CITY OF MEMPHIS | UrbanArt Commission
ORANGE MOUND LIBRARY | CALL TO ARTISTS
Release Date: Friday, February 23, 2024
Budget: $100,000 (includes three finalist honoraria of $1,000 each)
Deadline: Monday, April 8, 2024 at 11:59pm
Eligibility: Any artist living and working within the United States. Strong preference will be given to artists connected to Orange Mound and the City of Memphis. Artists are invited to submit collaborative work if desired, but may only submit one proposal per project opportunity. While there is no limit to the number of calls to which an artist may apply, UAC strongly encourages artists to consider both the time and scale of each call.
Information Session: Wednesday, March 20 @ 5:30pm, RSVP now.
BACKGROUND
About Orange Mound and the Orange Mound Library:
Orange Mound is a historical neighborhood located in the southeastern part of Memphis. Founded in 1890, Orange Mound was the first neighborhood known to be built for and by former enslaved Black Americans. The space was once a 5,000 acre plantation that E.E. Meacham gained ownership over. Meacham made an unprecedented decision to sell land to Black Americans. Orange Mound is home to the Golden Wildcats of Melrose High School, which has a rich history of academic excellence, Olympians, and numerous professional athletics.
The Melrose Alumni Association, Incorporated supports students at Melrose High School and provides annual scholarship awards to graduating seniors. Awards presented last year totaled $33,000. The Association also serves as a source of information for Melrose alumni, which includes a network of over 1,000 Golden Wildcats across the United States.
The current address for Melrose High School is 2870 Deadrick Ave, Memphis, TN. However, the historic “old” Melrose High School, located nearby at 843 Dallas St, is being renovated and restored to include apartments for senior living, a genealogy center, and a library which is the first of its kind for the neighborhood.
For more information, the selection committee encourages you to visit:
https://melrosehs.com/history-tradition/
https://www.memphisheritage.org/melrose-school/
https://www.pbs.org/video/wkno-specials-community-called-orange-mound/
https://moshmemphis.com/black-history-in-memphis-the-orange-mound-story/
About UAC:
The UrbanArt Commission (UAC) works to create opportunities for artists and neighborhoods to connect and shape spaces through public art. Since 2002, UAC has managed the City of Memphis’s Percent-For-Art Program, which allocates funds annually to develop public art in connection to capital improvement projects. UAC also facilitates public art projects throughout the city working with various partners and clients to support artists and new experiences with art.
SITE SPECIFICS
UAC and The City of Memphis are seeking an artist to create a sculpture for the Orange Mound Library and Genealogy Center. The preferred location for the sculpture is either the front of the building in the pathway from Dallas St to the entrance or in back of the building. A front entrance design could cover a maximum of 12 feet in diameter. A back entrance design could cover a maximum of 20 feet in diameter. The Orange Mound Library and Genealogy Center is the first of its kind for the neighborhood, opening in 2024.
SCOPE OF WORK
The selection committee has expressed interest in a large-scale sculpture that:
Represents the lively essence of Orange Mound
Celebrates the neighborhood leaders who have left their mark in Orange Mound and the Melrose community
Engages families
Reference the architecture of the neighborhood and/or nearby landmarks
Be easy to maintain
Does not interfere with the pedestrian pathway
Includes community input and engagement throughout the design and/or fabrication stages
The commissioned artist(s) will be selected based on the strength of their qualifications submitted, ability to adhere to deadlines and work within the stated budget. Applicants are expected to have or collaborate/subcontract with appropriate vendors to meet the necessary technical capabilities to design and install such projects, including providing maintenance instructions. The artist(s) will work with the UAC Program Managers to coordinate community engagement efforts. This engagement should help inform the final design. The finished project must require little to no regular maintenance. Final artwork should complement the characteristics and neighborhood identity of the site. The artist(s) selected shall be expected to collaborate closely with site engineers, landscape architects, and any necessary party for the successful installation of the project, including residents. NOTE: Commissioned artists are permitted to work with outside contractors to fabricate the actual work of art.
