Request for Qualifications | The Bower: Sculpture Park and Gardens

Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors and the Bower

Entry Deadline: Feb. 18

709 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

https://bridgettemayerartadvisors.submittable.com/submit/133330/request-for-qualifications-rfq-the-bower-sculpture-park-and-gardens

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ):

THE BOWER: SCULPTURE PARK AND GARDENS

Application Deadline: Monday, February 18, 2019

OVERVIEW

Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors in collaboration with The Executive Committee of The Bower is seeking to commission professional artist/sculptor and or artist teams to design, fabricate and oversee fabrication and install permanent site-specific sculptures or permanent land art installations as part of its launch of its Phase I Sculpture Park and Gardens.

THE BOWER: SCULPTURE PARK AND GARDENS is located in Shermans Dale, PA (30 minutes outside of Harrisburg, PA)

The location is a private property that will be turned into a public sculpture park and gardens. The future plans also include an artist studio, an artist residency program, possible gallery/exhibition space and public programming with various museums and collecting groups. There are meadow, garden and woodland settings on the property where the commissioned sculptures and projects would be placed. It is the Owners vision to curate an array of sculptural works, both large scale and intimate, that present visual interest from multiple perspectives. The works shall be designed to complement, enhance or provide interesting contrast within the natural setting. The construction shall be durable to withstand the changing seasons and weather elements and also shall be safe for interaction by visitors.

Chosen artwork will be required to withstand a high-traffic, unmonitored outdoor environment with very limited maintenance. Artists should take into consideration the possibility of adverse weather conditions, the wellbeing of pedestrian traffic passing by and through the site and the safety of the audience.

PROJECT DETAILS

The Owners are developing “The Bower: Sculpture Park and Gardens”, a rural setting, garden and sculpture park located on their 36-acre wooded and meadow site along the northern slope of the Appalachian Mountains in Perry County, Pennsylvania. Additional photos and documentation can be found on their Instagram site “@gardenbower”.

“The Bower: Sculpture Park and Gardens” will serve as their primary residence, event setting for non-profit organizations and a nature and art education center. This project is a legacy project they are undertaking to support emerging & established artists, and to create a viable sculpture park that will educate and inspire the general public.

Approximately 5-10 finalists will be chosen from the pool of applicants (Following the RFP stage listed in the schedule below), those finalists will be provided an honorarium up to $1500.00* to work with Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors and feedback from the Executive Committee to develop a final proposal for the artwork. The chosen artists/teams will then be commissioned to finalize design, fabricate, ship and install the artwork.

Artists may utilize imported materials of their choosing or landforming, stone, wood or other organics from the natural setting.

*For artists wishing to submit already fabricated scultpure works, they can do so for consideration, however please note if a work is selected that is already fabricated, an honorarium will not be provided in this instance.

*(Please note BMAA and Executive Committee will discern amount of honorarium to be given out based on potential travel and or other expenses of the particular applicant and an amount of up to $1500.00 will be awarded).

BUDGET

Total project budget is approximately $10K-30K per artist or artist team and the amount awarded will be dependent on the proposed project. It is inclusive of all costs such as artist’s fees, fabrication, travel, and installation time and effort. A separate shipping budget should also be proposed. Sculpture foundation, lighting, hardscape and landscaping requirements will be determined in collaboration with the Owners and will be addressed outside the budget established for the artwork.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications must be completed by Monday, February 18, 2019 at 12:00pm EST

Applications received after the deadline and those that are found to be incomplete will not be reviewed. It is the responsibility of the submitting artist to ensure that applications are complete and submitted by the deadline. Extensions to this deadline will not be granted.

TO APPLY

Applications are accepted online at this site.

PREPARE THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR APPLICATION

1. Artist Statement: BRIEFLY describe your interest and qualifications for this project. Describe your experience and approach in working with someone commissioning an artwork

2. Artist Resume: please include a current resume or CV, which outlines your experience as a visual or public artist.

3. Up to Ten (10) images or videos of completed past artworks.

Images must be sized to the following dimensions

i. Please submit only jpg files

ii. Please size each image to be no more than 5MB in file size; videos should be less than 200MB.

iii. File Name: Images MUST be titled in the following manner: Last Name, First Name, number corresponding to the image description sheet (For example: DoeJane01; DoeJane02; etc. Collaborative artists groups should begin their image title with their group name or the last name of each member followed in parenthesis by artist who completed the work that the image number refers (For example: DoeJonesSmith01(Doe); DoeJonesSmith02(Doe); DoeJonesSmith03(Jones); etc.)

4. Annotated Image List to include the following: Title of work, Dimensions, Medium, Year of Completion, Location, up to a three (3) sentence description, and budget amount

5. References: names, addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers of three (3) professional references.

ARTIST ELIGIBILITY

Any professional artist or artist team is eligible to apply. If artists are applying as a team, the team should be declared in the Artist Statement, specifying a team leader to receive notifications. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

ARTIST SELECTION CRITERIA & PROCESS

Qualifications will be reviewed by Bridgette Mayer, Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors and The Bower Executive Committee based on the following:

>Aesthetic merit of past projects; appropriateness of artwork medium and artistic concepts;

>Experience, success and/or interest in creating artworks in collaboration with architects, design teams, community members, and collectors.

>Past art commissions are not a prerequisite for review but submitted work should demonstrate potential capacity for completion of artwork for the project.

>Bridgette Mayer, Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors and The Bower Executive Committee reserves the right to alter the selection process based on the applications received and/or needs of the project.

The General Timeline/Schedule of Project will be as follows:

Request for Qualifications (RFQ) January 18, 2019

RFQ Submittal Date February 18, 2019

RFQ Review by Executive Committee/Consultant February 18 – March 4, 2019

Notification of Artist Long List March 5, 2019

Request for Proposals (RFP) March 5, 2019

Site Visits (optional) March 12-24, 2019

RFP Submittal Date April 2, 2019

RFP Review by Owner/Consultant April 2 – May 13, 2019

Notification of Artist Shortlist May 13, 2019

Request for Project Specific Proposals (PSP) May 13, 2019

Site Consultations (required) May 15- June 8, 2019

PSP Submittal Date July 8, 2019

Notification of Selection August 5, 2019

Negotiation of Project Terms August 5 – September 9, 2019

Creation and Installation Period September 9, 2019 – April 30, 2020

FOR FURTHER QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS PLEASE CONTACT:

Bridgette Mayer, Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors [email protected]

Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors

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