Call for Qualifications for Art Elements

Call for Qualifications for Art Elements

Lex Arts, Inc.: Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden
IMMAG
LexArts
161 North Mill Street
Lexington, KY 40507

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Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden

Request for Qualifications

Project Summary

Isaac Murphy is considered to be one of the greatest race riders in American history by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and one of the nation’s first professional athletes. He essentially opened the door for African American athletes long before Jesse Owens in track or Jackie Robinson in baseball.

Born in Bourbon County, KY in 1861, Isaac Burns Murphy rose from humble beginnings to become an African American Hall of Fame jockey and a pioneer in his sport. Murphy soon moved to northeast Lexington and started his racing career at the age of 14. He eventually became the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derbies and the first jockey to win consecutive Derbies. During his career, Murphy won 44 percent of his starts, a success rate that has never been equaled.

The Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden will celebrate Murphy’s accomplishments and those of other prominent African American jockeys who put horse racing in Lexington on the map. This urban art garden will be located in Murphy’s native East End of Lexington—near the same area where Murphy and other riders honed their skills at the Kentucky Association race track. It will serve as a railhead to another legacy project, the Legacy Trail, that will connect downtown Lexington to the Kentucky Horse Park in rural Fayette County—a symbolic connection between the location of Murphy’s livelihood and his final resting place.

The Project Site

The project site is at the intersection of Third Street and Midland Avenue, and is about a third of an acre. Midland is one of Lexington’s busiest thoroughfares and is one of the main gateways into downtown; on average, 20,600 vehicles pass the site daily. Third Street is at the heart of a current revitalization effort including the Lyric Theater (Historic Black Theater). The site is bordered by a sidewalk as well as streets and has high visibility from both pedestrian and vehicular traffic. The site is within walking distance to the original site of Lexington’s historic Kentucky Race Course which was relocated in 1930s to the Keeneland Race Course on Versailles Road to make way for public housing – Bluegrass-Aspendale.

The Garden will re-spirit and help to revitalize a part of Lexington that is rich in history and heritage. It also will serve as a source of education and awareness concerning local African American contributions to the equine industry and provide an engaging cultural center and green space for Lexington residents and worldwide visitors to enjoy.

Time Table:

Postmark Deadline for Qualifications Wednesday, 01/06/2010
Selection of Finalists Wednesday, 01/13/2010
Proposal Development January – March
Artist(s) Selected Friday, 04/09/2010
Site Prep and Construction April – August 2010
Dedication Friday, 09/17/2010

Eligibility:

Professional artists and artist teams with a track record of successful public art installations.  
Artists who are comfortable with and energized by community engagement in the development of concepts and plans. 
Have conceptualized and executed projects in excess of $100,000 
Demonstrated ability to work well with other design professionals including, but not limited to, landscape architects and engineers. 
The Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden Committee and LexArts are committed to a policy of providing opportunities to people regardless of race, color, ethnic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, or age.  
While an artist’s place of residence would not be a determining factor in the Committee’s decision-making process, the Committee would be favorably impressed with the inclusion of Kentucky’s artists, writers and/or poets on the creative team.  

Please submit Proposals through Cafe or to LexArts, 161 North Mill Street, Lexington, KY 40507.
Questions concerning eligibility and/or compliance with guidelines may be directed to LexArts by calling 859.255.2951.

Statement of Qualifications:

Letter of interest (typed, font no smaller than 11 points, 2 pages maximum): should include artist/teams approach to public art especially with regard to community participation and engagement. Provide relevant history addressing comparable public art projects especially those that focus on history, and honoring unsung individuals. 
Resume/Curriculum Vitae – teams must submit one per member 
Professional references 
Visual documentation of past realized projects: please submit on PC readable CD in jpeg format. Use visual image documentation form to describe images and your role in the project. 

Evaluation of Submissions:

An artist selection committee will be convened to select up to five artists to submit fully developed proposals. The Committee will be comprised of arts professionals as well as IMMAG, LexArts and community representatives.

Each finalist will be compensated up to $1,500 for a fully developed proposal. Also, limited funds would be available to assist with travel and lodging during the proposal development period.

Community Participation:

Residents of the neighborhood that surrounds the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden were consulted at the very beginning of the planning process. Throughout that process, citizen voices guided conceptual and design decisions. An imperative was the final result: construction and programming of the completed Garden must remain true to that citizen vision of celebration, education, activity, and sustainability.

In 2009, in an effort to grow awareness of the Garden, the Committee hosted two significant “friend-raiser” events which were attended by nearly 500 people from across the city. These events resulted in greater community interest and activity and the establishment of a “Friends of Isaac Murphy” fund at Blue Grass Community Foundation.

As a result, there will be high expectation for the community to be involved with regard to the selection of artists and in contributing to the art-making process. Such involvement may range from consultative to participatory. At this time, the Committee does not have any preconceived notions of how this is to be accomplished, that will be left to the selected artists.

The Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden and LexArts reserve the right to refuse any or all entries and are not responsible for loss of or damage to application materials. If you wish to have materials returned, please provide a postage-paid, self-addressed envelope. Correct postage is required for the return.

Links to Useful Information:
WWW.LexArts.Org
WWW.LegacyCenter.Ning.Com
WWW. Lexingtonky.Gov

An application can also be obtained by download by clicking here

Sunday, December 13, 2009

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