Deadline: March 5, 2018 – 5:00 pm Pacific Time
CALL TO ARTISTS
The City of Sacramento, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, a division of the City of Sacramento Convention and Cultural Services Department, invites Public Artists and Artist teams, as well as Studio Artists, to submit their qualifications for potential inclusion in a pre-qualified artist database for public art opportunities for the Sacramento Convention Center and Community Theater sites. This list will be used to request proposals from artists to create permanently installed artwork at various sites throughout the Theater, the Convention Center, and the Plaza during the next three years. In addition, the Public Art Program reserves the right to use this pre-qualified list to request proposals, commission or purchase existing work for other opportunities that might arise.
ART BUDGET
The projected budget for the Convention and Theater Complex is estimated at $4 million for multiple projects and programming. The public art budget is based on 2% of the capital improvement budget.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The City of Sacramento is renovating and expanding the Community Center Theatre and Convention Center beginning in 2019 and re-opening in 2021. The 1972-era Community Center Theatre is home to the city’s ballet, symphony, opera, Broadway and lecture series. The façade of the Community Center Theatre will be completely re-imagined, while the interior will be updated. The City’s Convention Center, a 200,000 square feet facility most recently renovated in 1998, caters to regional and national conventions, meetings and special events. The Convention Center will be expanded, to accommodate larger exhibits and meetings as well as an enhanced guest experience. The overall design intent of the renovation of the Convention and Theater complex is to create a more cohesive campus that engages the surrounding urban environment; enhances the pedestrian experience; encourages walkability between primary street corridors through downtown to the west, ultimately connecting to the Golden One Center and the Old Sacramento area.
OPPORTUNITIES AND ART SITES
The operations and needs of the Convention and Theater complex are being designed and scoped by the architect teams for both buildings. At this early stage of the process, the Public Art areas are not clearly defined, though main themes continue to remain in the forefront and others will present as the process develops.
THEATER LOCATION
The architecture team of DLR Group and Westlake Reed Leskosky’s is opening the building to the urban environment using a material palette of transparency and lightness to create a welcoming presence at the pedestrian level. The theme of Sacramento’s rich culture of trees is a focus in their design work. Interior locations include ceilings, lobbies and atriums. Exterior locations may include entry plazas and building façade.
CONVENTION CENTER LOCATION
The architecture team of Populous and Hood Studio will focus on creating a functional building that will be the gateway to Sacramento. The architecture will embrace and engage actively with city streets by framing various views of downtown from windows and creating transparency into four main entrance atriums that welcome visitors. Interior locations for artwork will be large walls, ceilings, meet-and-greet entrance lobbies, corridors and the Grand Ballroom. Exterior locations may include the building façade, architectural surfaces, treatments or enhancements. Exhibition casework will also be part of the environment. Sacramento Art in Public Places will be developing an Exhibition Program to showcase local and regional artists.
PLAZA LOCATION
The exterior plaza space sits between the Convention Center and the Theater and slated to unify the two buildings. Both facilities will use this plaza during events however it is also deemed a community space that will be programmed to engage the residents and visitors alike.
Type of artwork being considered:
• site-specific installation
• integrated design, art enhancements, feature walls
• portable work, traditional medium, intimate scale
• new media, virtual art, interactive art, sound, light
• environmental, hardscapes, landscapes, artist-designed spaces
• exterior architectural surface treatments
Other sites and art opportunities may be identified as the program evolves. All artists selected for the art program will be encouraged to create unique, innovative artwork that reflects Sacramento’s stature as the State Capital and as a thriving center for the creative economy, government activity, cultural tourism, and trade. All artwork must respond creatively to the site, architecture, and function of the buildings.
SACRAMENTO METROPOLITAN ARTS COMMISSION’S PROCESS
A selection panel will review applications and establish a pool of qualified artists working in a variety of media. The composition of the selection panel members may vary, but will typically include a member of the Arts Commission, a curator, an artist, an arts administrator, a facility stakeholder and a project stakeholder. An individual panelist may nominate an artist/artists teams to be considered by the entire panel for inclusion into the pre-qualified artist database. Nominated artists will be asked to register online with Submittable and meet all requirements of the application.
Once the database is established, individual selection panels will be convened to review artists’ portfolios for one or more projects or project sites. Artists selected for the pre-qualified pool will be notified prior to being placed under consideration for specific projects or project sites.
If awarded a commission, artists will be required to attend periodic meetings in Sacramento, present concept proposals to the Arts Commission, and attend community meetings as required. Selected artists or artist teams will be responsible for overseeing the fabrication, delivery, and installation of the commissioned artwork and for working cooperatively with the project architects, City staff, and consultants.
ELIGIBILITY
The project is open to experienced professional artists nationally and internationally. The large-scale projects are awarded based on experience in the design, fabrication, and installation of major artworks. Artists Teams should have proven experience that demonstrates design team experience. Professional artists living in Northern California are encouraged to apply.
ARTIST SELECTION CRITERIA
Artists will be selected for inclusion in the pre-qualified artist database based on the following criteria:
• Innovation and creativity in previous projects/artwork.
• Ability to recognize and build upon the unique character of a community
• Demonstrated proficiency craftsmanship and technical knowledge of the materials and techniques in the artist’s chosen medium.
• Experience and success in creating a public artwork in collaboration or cooperation with architectural design teams and under the auspices of a public agency.
• Knowledge of durable materials appropriate to the environment the art will be placed.
QUESTIONS: Lennée Eller, Metro Arts Manager, Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Office, Leller@cityofsacramento.org
By
/ February 22, 2018