Public Art, Northside Community Centre
The deadline for this opportunity has passed.
The Red Deer Public Art Program integrates outstanding works of art into public spaces and facilities throughout the city that reflects our community’s distinct culture and character. Through the acquisition of artworks for public display, The City provides an engaging and dynamic urban environment and creates a cultural legacy for the future. This public art project is intended to carry on this exciting civic tradition by seeking an artwork that both captivates community members and visitors with its unique and innovative appeal.
The City is building a new multi-purpose facility, the Northside Community Centre that will serve the cultural and social needs of the city’s northwest communities. Located adjacent to Glendale Middle School and St. Teresa Avila, a pre-kindergarten to Grade 5 (pre-K-5) school and the Glendale Skateboard Park, it will house various gathering and meeting spaces, an arts and culture room, community kitchen, a room dedicated to youth, a children’s play area, and more. Many of the amenities within this new facility are the result of consultations with community stakeholders. This building is an exciting new direction for the City of Red Deer as it begins a new approach to serving the needs of The City’s neighbourhoods.
Glendale Middle School is an inquiry-based school focusing on the sciences. Technology learning is integrated into the regular school curriculum. Also nearby, is the Glendale Skateboard Park, which is a very popular destination for neighbourhood youth. It is the city’s first public concrete pool style bowl with a cradle, a roll-in, a curved escalating extension and a tombstone. The street section includes a number of hips, ledges, stair sets, and a long bank wall. Northside Community Centre is flanked on two sides by major arterial roads—Taylor Drive to the west and 77th Street along the north perimeter.
To reflect the potential of the Northside Community Centre to the community with flexibility and a capability to host a wide variety of quality events, activities and uses, The City of Red Deer is seeking an artist or artist team to design, deliver and install a unique, fun, welcoming, and experiential public art piece that will become a focal point to or in the vicinity of the stairway leading to the second level.
Using a combination of the stair tread facings of the stairwell, the walls, the open space around and above the stairwell as the location for this public artwork, the artists are tasked with creating an artwork/s that will speak of the many features and activities that will be activated at the new Northside Community Centre. As the building will house spaces for arts and recreation programming to serve Red Deer’s young and young at heart, diverse cultures, community, and educational activities, the artwork should be welcoming, playful and engaging.
It could also acknowledge the special association the facility will have with both neighbouring schools, including specific interests in science and technology, possibly even incorporating interactive or new technological elements such as movement, light or sound or referencing the Glendale Skateboard Park’s integral role in the neighbourhood.
With its placement in, on and around the stairway leading to second level meeting and multipurpose rooms from the main reception and children’s play area in the main entrance area, the artwork will incur much foot traffic wear and tear. The stairway steps will be size and dimension approved by current building standards. The space between the stairways’ nosing and riser will be limited and will require the artwork to be comprised of materials that are not only extremely durable and resistant to abuse but must maintain a thin profile. Ceramic tile, mosaic glass, thin gauge metal paneling or other similar or thinner materials are encouraged for consideration especially on the stair treads.
Installation Deadline: July 1, 2019
Project Budget: $55,100
Prequalified artists will receive a stipend of $2,000 to prepare a proposal and maquette for a presentation to the Public Art Commission on March 13, 2019—between 5:30 to 7:30pm.
Submission must be received by January 29, 2019, 4:00pm MST.
For more information please visit reddeer. bidsandtenders.ca the project number is 1090-2018-271.
