Call for Artists Qualifications to Provide Services

The City of Carlsbad's Library & Cultural Arts Department seeks to qualify an artist or artist team to enter into an agreement to develop a site-integrated artwork for the Veterans Memorial Park (Capital Improvement Program, Project No. 4609) is located on 93.7 acres, near the intersection of Faraday Avenue and Cannon Road, Carlsbad, California. The park’s permanent public art featured prominently on the upper plateau, where visitors can enjoy views of the lagoon, ocean and golf course. As a site-specific piece, the public art will serve as a truly special way to honor and evoke the spirit of those who have served our country.

Project Description, Veterans Memorial Park

Overview
The City of Carlsbad Veterans Memorial Park site is located southeast of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon. It’s bordered on the west and south by Faraday Avenue, to the north by Whitman Way, and to the southeast by the Macario Canyon and Veterans Memorial Park Open Space Preserves. The site is 93.7 acres of which 48 acres are developable. The reminder of the site is protected habitat. The topography of the site is characterized by gentle south to southwest facing slopes. The Parks Department worked with RJM Design firm to develop the Veterans Memorial Park Master Plan which is the basis of design for entitlements and construction documents and reflects the community’s recreational desires while balancing park development in a way that is sensitive to the surrounding natural habitat.

Background

In November 2018, the landscape architecture firm RJM Design Group was retained by the city to develop the Veterans Memorial Park Master Plan. The firm’s scope of work included a public outreach process designed to gather community input and synthesize that input into a master plan. Additionally, objectives that informed the basis of design include an emphasis on avoidance of sensitive habitat areas, maximization of stormwater retention, and safety and visibility.

The design intent is a family-oriented park with a variety of multi-generational and inclusive amenities that are incorporated into active and passive recreational elements. Honoring veterans for their service, minimizing environmental impacts, and celebrating the site’s natural beauty and views are also integral components. Park facilities and trails are interwoven with open space and the variety of recreational activities and park elements in the master plan are designed to encourage educational benefits and active or passive participation by users of all ages and interests.

The park is physically separated into two distinct areas (north and south) which transition through passive uses and natural open space to a prominent memorial element at the high point of the site. The plaza on the north side opens into the large community gathering area, with shaded pavilions framed by seat walls. The building at the plaza entrance includes a catering support room, small office, restrooms, storage and maintenance closet. An inclusive, universally accessible playground and family and group picnic areas are proximal to the main gathering area, allowing for convenient access from the parking lot. Further up the slope, a nature inspired playground provides a more challenging play experience.

Honoring the History and Location

Veterans Memorial Park represents an intersection of park and memorial as a space that holds multiple histories. The elegance of the natural landscape is amplified, not interrupted by the man-made forms and structures. This site’s memorial will not be assigned to one perspective but rather to individuals, histories and nature. It will be a place where every visitor becomes a participant, not an observer.

In community input workshops and surveys, many commented that Veterans Memorial Park could be linked by a common desire for a space that addresses physical, emotional and environmental health. Veterans Memorial Park will become that critical connection point between land and people, self and others, young and old, seekers and wanderers, and history to the present day. It will truly be a public space that embraces overlapping needs and desires.

This new community resource becomes a place one that can be discovered over time, resulting in:

• A place where veterans are honored for their sacrifice and pursuit of hope and happiness
• A space where we see ourselves and recognize each other
• A physical and psychological environment that allows us to see the world in a new way
• A space for expression and understanding, as well as physical and mental health

Submission of Application Materials

Submittal Call for Artists Qualifications materials shall be 8.5 x 11 inch, 11-point font or larger, and maximum twenty (20) pages total in length. Six (6) to ten (10) images may be placed onto the document. Document to be bundled into a .pdf format for final submission.

Email submission materials to: [email protected]

Subject line: Veterans Memorial Park, Call for Artist Qualifications Submission, Your Name

Deadline for submissions: Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023 by 4 p.m.

Aerial view of artwork sites. Photo courtesy of the commissioners