Million dollar call open to international artists
Application deadline: January 9, 2014
The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture seeks an artist or artist team for the public piers of the Seattle Central Waterfront. These piers will be rebuilt as part of Waterfront Seattle, a large-scale project to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct with 26 acres of new public space, streets, parks, and buildings. The project is funded by Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) 1 percent for Art funds generated by the reconstruction of the Elliott Bay Seawall in downtown Seattle, part of a larger project of redeveloping Seattle’s Central Waterfront. The call is open to professional artists working nationally or internationally. The budget for this commission is approximately 1,000,000 USD, inclusive of design, fabrication, delivery, installation, travel, fees, taxes, and other project-related costs. The application deadline is Thursday, January 9, 2014. For more information, visit www.seattle.gov/arts, or email eric.fredericksen@seattle.gov.
“The re-building of Seattle’s waterfront is the biggest physical transformation Seattle will undergo in my lifetime,” said Office of Arts & Culture director Randy Engstrom. “We have the opportunity here to make the waterfront into a space that’s beloved by all Seattle residents and visitors—and art will play a major role in creating that kind of space.”
As outlined in the Working Plan for Art on the Central Seattle Waterfront, commissions and ongoing cultural programming are part of the construction process for the waterfront. This includes a major commission, envisioned as a centerpiece for the Waterfront, for Pier 62/63 or the Union Street Pier. Completion of this work will help accomplish goals around engagement of residents and visitors and making the Waterfront an active cultural center for the city. The art plan advocates for “cultural connections between the city and the rest of the world.” The pier site-proposal for this commission links to Seattle’s history as a port, and to connections between the local and the global on the waterfront. This call responds to the significance of the piers as markers of that history, and should result in a work of global significance.
About the Office of Arts & Culture | Making art work.
We envision a city driven by creativity that provides the opportunity for everyone to engage in diverse arts and cultural experiences. We are supported by the 16-member Seattle Arts Commission, citizen volunteers appointed by the mayor and City Council.