Section 1 - OVERVIEW:
The City of Ellsworth has been awarded a Maine Community Foundation grant in recognition of City’s effort to help beautify the riverfront Harbor Park, located on Water Street in downtown Ellsworth, Maine. This document makes a call to all Maine artists to submit proposals to design, create and install artwork at the Harbor Park. The grant amounts to $5,000 currently, but the project budget may increase if additional funding is required (and obtainable from other resources, but not to exceed $7500 ). The submission deadline is Friday, March 05, 2021.

Section 2 - BACKGROUND:
The Harbor Park serves both citizens and tourists in the Downeast area. It has been and will continue to be a popular venue for concerts and public celebrations. The marina provides docking, fueling, and berthing for both commercial and recreational boats. Walking paths, picnic tables, and a gazebo provide the public the opportunity to relax and enjoy life in an idyllic harbor setting, rich with beautiful landscapes and wildlife. More information is available online at the URL provided below.
Key Themes: Coastal Harbor, Port, and Nautical

Ellsworth Maine Harbor Park (website link)

Section 3 - LOCATION:

Site Address: 385 Water St, Ellsworth, ME 04605, United (See Figure 1 below)

Listed below is the proposed location for requested artwork.
Location 1: Referring to Figure 2, the parking lot “island” was recently added to not only guide vehicles around the lot, but also accommodate two vent pipes (supported by a wood post) for underground marine fuel tanks. The current industrial look of the “island” is not in harmony with the rest of the park. The goal of the future artwork is to transform the venting feature into something more visually pleasing, but not affect it’s functionality or maintainability.

Link to Figures

If you have questions about the project, location, structural elements, etc., please contact Glenn McAndrews at glennmcand@yahoo.com. Mobile 513-609-2033. If you would like to visit the park with a committee representative, please contact the Harbormaster, Adam Wilson. Mobile 207-460-2763.

Section 4- PROJECT BUDGET & SCHEDULE
Currently a budget of $5,000 is available for this project. These funds will be used to commission work from a single artist, more than one artist or an artist team. An artist budget proposal must cover all design, fabrication, transportation,documentation, and installation expenses. Additional funding of up to $2500 may be forthcoming should the proposed artwork require it, and the funds can be identified in advance of project go-ahead. City of Ellsworth in-kind contribution from Public Works is available for rock re-location (if required) and future maintenance.

Section 5 - SELECTION PROCESS
A selection committee of five members will jury submissions for the project. Final approval is conducted by City representatives. The committee will review the initial proposal (described in Section 9) to determine which artist is selected, or if required, whom to invite for a second round of evaluation. Once selected, a final proposal shall include detailed models, drawings, renderings, samples of work and/or materials depending on the nature of the proposal. The selected artist will present their final proposal to the committee in person or by web conferencing depending on prevailing public safety health conditions. Submitted materials can be returned upon request.

Section 6 - SELECTION CRITERIA:
Applications are reviewed based on the following criteria:
Artistic strength as shown through vision, originality, and understanding of craft (15 percent).
Ability to translate artistic concepts into work that will activate or enhance the proposed space (40 percent).
Application is comprehensive in information and ideas are well communicated (20 percent).
Ability to design work that is sensitive to social, environmental, historical, and/or other relevant contexts (15 percent).
Capacity to complete the proposal on time and within budget (10 percent).

Section 7 - WHO IS ELIGIBLE
All professional artists who are Maine residents (file Maine income taxes ) may apply for consideration to this project. Students at any level are ineligible. 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 disabilities. Artist teams are eligible to apply, including teams of artists from multiple disciplines.

Section 8 - DEADLINE
Friday, March 05, 2021 9:00 p.m. EST. is the deadline for submission of materials. Materials received after this date may be excluded from consideration.

Section 9 - MATERIALS REQUIRED IN SUBMISSION
Materials must be submitted to Glenn McAndrews, at glennmcand@yahoo.com or by mail: 5784 SE Glen Eagle Way, Stuart, FL 34997. (postmarked no later than 03-05-21)

All documents must be in a PDF format. All images must be in a bmp, jpg or PDF format. Any submissions that do not follow the requirements may be considered ineligible. Make sure submissions are labeled correctly, and that you provide your contact information (phone, address, email) on all separate documents. Your proposal must include:

A current concise resume for participating artist(s) (1 pages maximum).

A brief one-page written proposal describing your past work and how this art location is within your capabilities. Discuss your concept: (a) why it will appeal to the park’s visitors, (b) how does it align with the park’s themes (coastal harbor, port, nautical), (c) how does it transform an otherwise unsightly, but necessary feature, and (d) will the feature’s functionality and maintainability be preserved? Include a brief sentence on how the work will withstand the changing seasons including snow accumulation. Please do not submit detailed models, samples, or final proposals for this round of the selection process. A simple sketch may be included to clarify your idea if necessary.

An itemized budget estimate to provide cost expectations aligned to the current grant amount ($5000). Should an alternate (and presumably better) project require funding in excess of the grant amount, please submit both original ($5K) and alternate plan (not to exceed $7500).

A brief anticipated maintenance plan required for the artwork.

Digital images of recent work. Art organizations or teams may only submit five images for all artists. The optional proposal sketch does not count as an image. (Please include any sketches with the narrative portion of the proposal.) Only picture (.bmp, .jpg, etc) or PDF files are eligible for review.