For full Call to Artists, please visit our website. Summary is below.
Call Summary : We are inviting proposals for Kings Beach Roundabout Art, a permanent public art installation to be on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe in traffic roundabouts in Kings Beach, CA. There are two roundabouts, and two (2) separate artist’s proposals will be chosen.
This is a Request For Proposal (RFP) process and proposals must be postmarked no later than January 25, 2015.
There will be three rounds of selection: the first jury will sit February 15, 2015; the second jury will sit March 12, 2015 and the final selection will be made by the community on March 19, 2015. The installation must be in place by September 26, 2015.
The artist’s honorarium will not exceed $125,000 per roundabout. This includes all artists’ fees including engineering, labor, materials, fabrication, transportation, documentation, and installation. Costs such as insurance, taxes, studio overhead, and miscellaneous items are not eligible for inclusion.
Project Description : For this project, the artist(s) will be creating/providing a piece of permanent artwork that will be on display 24/7 outdoors in our mountainous environment, installed on a 4’x4’ pad in the roundabout center. Each roundabout is plumbed (with 110 power). Elements of sustainability are encouraged (e.g., photovoltaic cells/ wind turbines with generator to power lighting, WiFi hotspot, etc.). Interactivity and/or kinetic elements are also encouraged, but sustainability
is seen as a separate component in this project.
Art criteria and goals: TPA would like any art piece installed in the roundabouts to meet these criteria/goals:
1. Art piece must be able to sustain strong winds (up to 100 mph gusts)
2. Art piece must withstand significant snow load, possibly for extended periods of time.
3. Art piece surface: strong preference for a surface that ensures any spray paint “tagging” can be easily removed
4. Art piece may be no more than 50 feet in height
5. Art piece may be no more than 25 feet in width
6. Art piece may weigh up to, but not more than, five tons (10,000 lbs.)
7. Art piece must withstand sand flung by snowplows in winter months
8. Self-lighting of piece in design is encouraged using solar or wind power: lights must be downcast, no uplighting allowed (due to TRPA regulations); embedded and/or hooded lighting is fine
9. If art piece includes a water feature, the water must be a recycling closed system, including filters. It must be able to be shut down and drained for winter. Winterization cannot include the use of anti-freeze because it cannot drain to the lake.
10. The use of locally-sourced materials is encouraged: please specify if this is the case in your proposal
11. The art site is an open public location. We encourage the use of coatings to make removal of graffiti “tagging” possible. In addition, public safety must be another consideration. The piece must be best appreciated from the perimeter, to discourage pedestrian-vehicle conflict. However, it must be anticipated that a person could attempt to physically explore this piece unsupervised, and that a reasonable person may do so without harm from the piece itself.
12. Use of TRPA color scheme is encouraged (generally, this is earth tones: for more information please refer to Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s website, www.trpa.org)
Interpretive Goals:
• Art is encouraged to highlight a perspective of the basin’s natural environment, be it lake or terrestrial. This can include but is not limited to:
o Lake clarity
o Invasive species
o Human impact upon terrestrial animals (garbage, runoff, development, etc.)
o Climate change
• Art is encouraged to embody the intention of encouraging stewardship of Lake Tahoe and its environment
• Art is encouraged to honor cultural history of the basin, including but not limited to:
o The Washoe people
o Early Euro-American settlers
o Women in the basin
o Sports and/or recreation in the basin
• Art is encouraged to be iconic: art that will stimulate feeling, thought, and positive action and will attract attention
• Art is encouraged to showcase elements of sustainability and functionality, such as creating a WiFi hotspot; inclusion of small wind turbine with generator and lighting; embedding of photovoltaic cells with generator and lighting.
• Art is encouraged to create and/or contribute to a “sense of place” within the community
Site or Art Location Plans : The roundabout itself moderates traffic flow. It is desirable to have the center of the piece be non-transparent such that drivers using the roundabout cannot see through it as they circumnavigate the roundabout.
Application Requirements : This Call to Artists is an Equal Artistic Opportunity: selection of the winning proposal will be made without regard to sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/reassignment, citizenship, pregnancy or maternity, veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable national, federal, state or local law.

Proposals must be sent via USPS (“snail mail”) to the following address:
Tahoe Public Art
c/o NTA
P.O. Box 6354
Tahoe City, CA 96145

Proposals should consist of:
• The $25 application fee: make checks out to “Tahoe Public Art” with “application fee” in the memo line;
• Up to 5 jpeg (300 dpi or greater) images of previous pieces: label with piece name, date created, location of piece, dimensions, materials used. Images to be submitted on a DVD included with the application;
• If piece is already built, up to 5 jpeg images of piece (300 dpi or greater): label with piece name, date created, current location of piece, dimensions, materials used. Images to be submitted on a DVD included with the application;
• Annotated list of previous projects, including: description, dimensions, material, location, budget, client or commissioning organization, and any other relevant project information;
• Artist/Artists Statement of interest (500 words or less);
• Resume or short biography;
• Self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for the return of hardcopy materials;
• Project proposal (for RFPs) including sketch(es) to scale, description of materials and any functional elements. A maquette is encouraged but not required.
• Budget breakdown which includes the design fee, materials, fabrication, transportation and installation costs
• Those artists selected to go on to the second level of consideration will have the option to be interviewed by the second jury panel. This is not required, but the opportunity will be offered to all artists whose work will be evaluated by the second jury.