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Colasanto Spray Park Public Art - Alexandria, Virginia
1108 Jefferson Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
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Contact Email: diane.ruggiero@alexandriava.gov
Call Type: Public Art
Eligibility: National
State: Virginia
Entry Deadline: 7/31/21
REQUIREMENTS:
Media
Images - Minimum: 5, Maximum: 8
Video - Minimum: 0, Maximum: 2
Total Media - Minimum: 5, Maximum: 10
Project Overview: The City of Alexandria’s Public Art Program is inviting artists to create an original, permanent public artwork for the new Colasanto Spray Park
Budget: The maximum budget for the artwork is $50,000. This budget will include all costs of creating the artwork, including but not limited to artist fees, travel, insurance, overhead, design, fabrication, site-work, shipping, installation costs. In addition, artists will be expected to participate in related community meetings, programming, and events. Alexandria’s Office of the Arts will provide additional support to the project through marketing, publicity and assistance with site permits.
Eligibility: Established professional artists and artist teams are invited to submit their qualifications. Artists must have experience with comparable projects.
Site and Context
About the City of Alexandria:
Alexandria, Virginia is a small historic seaport city of about 150,000 residents located on the Potomac River, minutes from Washington, D.C. It is best known for its historic Old Town but is also home to federal agencies such as the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, the Defense Department and the headquarters of the National Science Foundation.
About Colasanto Spray Park/ Del Ray Gateway:
The Project site is at the North end of Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood, a former streetcar suburb incorporated into the city of Alexandria in 1930. Del Ray is centered on Mount Vernon Avenue and is known for its smalltown feel, artistic sensibilities, independent businesses, and diverse resident mix.
The Nicholas Colasanto Outdoor Pool located at 2700 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22305 between Mt. Vernon Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue in Del Ray was opened in 1969 and was closed in 2010. The site was identified in the City of Alexandria’s 2012 Aquatic Facilities Study that recommended a decorative interactive fountain feature and two shade umbrellas for the site with the existing pool space adjacent to the art center turned into a plaza for public festivals, art display, and an interactive fountain – “enhancing the Del Ray entry point while providing water play fun for neighborhood users and visitors during the summer months.”
The City of Alexandria Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities Department Park Planning Division has engaged LSG Landscape Architecture firm to conduct community engagement and develop concepts for a newly designed, multigeneral, safe, all season space which includes a spray park as a signature feature on the site. The site will serve as a community gathering space that has opportunities for passive and programmed activations. As part of that process, public art will be commissioned for the site to be integrated into the overall design. The selected artist will work with the team at LSG to incorporate public art into the overall design.
LSG has developed draft concepts for the site and has held community meetings to solicit feedback. You can review the concepts and watch recordings of the public meetings here.
Construction of the spray park is expected to begin in 2022.
Public Art Context: Alexandria’s Public Art Program is an emerging program that is building a reputation for working with artists in innovative ways to realize new projects. The Program’s vision is for public art to enrich the experience of Alexandria’s past, celebrate the spirit of Alexandria’s present and shape the identity of Alexandria’s future.
Recent and current initiatives include:
A temporary public art series Site/See: New Views in Old Town providing an engaging visual anchor that draws visitors and fosters interaction and enjoyment in Alexandria’s new Waterfront Park;
An award-winning partnership with the Office of Historic Alexandria to curate the inaugural Time and Place exhibition, which commissioned three artists to explore the intersection of contemporary art with Alexandria’s multifaceted history and resulted in temporary work for Gadsby’s Tavern Museum;
A permanent playful sculpture in a community playground; and
A recent artist residency with Alexandria Renew Enterprises (Alex Renew), the City’s water resource recovery public utility, that will engage an artist with issues of water stewardship.
Site Location: The address is 2700 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22305 between Mount Vernon Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue.
Project Goals: The Alexandria Public Art Program is interested in commissioning artists to join the development and landscape architecture team to create a site-specific, permanent work of art for Colasanto Spray Park as part of the park’s redesign. The goals for the project are to:
Support the goals for the overall site to ensure multi-generational use and all season access;
Respond to architectural character of Del Ray;
Draw inspiration from the site history;
Enhance the sense of play while serving a functional role within the space; and
Create a new work of art for Alexandria that is informed by the context of the site and recognizes the past, present, and future of the park and surrounding neighborhood.
Estimated Project Timeline:
June Task Force reviews and approves Project Plan
August Project Plan submitted to Commission for the Arts for approval
June Staff develops call to artists for review by Task Force
July Issue Call for Artists via Café (callforentry.org)
August Review qualifications
August Artist Interview (optional)
August Task Force recommends artist/artist team
August Artist approved by Arts Commission
August Artist contract
Aug/Sept Artist site visit
Oct/Nov Selected artist presents proposal
Dec Proposals approved by Task Force, Commission for the Arts
TBD Artist submits final design
TBD Fabrication
TBD Installation
TBD Completion
Alexandria’s Vision for Public Art: Public art in Alexandria is about the city’s past, present and future. Public art will enrich the experience of Alexandria’s past, celebrate the spirit of Alexandria’s present, and shape the identity of Alexandria’s future.
Public art in Alexandria may:
Foster exploration and generate dialogue about Alexandria’s multiple and many layered stories
Engage the past in contemporary ways
Connect people to art that enriches their lives
Provide opportunities for people to have hands-on encounters with art
Foster conversations among people throughout the city
Create whimsy and delight in everyday places
Establish a distinctive identity for Alexandria’s evolving communities
Enhance parks, gathering places and neighborhood focal points
Enhance new infrastructure and community facilities.
Selection and Review Process: Submittals will be reviewed by a Task Force comprised of representatives from the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, community stakeholders and project stakeholders from the Design Team.
Selected Applicants: The Project Task Force will review artist qualifications and, based on the Artist Selection Criteria listed above, choose up to three (3) semifinalists. The semifinalists may be asked to participate in a virtual interview.
Post-Interview Statement: After their interviews and site visit, the semifinalists must clearly describe, in 1000 written words or less, their thoughts about the potential for public art at Colasanto Spray Park.
The Project Task Force will select one artist/artist team from the finalists who will be approved by the Commission for the Arts and placed under contract to develop a concept proposal, and subsequently to implement their project.
Artist Selection Criteria: Applicants must demonstrate the following qualifications:
Artistic merit of body of work;
Experience working with communities to design engaging artwork that is appropriate for the scope and scale of the project in collaboration with communities;
Experience in collaborating with City staff, stakeholders, and design and engineering professionals; and
Probability of successful execution of the project.
The Artist’s application must also include:
Artist Statement: In no more than 1000 characters, applicants must clearly describe their general approach to public art.
Letter of Interest: In no more than 1000 characters, applicants must clearly describe their interest in this project and how their approach to public art might relate to Alexandria’s Vision for Public Art. Also, include relevant experiences with projects of a similar scale or scope, as well as collaborations with interdisciplinary design professionals and community stakeholders.
Resume: Four (4) pages maximum.
Additional Information: The Artist will be required to sign a contract with the City of Alexandria and obtain a Certificate of Insurance for general liability coverage for the fabrication and installation of the public art.
Resources:
Public Art Implementation Plan
Staff Contact: Please submit questions by email to Diane Ruggiero, Director, City of Alexandria Office of the Arts, at diane.ruggiero@alexandriava.gov