Burlington City Arts is issuing a Request for Qualification from artists or artist teams for public art works to be incorporated into the Great Streets Initiative – Main Street Project (the “Main Street Project”) in downtown Burlington, Vermont. Selected public art works will reflect the diversity of Burlington’s residents, explore Burlington’s history, create meaningful landmarks in our built environment, and connect the people, the land, and the lake.

I. GREAT STREETS INITIATIVE – MAIN STREET PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Great Streets Initiative is a culmination of many years of City planning and project development to ensure that Burlington residents have a downtown that is a vibrant, walkable, and sustainable urban center. As part of that planning, the Great Streets Initiative developed standards for downtown streets that provide a palette of urban elements that are beautiful, practical, affordable, sustainable, and appropriate for downtown Burlington, including provisions for public art. Other projects contemplated by the Great Streets Initiatives have already been completed, including St. Paul Street (2018) and City Hall Park (2020).

The Main Street Project is Burlington’s next implementation of the Great Streets Initiative. Main Street serves as an important gateway into Burlington’s downtown and a vital connection along the six (6) blocks between the waterfront and the University of Vermont campus. The concept plan for the Main Street Project balances all of the uses of our public right of way, improves pedestrian and bike access to the corridor, and encourages the use of our streets as dynamic public spaces. The plans introduce wider sidewalks, appropriately sized tree belts to support tree health and storm water management, and a protected bike lane. Each intersection includes opportunities for a combination of outdoor seating, public art and amenities, views of the lake, and bike parking.

With respect to the estimated timing and implementation of the Main Street Project, design documents for all 6 blocks are to be completed by Spring of 2023. Implementation of the Main Street Project will be divided into two timeframes, with Lower Main Street (Church St. to Battery Street) to be completed by 2025, and Upper Main Street (S. Union St. to Church St.) to be completed by 2026.

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions must be uploaded at this portal link:
https://burlingtoncityarts.awardsplatform.com/.

Materials to be submitted in response to this Call to Artists will require:

• A. Primary applicant form (in BCA portal)
• B. Optional demographic questionnaire
• C. Up to eight (8) digital samples of the artist/artist team’s artwork:
  • Images should be labeled as last name, first name, and number; for example: Smith_Jane_01
  • Images should be saved as JPGs, at 72 dpi and no larger than 5MB.
  • A description of each image that includes the following: Title. Year. Materials. Dimensions
  • Location (if applicable). Project Budget (if applicable). Artist/artist team member role
• Narrative summarizing the following (Maximum 5000 characters)
  • Interest and qualifications of the artist/artist team, including related experience and highlights of additional areas of expertise available to the artist/artist team that may serve the project
  • Availability of the artist/artist team to develop a proposal and complete a project based on the estimated timeline provided above
  • Potential sites of interest within Main Street for a public art proposal if invited to submit a proposal for Phase 2
  • Possible conceptual direction and scale of a project that may be explored if invited to submit a proposal for Phase 2
  • Current resume (Single uploaded PDF, no more than 1 page per individual)
    • Include current address, phone number, and email on resume. Include one resume for each team member.
    • Title your document as last name_first name_Info; for example: Smith_Jane_Info
  
  

  General submission guidelines:

  • Submit what you believe is your strongest work in relationship to this opportunity
  • Submit work samples numbered in the order you would like them to be reviewed
  • Assemble a team of professionals that add technical expertise to your concept and describe their contribution to the narrative
  • For images with details: show the overall image first, followed by detailed images
  • Do not send additional catalogs, reviews, promotional items, or original artworks; they will not be reviewed
  • Incomplete or ineligible submissions will not be reviewed; it is the applicant’s responsibility to verify the completeness of their application
  
  

  All submissions must be received through BCA’s application portal. Applicants must register in the portal and may log back in to make changes to the application and see updates. https://burlingtoncityarts.awardsplatform.com/.

  
  

  Contact Colin Storrs via email at [email protected] with questions about this Call to Artists.