PROJECT EXPECTATIONS
A selection committee organized by UAC will review submitted portfolios and will invite three finalists to submit site-specific design proposals. All finalists will receive a stipend of $1000 for their designs. The selected artist will be expected to work closely with the Selection Committee and UAC to execute the proposed artistic enhancements.
SELECTION COMMITTEE
Mary Claire Borys- City of Memphis Housing and Community Development: Development Project Manager for Historic Melrose Rehabilitation
Kinah Burks- Kingdom Community Builder: Director, Resident
Felicia Harris- City of Memphis Housing and Community Development: Deputy Director
Tamika Parsons- Sr. Manager for Orange Mound Library
Jevonte Porter- Youth Villages- Assistant Director of Community Relations, Melrose Alum
Darlene Newman- Artist
Chad Stewart- CSA Engineering
Denise Williams Greene- President of Melrose Alumni Association
*Public Vote: Collected public votes will serve as one additional selection committee vote for the final selected artist following the submission of proposals from project finalists.
PROJECT BUDGET
Total project budget is $100,000, including artist honoraria and travel - up to three finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium for a site-specific proposal. Design budget $24,250; Fabrication/installation budget $72,750 all-inclusive.
PROJECT TIMELINE
Friday, February 23, 2024 RFQ released
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 UAC Information Session
Monday, April 8, 2024 at 11:59pm RFQ deadline
By Friday, April 19, 2024 Notify finalists of RFP invitation
Monday, May 27, 2024 RFP deadline (TBC)
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
Please submit the following materials online by clicking the submit button below.
Completed application form
A typed letter explaining your interest in the project and your general approach/concept to its design and production. Please do not submit design proposals at this point.
Up to 20 images of past work including title of work, date, medium, budget and project partners, if any.
Resume or CV, not to exceed 2 pages.
List of three professional references, including current phone and email.
Clicking on the Submit button will redirect you to our Submittable page, which contains all of our current open opportunities. Click the Submit button next to the opportunity that you wish to apply for, or if you are already within an opportunity, scroll down to the Create your account / Have an account? Sign in form.
If you already have a Submittable account, click the Have an account? Sign in tab to sign in to your account.
If you don’t have an account, you must create one to apply. Create your free account by filling out the Create your account form. Fill in all information and click the Create Account and Continue button to continue with the submission process.
From there, you will be able to complete and submit your application. You can now use this account login when submitting to all future UAC opportunities. Once you have submitted your application, you will receive a confirmation email that confirms receipt of your full application.
For more information about this project, please contact: Kayla J. Smith-Hardy | Sr. Program Manager 901.343.6983 | kayla@uacmem.org This RFQ can be found on www.uacmem.org/calls-to-artists
INFORMATION SESSIONS
UAC will host an information session for interested artists on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. The session will be recorded and a link made available to applicants who are unable to attend during that time. Interested artists who have not completed a public art project previously or not completed a project of this scale are strongly encouraged to reach out to the UAC team in advance of submitting their application. Artists may also schedule a meeting with UAC staff to review their application and portfolio. Appointments are available until 1 week prior to the close of the call to artists. See project contact information in the above section. RSVP here.
DISCLAIMERS
UAC is committed to equity and inclusion in our work. People of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, differently-abled and neurodiverse persons, indigenous peoples, youth, seniors, and women are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applicants will be notified as to the status of their application. Commissioning of artists by UAC and the pursuit of all UAC activities are implemented without preference to racial or ethnic origins, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disability, or age.
UAC reserves the right to modify this solicitation and to request additional information from participating artists.
UAC reserves the right to accept or reject, at any time prior to the commissioning of a work, any or all proposals when the acceptance, rejection, waiver or advertisement would be in the best interest of the project.
The UAC team will be responsible for all correspondence and communication by and between applicants and members of selection panels. Discussion regarding these projects by and between any applicant and any member of a selection panel outside of regularly scheduled meetings during the selection process may be grounds for the disqualification of the applicant. Such determination shall be at the discretion of UAC.
