Frequently Asked Questions: United Open Call Artist Information Sessions December 8, 10, and 12, 2018

Transcription

1 Frequently Asked Questions: United Open Call Artist Information Sessions December 8, 10, and 12, 2018 Table of Contents I. Application II. Budget and Artwork Pricing III. Eligibility IV. Framing and Protecting Artworks V. Scope of Work VI. Selection Process VII. Siting and Location VIII. Other Questions and Considerations I. Application (General Questions, Requirements: Resume/CV, Artist Biography/Statement, Letter of Intent, Work Examples, Image List for Work Examples, References) General Questions Can I save my progress on my application in the Submittable system? Are applicants allowed to submit as a group and as an individual? o Yes, but you need to submit separate applications (one for applying as an individual and one for the group). How do we submit existing works that were created through a collaboration? o Make sure that the whole group is applying with the work not just one individual from the group (including everyone s resumes/cvs etc., not just one member s). Resume/CV How should we approach the resume? o We don t want your work resume; we want your artistic resume. Show us what s in your body of work. For the resume I saw that the requirements are 12-point font and single-spaced. So it s just supposed to be a plain resume? o Yes, the requirements state that all uploaded documents should be in at least a 12-point font, single-spaced, and with at least a ½ margin. Upload what you have. We just need to be able to read it very easily. Please make sure the font is large enough. Artist Biography/Statement Can the biography be a quote from someone else? o You can include a quote from someone else in your biography. However, the majority of the text needs to be in your own words as an artist. Letter of Intent How much detail do you recommend including about a commission project idea in the letter of intent? 1

2 o We re not asking for proposals right now. However, if you have general or specific ideas for a commission, feel free to share what you have in the letter of intent. Do you need lighting information in the letter of intent? o You can include it, and we will consider it. However, please note: For people working in drawing, watercolor, or any other light-sensitive media, we are never going to have a 100% control of lighting in the airport. Lighting at the airport is about the customers. Do you need to repeat the things you said in your biography or artist statement in your letter of intent? o No. If we have a specific location in mind for the works we are presenting for acquisition (direct purchase), how do we include that information in our application? o In your letter of intent, you might say, I m proposing these pieces, with these measurements. They might be good for these spaces, and here are the prices. Make your vision easy for the panel to digest. Work Examples Can we include multiple shots of a work in the work examples? You can upload them separately or collage them in one JPEG but if you choose to collage the images, do so very tastefully. If we are applying for acquisitions, can we include a mock up of what the artwork would look like in the United location options? Image List for Work Examples Should the image list be annotated? o You can annotate it if you want to. References Can you say more about the three professional references requirement? o The references are primarily used to verify the selection of finalists. We want professional references from people to find about you and your work. You want to include people who have worked with you as an artist and especially on projects where you have worked under contract and delivered on time and on budget. Can I list someone outside of Houston as a reference? II. Budget and Artwork Pricing How are you dividing up the funds between commissions and acquisitions? o The panel will decide. If you are submitting work for direct purchase (acquisitions), you are asked to include image(s) of that work in your work examples and to include the price on the image list. If you are applying to be considered for a commission and have a 2

3 price range that you would like to work within, feel free to include that in your letter of intent for the panel s consideration. Can we know how much is going to be spent per piece of art so we don t propose something that would exceed the budget? o The total budget for this project is $847,000. We have deliberately not delineated budget per location. Remember, at this stage, you are submitting artworks for direct purchase (acquisitions) and/or submitting your qualifications to be considered for a finalist for a commission. If you are interested in being considered for a commission, note that, at this point, you don t need to submit a proposal. We are just asking for your qualifications. However, you are allowed to talk about your vision for what you want to propose in the application s letter of intent. You might say, I propose this piece for X place in the airport and it would cost X amount of dollars. When considering the budget, should we assume that anything beyond the walls (suspended etc.) is out of our scope? o Any changes to the walls or ceiling will be included in the artist s scope of work. When it comes to digital artwork should the application of that work included in the price for the work? o Printing, framing, mounting, and delivery should be included in the price. Do we include installation and transportation in the budget for acquisitions? o Only factor transportation costs to George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) into your listed price for the artwork. Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) will facilitate the installation of the work. What do you mean by budget or price (as applicable) in the Image List? Do you want us to set our prices now for the commissions? o We want to see examples of your past commissioned works and their costs. If you have unfinished works, include the budget for them as well. If you have a really strong proposal vision, you could include a budget/price range for what you re thinking in the Letter of Intent (but it is not required). What if our artworks cost too much? o You know the overall project budget. Include a price that you feel is reasonable and the panel will make a decision. Will a proposal fee be paid to finalists? o Yes, those invited to submit a proposal for a commission will be paid a fee for their proposal. III. Eligibility Are City of Houston employees allowed to apply? 3

