The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Artists called to design public art, plaza
The City of Willoughby and the Willoughby Arts Collaborative have issued a call for artists to design a piece of public art and a public plaza downtown.
Submissions are open until April 26, according to city documents. The invitation is extended to artists or artist teams to design and propose a “permanent piece of public art and plaza” that will be installed at the southeast corner of Erie Street and Mentor Avenue.
“The intent is to have an iconic piece of art that defines downtown Willoughby sitting right at the gateway to downtown,” Mayor Bob Fiala said in a previous NewsHerald article.
Designs can be for the public art only, or both the public art and plaza. Submissions for both aspects will receive special consideration, documents state.
Water, electrical and drainage is also included at the site and can be integrated into the design.
The week following the submission deadline, a shortlist of selected artists will be generated by the Willoughby Arts Collaborative, city representatives and the Design Review Board. Documents state that artists or artist
teams will be notified of their shortlist status and will be paid $500 for their presentation in the next round of selection.
According to documents, the Selection Committee will evaluate submissions based on:
1. Artistic merit, creativity, and originality of the presented concept
2. Innovative and creative use of space
3. Quality of the artist’s past work as represented in the image submissions
4. Suitability of the concept to the function and scale of the site
5. Being seen from several angles.
6. Appropriateness for community use
7. Experience of the artist in completing public art projects
8. Structural and surface integrity; durable and permanent materials, resistant to general wear and vandalism, suitable to the outdoor location and climate of Northeast Ohio
9. Ease of maintenance (minimal and low-cost maintenance).
From May 22-24, artists who make the shortlist will be asked to present detailed proposals to the selection committee. This includes drawings and/or renderings, a project budget, an outline of the team doing the work and a project timeline.
This round of selection will be based on artistic merit, creativity, originality of the presented concept, “wow” factor, technical expertise of the artist, proposed budget, as well as timeline and probability of successful completion of the project.
The maximum budget for the project is set at $40,000, documents state. This includes costs for design, creation, fabrication, transportation and installation.
Fiala had said that the art could be a Willoughby-specific piece to welcome people into downtown.
“The vision of the city’s public art program is to inspire, celebrate and preserve the City of Willoughby’s cultural spirit, identity and historic reputation,” a city document states.