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- Public Art: Classic Center Arena Site 3
Call for Public Art: Classic Center Arena (SPLOST 2020 Project #3) – Site 3: Interior Wall
- Call Summary
- Project Overview & Site Description
- Public Art Goals & Criteria
- Eligibility
- Budget
- Timeline
Call Summary:
The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County (ACCGov) invites professional artists to submit qualifications for consideration for a public art concept for the Classic Center Arena project in Athens, Georgia. The selected artist(s) will work with stakeholders and government staff to create public art that enhances the visitor experience and complements the selected site. A suitable public art installation will be a large-scale mural or mosaic, celebrating Georgia music history, for the arena’s interior entryway.
Project Overview and Site Description:
Athens is a university town known for its historic, diverse, and creative environment. The Classic Center Arena project is envisioned to provide a 5,500-seat public assembly facility/arena space (when configured for a sports event) which can be increased to accommodate up to 6,500 seats when configured for a public assembly or concert event. The Arena is to include a connecting, elevated plaza to Foundry Street as well as all of the requisite support spaces such as: suites, a commissary, retractable seating, locker rooms and storage areas for a multi-use arena facility. https://classiccenter.com/414/The-Classic-Center-Arena
The general location for public art as depicted in Attachment A is the interior wall. A map of the Arena area can be found in Attachment B.
This project is currently under construction with a projected completion date of: Spring 2024. The Classic Center Arena will be part of a larger master plan to develop an entertainment district including hotels, restaurants, and other amenities.
Public Art Goals & Criteria:
- Create a sense of place for the Classic Center Arena/Downtown Athens, GA.
- Celebrate Georgia’s rich music history.
- Enhance the visitor experience by creating unique, dynamic landmarks.
- Take views into consideration for the context of the art.
- Encourage engagement.
- Originality, durability, visibility, accessibility and safety.
Public Art Selection Criteria:
- Type of work is appropriate for the project and site: large-scale mural or mosaic, celebrating Georgia music history, for the arena’s interior entryway. (Attachment A).
- Originality of the work created by the submitting artist (or team).
- Quality art in both design and execution and demonstrated experience with previous similar work.
- Scale and visibility of the artwork.
- General theme: Georgia Music History
- Durability: All materials should be highly durable, non-toxic, and resistant to weathering, vandalism. For murals, paint must be Sherwin Williams paint with protective UV, anti-graffiti coating.
- Ease of maintenance*
- Public safety: for mosaics, no sharp edges, etc.
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 $50,000 all-inclusive. This means including, but not limited to, design, materials, fabrication, insurance (Attachment C), engineer’s approval (if applicable), travel, installation, and artist’s fees.
Timeline:
The following timeline is contingent with the construction schedule and may be changed, but is current as of this RFQ as follows:
- Call Published – February 17, 2023
- Info Sessions: Feb/March 2023 (email tatiana.veneruso@accgov.com for info session webex links)
- Application deadline: April 7, 2023 at 5PM EST
- Selection panel convenes: April 2023
- Finalists will be contacted: April 2023
- Finalists proposal review and selection: May 2023
- Mayor & Commission vote on recommended artist(s): May/June 2023
- Contract signing: Summer 2023
- Art installation: Spring 2024* pending arena construction schedule
Applications:
Please review full RFQ document before submitting application. All applications must be submitted to Athens-Clarke County’s online system of calls for entry.
All applications must be submitted to Athens-Clarke County’s online system of calls for entry, care of the Athens Cultural Affairs Commission.
All of the following must accompany your submission to be considered by the resident selection panel:
- Contact information, including your name(s), mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail.
- A resume highlighting your credentials and related experience.
- Contact information for at least three (3) professional references.
- Jpeg images of three (3) examples of previous work of comparable scale and budget. Images should be free of text and/or watermarks that could identify the artist.
- Please indicate your interest in mentoring a local artist as part of the project. (Yes or No)
If selected as a finalist, artists or teams will be paid a fee of $500 to provide the following:
- A title and description of your public art concept for this project. Include a materials list, any needs for special equipment or the like, and a timeline for producing and installing the artwork. Provide enough detail to support your images and budget.
- Images of your proposed design, annotated with image descriptions such as perspective, scale, etc. May include additional detail images, if needed. The media chosen to convey the proposed design(s) is up to your discretion, whether hand-drawn, computer generated, digital media, or photograph examples including previous work.
- A budget that details all costs related to the proposed artwork(s) including, but not limited to, design, engineering review (if applicable), materials, fabrication, and installation including foundation/supports, insurance, travel and artist’s fees.
- Maintenance plan to outline long term care needs of the artwork.
Contact:
Tatiana Veneruso
Public Art Coordinator, Athens-Clarke County, Leisure Services Department, Arts Division
tatiana.veneruso@accgov.com