4 May a sibling of a United Airlines flight attendant apply? IV. Framing and Protecting Artworks If an artwork for acquisition isn t already framed, should I include that in my price for the work? Note that museum Plexiglas is preferred. Should we budget for/frame with Plexiglas that is non-glare (as well as UV-resistant)? o Non-glare and UV-resistant are preferred. Do you discourage submitting fragile work? o We have some fragile works in the City s Collection at the airport. However, anything fragile needs to be protected. You should include information about how the artwork would be protected by you before purchase. Would a painting on canvas be considered fragile? Do paintings need to be framed with glass? o No, we wouldn t necessarily consider a painting fragile and wouldn t necessarily need it to be framed. We deal with framing for paintings on a case-by-case basis. But again, this airport gets a lot of foot traffic. Whatever you can do to protect the artwork is best. Is a UV resistant varnish on an oil painting good enough? o Depending on the painting, it could be. If you are working in wood, do you need to use museum Plexiglas? o No. If you are working in a more durable medium, you don t need museum Plexiglas. V. Scope of Work Can we propose to paint a mural directly on the walls? o No murals will be painted directly on the walls. Everything needs to be movable. Are we allowed to submit technological works? o Due to complications of maintenance and conservation, United Airlines is not interested in technological works, such as those with key elements of sound, video, etc. Lightbased works may be considered, but must be durable and easy to maintain in a public setting. We have found that attending to and maintaining technological works can, in the long run, occupy a significant amount of staff time. Technology has a shorter lifespan than many other materials. Anything we do at the airport needs to be built to last and require minimal maintenance and interference. Have there been any ideas about a specific theme for the works or is it quite agnostic? o It s agnostic at the moment. The Request for Qualifications and Acquisitions (RFQ/A) says we are looking for world-class art collection for a world-class airport. From a curatorial perspective, it s completely agnostic. 4

5 Does the subject matter need to be about Houston? o No, the subject matter for the project is agnostic, but it needs to be appropriate for a public place. Local and international visitors are using the terminal. In the RFQ/A, there is a list of United s shared values. Is the artwork intended to reflect those values? o No, not specifically. But as you are applying, please keep in mind that you are responding to a call for public art. Some artists don t create work with content that is appropriate for public spaces like airports. The works that are purchased or commissioned for United s Terminal C don t need to be about flight, airplanes, or the wonders of aviation. That information about United s shared values in the RFQ/A for you as artists to be aware of to get a sense of the client that will ultimately be accepting the work. The panel won t be judging the applications against those values one by one. What do you mean when you say that the artwork has to be moveable? Technically, everything is movable. Are there weight constraints? o We want the work to be really, easily movable. The weigh requirements for the piece are whatever the weight requirements of the freight elevator. If the work is larger than that, it will have to come into the terminal in pieces. The opening of the freight elevator is 6 high by 8 wide. We are waiting for United to provide us with the depth and weight limits of the elevator. For transportation, where are we delivering the artworks? o To Terminal C North at IAH. Artists selected for acquisitions are responsible for delivering their works to IAH. Do you need workman s comp or general liability insurance to install your artwork in the United terminal? o If you are contracted for a commission with HAA and you have general liability, you can hire your own installation team. With acquisitions, HAA will hire and contract the installer. The pricing for transportation, installation, etc. does that apply to commissions as well? o At this point, we are not asking you for a proposal or price for commissions. If you have a commission idea that you would like to mention in your letter of intent, feel free to include a price range. But again, this is not required. VI. Selection Process Is the panel that will review the applications comprised of artists or non-artists? o The panel you are speaking to in your application is a mix of arts and non-arts people. Don t use jargon in your application. There will be a dialogue between the artists and non-artists during the panel. The non-arts panelists two representative from United Airlines and one from the Houston Airport System (HAS) will help the two arts 5

