Project Overview and Site Description: 

Athens is a university town known for its historic, diverse, and creative environment. Walking, cycling for sport, leisure, and transportation is important to Athenians, and support for new and improved trails across Clarke County is growing.  

The Oconee Rivers Greenway is a network of natural areas within the 100-year floodplains of the North Oconee River, Middle Oconee River, and Oconee River and their major tributaries as its core. The primary purpose of the greenway is to protect the natural resources of the corridor for the benefit and enjoyment of the citizens of Athens-Clarke County (ACC). The network includes a system of river-oriented trails that connect the river corridors with adjacent parks and green spaces, as well as neighborhoods and other community sites in Athens. The greenway trail system currently has 10 miles of trails and future plans for many more.  

The greenway represents a long-standing community vision of interconnected green spaces that protects and preserves natural habitats and scenery, historic features, exceptional and sensitive areas, and includes a trail system that provides connectivity, education, and recreation opportunities. Improving community health and well-being is an important outcome of the greenway mission. More detailed information about the greenway can be found at https://www.accgov.com/greenway 
 

The general location for public art as depicted in Attachment A is the wall at Lexington Road trail head adjacent to Loop 10. The approximate mural area is 100ft wide and 8ft tall. The exact boundary for the public art installation area will be flagged in the field by ACC staff prior to the artist site visit (see schedule below). A suitable public art mural will be viewable from the trail, the road, and perhaps from vantage points outside the immediate area. Artists are encouraged to visit the site if at all possible, to help determine the appropriate scale and concept for the site. A map of the trail system open to the public is included in Attachment B.  

Public Art Goals & Criteria: 

In general, public art on the greenway should enhance the experience of enjoying the extensive natural environment located within the corridor. The main focus and overarching theme of the greenway corridor is the river and its natural environment; and, consequently the urban, manmade environment should be subservient to the greenway experience. In tune with this philosophy, public art should have a secondary, supporting role in the overall impression when visiting the area. To be true with the values of the environmental focus of the corridor, creating a public art walk or an outdoor gallery is not the intent of adding public art along the corridor.  

Public Art Goals:
 1) Maintain a sense of place for the greenway 

2) Celebrate key resources of the corridor such as the river, riparian eco-systems, floodplains, geomorphology, water quality, water cycle, native plants and animals, etc.

3) Enhance the visitor experience by aiding in way-finding.

4) Supplement but not dominate the natural scenery of the greenway.

6) Take views into consideration for the context of the art 

Public Art Selection Criteria:  

1. Type of work is appropriate for the project and site: mural
2. Originality of the work created by the submitting artist (or team).

3. Quality art in both design and execution and demonstrated experience with previous similar work are pluses.
 4. Scale and visibility of the artwork from the trail and perhaps from vantage points outside the immediate area

5. Integration and celebration of Oconee River greenway. General thematic areas may include but are not limited to: 

Natural resources

Cultural resources

Water quality and water cycles

Health and well-being

Alternative transportation

Sustainability

Local heritage

6. Durability: Paint needs to be Sherwin Williams exterior paint with UV coating. All materials should be highly durable, non-toxic, and resistant to normal weathering and vandalism 

7. Ease of maintenance; no electricity or running water is available at the site 8. Public safety. Final mural design will need approval from the Georgia Department of Transportation. Attachment D

Eligibility: 

The project is open to professional artists (or team) 18 years and older, who are legal residents of and reside in the United States. It is preferable that the artist (or team) has experience working with public art projects and community government. We strongly encourage people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, people with disabilities, people from working-class backgrounds, and others from historically and currently marginalized communities that are not well represented or misrepresented within our society to apply. We recognize that many systemic barriers and actions have barred individuals from pursuing and being selected for these sorts of opportunities. As a result, we are committed to fostering equitable inclusion within this space. Ultimately, we believe that the more opportunities the diverse people in our communities have to produce art, the more engaged our audiences will be in the content we create, and the more inclusive our culture will become.

Budget:  

The budget for this project is $15,000 all-inclusive. This means including, but not limited to, design, materials, fabrication, insurance (Attachment C), traffic control, travel, installation, clean up, and artist’s fees.

The following timeline is contingent with the construction schedule and may be changed, but is current as of this RFP as follows:

Call Published – July 8, 2022

- Artist Site visit: week of July 18, 2022
- Virtual Info Sessions: week of July 25

(email tatiana.veneruso@accgov.com for site visit details and info session webex links)

-  Application deadline: August 28, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. 
-  Selection panel convenes in September 2022
-  Finalist will be contacted in September, 2022
-  Mayor & Commission vote on recommended artist(s) in November, 2022
- Contract signing in December, 2022
- Art installation in January, 2023 (earliest)