CALL TOARTISTS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
Public Artwork for Park 524 and 525, Mississauga, Ontario
The City of Mississauga seeks to commission a qualified artist or artist teams to create a new public artwork in Municipal Park 524 and 525.
Development of these park lands is expected to be completed in summer 2020. The budget for this artwork is $90,000 CAD + HST.
This is a two-stage selection process. Applicants are asked only to submit qualifications at this time. Artists selected to submit proposals in Stage 2 shall receive an honorarium of $1000 CAD.
The deadline to submit qualifications for this opportunity is Monday, August 6, 2018, at 11:59 pm EST.
SFM CURATORIAL
1.Project Context
This public artist call is part of a larger park development project. The selected artist will be part of a multi-disciplinary consulting team led by landscape architects MBTW Group. The project goal is to design and construct an innovative, environmentally responsive, all-season community park that effectively integrates park amenities, facilities, and infrastructure with the unique natural features of the site.
Located in the City’s Ward 5, the project site is comprised of two park blocks
#524 and #525 (not yet named) located at 125 Eglinton Avenue West, Mississauga, at the northeast corner of Eglinton Avenue West and Fairwind Drive.
The site is characterized by its existing natural features,which will be addressed in the design of the park. The Cooksville Creek flows diagonally through the site between park blocks #524 and #525. The creek and its floodplain are regulated by Credit Valley Conservation and are to be preserved and protected throughout the development of the park. An existing wetland in the northwest area of the site will be retained and integrated with the park development. The park design will need to balance recreational opportunities while protecting and enhancing the adjacent natural creek corridor. The design will also look to provide opportunities for incorporating education and awareness of these environmental initiatives of the park design.
The future public park will connect various communities and schools in the surrounding neighbourhoods, offering up a communal outdoor space for gathering, exercise, and leisure. It will also incorporate a Public Art commission by the City of Mississauga.
The public park is situated within the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, previously of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Wyndot and Huron people. Mississauga continues to be home to many Aboriginal, Inuit and Métis peoples. The park is surrounded by a residential community, elementary schools, and small businesses. To the west, one finds residential communities and the Saint Hilary Elementary School. To the Northwest, the Hawthorne Valley Trail (beginning at Bristol Road), connects the site to the Britannia Farm, a residential and semi-commercial community, the Hawthorne Valley Park, and Fairwind Senior Public School. North of Park one finds more residential homes and the Cooksville Creek Public School.
The newly constructed park will offer a valuable green space to residents, in a central location between north and south Mississauga and along the main urban and economic corridor, Hurontario Street.
2.Concept Outline
A more detailed summary of the City of Mississauga's thematic and conceptual goals will be provided to artists who are selected for the proposal phase.
Pursuant to those goals, the City of Mississauga is specifically seeking artists who demonstrate the ability to create a permanent work that:
1.Responds to, references, or highlights the natural features of the site, specifically the wetlands or creek.
2.Is integrated into a design or service feature planned for the parks.
3.May incorporate one of the following concepts:
•Environment:watershed,wetlands,naturalresources, sustainable mobility and lifestyle and ecological literacy;
•History: First Nations presence
3.Eligibility
This call is open to local, national, and international artists and artist collectives who qualify as professional artists under the definition provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.
4.Budget
The budget for this artwork is $90,000 CAD + HST. This budget is to be inclusive of all artist fees, fabrication, engineering, installation labour, travel and other costs related to the production and installation of the artwork.
5.Selection Process and Timeline
This is a two-stage selection process:
Stage One: Artist Shortlist Based on Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Submissions
Submissions due Monday, August 6, 2018, at 11:59 pm EST.
Prospective Artists or Artist Teams with demonstrated experience in designing, building and installing large-scale works of art in public spaces are invited to submit qualifications by signing the Declaration in Section 9, along with submitting the Submission Requirements requested in Section 6. Submissions will be reviewed by the City's multi- disciplinary project team. The project team will then shortlist and invite up to 3 finalists to the next stage of the Artist/Artist Team selection process, juried by an arms-length Art Selection Committee.
