4700 Keele Street, Toronto

A. BACKGROUND

Public Art Management, on behalf of FCS Development Corp., is issuing this Request for Credentials (RFC) to all professional artists, as the first stage of a two-stage public art competition for The Quad Phase II student residences project on the campus of York University in Toronto, Canada.

The public art program for The Quad Phase II offers two exciting opportunities:

1. A Landmark Artwork Commission Opportunity to create a landmark art installation within a significant community open space. This is ideal for an experienced, visionary and reliable artist. The successful candidate will develop a concept that may comprise one of more elements for the “art zone”. The work should engage the public and serve as a community “identifier”. While situated on the York University campus, this location will serve as a community hub, a gathering and socializing space for students, workers, residents in the surrounding community and visitors alike.
2. A Mentorship Opportunity for an artist to develop and explore their interest in public art. The successful candidate will learn about public art “from the ground up” by direct engagement with experienced public art managers. The mentoring opportunity will be an opportunity for new artist voices to be nurtured including those from equity-seeking and/or Indigenous communities. The candidate should be an artist who has interest in but no experience or knowledge of public art processes.

B. ELIGIBILITY

This is a two-stage, open competition for professional artists born or living in Canada.

Artist: Per the Canada Council’s guidelines, a professional artist is defined as someone who:

• Has specialized art training (not necessarily in academic institutions)
• is recognized as a professional by their peers (artists working in the same artistic tradition)
• has a history of public exhibitions as an artist
• has produced an independent body of work

C. OPPORTUNITY 1: LANDMARK ARTWORK COMMISSION:

Three candidates will be identified as Finalists for the Landmark Artwork Commission Opportunity. Finalists will be fully briefed, receive competition guidelines and project information and will be paid an honorarium for their complete and compliant invited submission (to include a design concept and a detailed budget). The Selection Panel, composed of practicing arts professionals and the developer will hear design presentations from each candidate and recommend a winner.

Budget: The total Budget for the Landmark Commission is $300,000. CDN to include: artist fees and administration, travel, engineering, design, supply and fabrication of artwork, insurance, delivery, and installation. The goal is to commission art that is iconic, impactful, durable, and requiring minimal maintenance.

D. OPPORTUNITY 2: MENTORSHIP:

Up to 3 candidates will be Finalists who submit to juried interviews for the Mentorship Opportunity. The goal is to identify an artist who has an emerging interest in exploring the possibilities of working in public art.

Budget: The Mentorship Fee (to be paid in installments) is $25,000. CDN.

HST is over and above these amounts.

E. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

1. LANDMARK ARTWORK COMMISSION:

At this Stage 1, we are inviting all interested artists to submit a single document in pdf format. This document must be labeled with the name and contact information of the artist and must include:

1. A letter of Interest speaking of your interest in this project
2. A current CV of the artist
3. Images of up to a maximum of six (6) past projects/installations/artworks (up to a maximum of 3 images for each project, if necessary) noting the materials, location, commissioning body and project cost;
4. The names and contact information of two references (preferably related to projects completed within the past 6 years)

Note to all Proponents: Please do not submit concept proposals at this stage.

2. MENTORSHIP OPPORTUNITY:

Artists interested in the Mentorship Opportunity should submit:

1. A letter of Interest explaining how a mentorship program would benefit you
2. A current CV
3. Images of recent work illustrating the development of your work over the past 5 years. This should be accompanied by a clear description of the work, the materials used, size and your design intent.

F. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS + DETAILS:

The deadline for this Call for Credentials is May 31, 2021 5:00PM EST.

All inquiries for this Call for Credentials must be sent via email to: quadpublicart@gmail.com

Only emailed communications to this address will be accepted. No telephone inquiries are permitted. If the file size exceeds 25MB, email via a file transfer service (preferably Wetransfer or Google Drive).

Artists are solely responsible for the timely submission of their entries. Incomplete submissions will be subject to disqualification. All submission materials will be retained by Public Art Management and FCS Development Corp.

We thank all respondents for their submissions but regret that only advancing proponents will be contacted. Beyond formal notification to finalists, Public Art Management and/or FCS Development Corp. will not enter into any correspondence regarding the artist selection process nor the decision concerning advancing candidates.

G. SCHEDULE:

Call for Credentials: May 21, 2021
Submissions Close: May 31, 2021 (email) by 5:00 PM EST
Finalists Selected: By June 11, 2021
Briefing and Concept Phase: June 17- Aug. 30, 2021
Presentation to Jury: week of Sept. 7, 2021
Artist Contracts executed: by Sept. 20, 2021
Final Landmark Artwork Designs Complete: on or before January 2022
Installation Completed: July 1, 2022

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Tkaronto now known as Toronto, is under Treaty #13 and is home to many Indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island, including the Inuit and the Metis. It is the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishnabek, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River First Nations.

We are all Treaty people. Many of us have come here as settlers, immigrants, newcomers in this generation or generations past.

We would also like to acknowledge those who came here involuntarily, particularly as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. And so, we honour and pay tribute to the ancestors of African Origin and Descent.