6 panelists understand the needs of the airport, and the arts panelists will help inform the non-arts panelists with their perspective as well. Do you have to be in town on February 15, 2019 for the proposal presentation? (Scheduled for finalists presenting proposals for commissions per the timeline.) o We haven t decided yet. We may end up having too many applicants to do presentations. If you know you are going to be out of town then, just note that in your letter of intent. Do you have an idea of the number of artists we will be looking at for this project? o Based on the response we have gotten so far, we believe this will be the largest amount of applications HAA has received for an open call. We anticipate having somewhere between finalists in 15 or fewer locations. Remember that this is not the last civic art project. More projects will be happening in Houston and specifically at the airport in the future. What is HAA s role in the decision process? o HAA facilitates the selection process. Our job is to guide the panelists before and during the panels. The panelists recommend artists to be selected, with final approval from United Airlines and the City of Houston. Can an artist have multiple pieces or selected? o Maybe, but it is not likely. Will everyone selected for the project receive a purchase order and a contract from HAA? o A purchase order will be used for the work that we are purchasing directly (acquisitions). Contracts will be issued for commissions. VII. Siting and Location Are there site plans and/or dimensions for the locations listed online? o The location dimensions have been posted online. Site plans: PACKAGE_5-_TEXT_REMOVED.PDF Locations with dimensions: ocations_with_dimensions_121318_low_res.pdf Is there a minimum size for a piece? o In general, we want the location walls to be full, especially the charging station walls. We may choose a bunch of small works for the charging station walls. However, I encourage you to think about a larger works to fill the spaces. How is the lighting in the space? It is not so well lit? Is there any possibility for additional lighting? 6

7 o The majority of the artwork locations have pretty good down lighting. We can look at upgrading the lighting as part of the total cost for a work but it is not guaranteed that we would make those changes. I m concerned about reflections for publicly displayed work. Will it be up to the artists to come up with a solution? o Yes, that will be up to the selected artists. Think about how the piece will work in the space. Is there an opportunity to visit the space? o At this stage, we are not going to be able to do escorted tours. For those who are selected as finalists, we will arrange for them to get a tour behind security. Will you be picking something for all 15 location options? o We may or may not select artwork for all of those locations. We will probably not fill all the spaces. Are you envisioning one artist or proposal group per location? There are areas that function like galleries that could accommodate work from multiple artists. However, we anticipate selecting one artist or group per location. There are constant changes at airports. Is there an anticipated duration for the works to stay in their original locations? o For some building projects, the requirement could be minimal maintenance for 20 years. But we ask for the artworks to be moveable because, let s say, in 5 years the airport and United decide to expand the terminal. What if the expansion is happening in or close to the artwork s site? If the artwork is portable, we can remove it (keeping it safe) and relocate it to a new site. When it comes to sculpture, does it need to be on the floor or it can be on a podium? o Preferably, sculpture will be on a podium. Include the podium cost in the budget. What are the walls made of? Do applicants have to be concerned with the weight of art hanging on the wall? Are the benches or charging stations going to be moved? o The walls are standard, metal frame walls a dry wall. For the most part, they are not load bearing walls so you have about a 300 lb. weight limit. We can look at something that will require a heavy mount to the ceiling or wall. Put the requirements in your application and we can see if we can implement it if needed. The benches and charging stations will likely not be moved. Can we know what type of flights are leaving out of the gates near each location (national, international, etc.)? o The type of flight leaving from each gate changes. Two of the spaces seemed to have visual proximity to each other. If you are submitting as a team, could you assume you might be allowed to create partner works in those two spaces? 7

8 Is there a specific height and size for the sculpture area by the window in Location 3? o No, your limitation is the freight elevator. Would you consider something for the curtain window in Location 3? What if it s not movable? o Yes, we might consider something for the curtain widow like something involving a vinyl element. In the past, if something involves a permanent vinyl element, we ve asked the artist to include the cost of printing the work element twice in their budget. We cannot switch out any of the glass though (for art glass, etc.). Are the curtain wall windows tinted in Location 3? o HAA is waiting on a response from United, and will post the answer once received. Would it be possible to install a hanging artwork in Location 3? o There is a huge net of stars hanging from the ceiling in that area, so we can t accommodate hanging works there. VIII. Other Questions and Considerations Will the purchase of my artwork prevent me from reprinting the work? o Since the works for this call with United Airlines will be become part of the City of Houston Art Collection, the answer is yes. You will not be able to reprint the work. This is especially important for photographers to consider. Will United Airlines or the City of Houston own the artwork? o Initially United will be the owner. The works will be then donated to the City of Houston and go into the City of Houston Art Collection. The works will be overseen by HAS, a department of the City of Houston. Is there yearly statement or something similar that we could look at to better understand United? o There are quarterly and annual reports on the United website certainly from within the last year. There s also a newsroom with press releases that would give some indication of the company culture. If you happen to be flying through IAH over the holidays, take the opportunity to come through the terminal. Feel free to ask questions of the United staff. There is information about United values in the RFQ/A as well. The best relations page on is United.com. 8