The project team will evaluate each submission to determine a shortlist of artists to be considered for Stage Two (RFP) based on selection criteria that include, but are not limited to the following:
•Approach and interest in the RFQ as expressed in the Artist Statement
•Qualifications and professional experience of the artist as expressed in the CV(s)
•Artistic excellence, skill and innovation as evidenced in samples of previous work
•Demonstrated ability to successfully execute a project of this scale under the criteria developed and with the defined budget and timeline.
Stage Two: Final Artist Selection
The City will only notify those artists who have been shortlisted. Only shortlisted artists will be invited to compete in Stage 2 of the selection process. The criteria in Stage 1 above will be considered for the final artist selection, along with a review of the submitted proposals based on the following:
•Artistic merit of the proposal;
•Technical feasibility of the proposed concept including, but not limited to: safety, structure, ability to meet budget and schedule;
•Stakeholder input;
•How well the proposal meets the Selection Criteria; and
•How well the proposal meets the Technical Requirements.
The short-listed artists will be provided with a detailed Request for Proposals (RFP) package and will be paid an honorarium of $1000 CAD to develop proposals: art concept with detailed budget and schedule. City of Mississauga endorses the practice of remuneration for artists and arts professionals according to the most recent Canadian Artists' Representation/Le Front des artistes canadien (CARFAC) Minimum Fee Schedule. The proposals will undergo a thorough review by an arms- length Art Selection Committee composed of art professionals and industry experts, as well as members of the project team. Public input on the proposals may be solicited. The Art Selection Committee will make a final selection and reserves the right to interview one or more of the short-listed artists if necessary or ask for further information or clarification. The City of Mississauga reserves the right not to select an artist or artist team from the short-listed artists.
The finalist will be asked to sign an Art Services Agreement to be provided by the City of Mississauga, and will need to obtain insurance prior to starting on the work.
•July 18: RFQ issued
•Monday, August 6, 11:59pm EST: RFQ closes; submissions due
•August 13: Shortlisted artists selected, RFP document is issued
•September 21: Final Artwork Proposals due
•Early October: Winning artist selected
6.Call for Qualifications Entry Requirements:
All responding artists must submit the following in a single PDF:
1.Name, address, website, and contact information of the applicant.
2.A cover letter indicating the rationale for your interest
3.A current CV
4.Images of 5 previous artworks that display methods or concepts relevant to this project. Multiple images of a single project are encouraged.
5.The title, location, media, size, commissioning body, and brief description of each artwork presented.
6.Video documentation of artworks is permitted. For video documentation, please include in the PDF a link to a video hosted on YouTube or Vimeo.
7.The name and contact information for at least 3 references who may speak to their experience commissioning or collaborating on projects referenced in this document.
As a separate PDF, please submit:
1.A signed Declaration (provided at the end of this document). Submissions that do not include the signed Agreement to Propose will be disqualified.
All submissions must be sent via e-mail to . If attachments exceed 10MB, the artist may instead submit a link to download the files from a secure third-party hosting platform such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or WeTransfer.
7.Reserved Rights of The City of Mississauga
The City, at its sole discretion, reserves the following rights to:
Request clarification or additional information, as it deems necessary to evaluate submissions; determine the suitability of the submission and capability of the prospective artist(s); select the artist(s) that it deems most appropriate for the project; make no selection or to cancel this process at any time, and; issue public announcements regarding the competition.
This document and any submission in response to it by prospective Artists or Artist Team does not create any binding obligations on the City of Mississauga, or any other party.
8.Publication of Competition Information
The City shall have the exclusive right to issue all public announcements regarding the competition.
9.Declaration
The following Declaration is to be signed by the Artist or Artist Team and submitted as part of their expression of interest package.
I/We hereby declare that the information provided herein is true and correct to the best of my/our knowledge.
Date: Name: Signature: