, computer-generated imagery and material samples to communicate their proposals. They must include in their proposals a working budget. The site-specific proposals will be initially reviewed and ranked by the Site Advisory Committee. The Site Advisory Committee’s ranking will be considered by the Public Art Committee for final rankings.
3.3.2 Subsequently an Agreement will be negotiated with the selected artist. The Agreement will require the artist to provide the complete artwork and meet all related costs such as travel, materials, fabrication, transportation, insurance and installation of the work within a mutually agreed time period and for a fixed fee. Progress payments are made over the course of the contract in accordance with a mutually agreed upon schedule. Compliance with financial arrangements between the artist and his/her subcontractors is the responsibility of the artist.
3.3.3 If an agreement cannot be successfully negotiated in a timely manner with the top-ranked artist(s), the County has the option to negotiate with the artist(s) next in order of ranking.
4.0 REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION/CLARIFICATION:
4.1 Any artist requesting additional information, interpretation, and/or clarifications relating to this Call shall make a written request addressed to:
Amy Jarman, Public Art Staff
P.O. Box 1110
Tampa, Florida 33601
e-mail: Publicart@Hillsboroughcounty.org
4.2 If it is deemed necessary, an addendum to this Call for Artists may be issued through the Hillsborough County Public Art webpage at:
5.0 RISK:
5.1 Persons responding to this Call do so at their sole expense and risk. The County reserves the right to change or cancel this Call at any time.
5.2 No proposer is guaranteed the award of an Agreement or any work as a result of being selected for this project.
5.3 Any changes made to this Call shall be made by means of a written addendum. It shall be the responsibility of the Artist to assure that all addenda have been received prior to submitting a proposal.
6.0 PUBLIC RECORDS ACT:
6.1 Pursuant to Florida Statutes, sealed responses to this Call to Artists are exempt from the public inspection requirements of the Public Records Act until such time as the announcement of a decision based on the proposals or within 30 days after proposal receipt date, whichever is earlier.
END OF DOCUMENT