Percent for Art Competition - Brewer, Maine

PERCENT FOR ART COMPETITION PROSPECTUS:

Brewer Pre K - 8 school - Brewer Maine

Overview

The Maine Arts Commission is making a call to all artists in the United States, with a preference for those who live in Maine to submit proposals to design, create, and install artwork at the Brewer Elementary/Middle School, Percent for Art site in Brewer, Maine. Total project budget is approximately $43,000; submissions deadline is December 18, 2009.

The Percent for Art law in Maine reserves one percent of the construction funds for all state-funded building projects to provide artwork for the public areas of these buildings.

Background

The new Brewer Elementary/Middle School, nestled in a residential area in Brewer, is anticipated to open in September 2011. The school will consolidate the middle school and all elementary schools in Brewer in a facility enrolling over 1000 students.

The committee is looking to commission one or more artists to address the interior of the building, specifically the two-story portions of the Main Entrance lobby, Media Center/ Library, and the Performing Arts Center lobby. It should be noted that these three areas will not accommodate sculpture that largely takes up space on the floor.

The community is proud of its history as a hard-working community located across the Penobscot River from Bangor. Brewer had thriving ship building, brick-making, ice harvesting, and paper-making industries in the nineteenth century. Reflecting this past, the classroom wings are identified by five distinct themes and named accordingly: River, Maritime, Brick, Ice, and Paper. The committee is interested in proposals that will honor Brewer's past but that will also emphasize its hopes and aspirations for the future.

The committee is also interested in proposals that address the fact that the community embraces environmental stewardship in its commitment to build a LEED registered building.

If you have specific questions about architectural elements, the architect representative for this project is Jill Simpson, who can be contacted at jill.simpson@wbrcae.com. Other questions, including requests for architectural plans and images, can be directed to Alison Ferris at the Maine Arts Commission alison.ferris@maine.gov.

Project Budget

There is approximately $43, 000 in Percent for Art funds available for this project. These funds will be used to commission work(s) from one or many artists. An artist's budget proposal must cover all design, fabrication, transportation, documentation and installation expenses, including any building or site modification associated with the artwork.

Who is Eligible

All professional artists who live in Maine may apply for consideration to this project. Artists who are employees of the Brewer Schools or Brewer School Department are ineligible for Percent for Art projects at the location where they are employed as are members of the art selection committee and their immediate families. The project is open to all artists age 18 and over, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, military status, sexual orientation, marital status, or physical or mental disability. Artist teams are eligible to apply, including teams of artists from multiple disciplines. Contact Alison Ferris, Assistant Director, with questions at 207/287-2710, alison.ferris@maine.gov.

Deadline

Deadline for submission of preliminary materials is a postmarked date of December 18, 2009. Materials are usually evaluated within a month of the deadline and artists are notified shortly after this time frame.

Selection Process

A Percent for Art selection committee of five members will jury submissions for the project. The committee will review the materials to determine whom to invite for a second round of evaluation. Artists selected for the second round will receive a design fee for refining their proposals. Final proposals will include detailed models, drawings, renderings, samples of work and/or other materials depending on the nature of the proposal. All finalists will present their final proposals to the committee. Please do not submit detailed models, drawings, samples, or final proposals for the first-round of the selection process.

Materials needed in initial submission

Please make sure submissions are labeled correctly, that you cite the percent for art call you are applying to, and that your name, address, and other contact information is on every document. Improperly submitted or incomplete submissions may not be accepted.

-A current concise resume (on a CD or as an email attachment).

-Up to five digital images of your recent work (on a CD or as email attachment) resolution of 96 dpi at a minimum size of 5 X 7 inches, jpeg format. Please name each image file with your last name first and the number (1-5) for the order it should be viewed in: i.e.: ferris_alison_1_Title of work.jpg. Use underscores to separate words in file name, not punctuation. If emailing, send to alison.ferris@maine.gov with 'Brewer School' in the subject line. Emailed images must be sent as attachments, NOT embedded in the email document.

-A brief (approximately one-page) written narrative (on a CD or as email attachment) describing your work what you plan to do in addressing the potential art area(s). Write about what your concept and approach will be in addressing the specific public art space(s) of the site and what materials you intend to use. Please DO NOT submit detailed models, drawings, samples, or final proposals for this first-round of the selection process. A simple sketch may be included to clarify your idea if necessary, but it is not encouraged. All documents should be sized for standard letter paper, 8.5x 11 inches. Emailed documents must be sent as attachments, NOT embedded in the email.

-A rough budget estimate (on a CD or as email attachment). Consider aspects of design, fabrication, transportation, and installation when creating your general budget. A more detailed and precise budget will be requested for those invited to the second round evaluation.

How to Submit Materials

Emailed materials should be sent to:

alison.ferris@maine.gov

For email, please write: Brewer School, as the email subject. Title attached document files similarly to the image titles: i.e.: ferris_alison_ resume/proposal/budget.doc. Please attach all images and documents to the email, embedded images or documents written in the body of the email will not be accepted. Please send documents as Word docs, txt, PDFs, or Jpegs.

Mailed materials should be addressed to:

Percent for Art Competition: Brewer School,

c/o Alison Ferris

Maine Arts Commission

25 State House Station

Augusta, Maine 04333-0025

Contact Information

Sponsor: Maine Arts Commission
Contact: Alison Ferris
Phone: 207/287-2724
Email: alison.ferris@maine.gov