The process to identify an artist who will receive the largest commission budget in the history of the city’s Art in Public Places Program has been initiated by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville.
The $866,000 budget is derived from the 1997 ordinance that created the Art in Public Places Program by earmarking for public art 0.75 percent of the construction budget for any city building with a cost greater than $100,000.
Since the program began, 18 projects have been funded and installed with a value of nearly $2.5 million.
While the budget for the project represents the most allocated for a single site in the program’s history, the scale of the project and its location adds other considerations for the selection process.
“The building is certainly iconic,” said Christie Holechek, Art in Public Places director. “We want the art to be as well. We’re hoping for something that will make the area around the courthouse an asset for the community.”
Purchase of the artwork accounts for 85 percent of an Art in Public Places project budget; 10 percent goes to administration and 5 percent is set aside for ongoing maintenance of the art.
While Art in Public Places projects usually offer priority consideration to local or regional artists, Holechek said the scale of the courthouse art project will mean the cultural council will conduct an international search to identify the artist who will create the work.
“This project needs a seasoned artist who has demonstrated the ability to do work on this scale,” she said.
After the funds are approved by City Council, a formal Request for Quotations will be issued. Holechek said based on past experience, as many as 400 proposals are expected to be submitted by artists for the courthouse project.
The proposals will be evaluated by an Art Selection Panel to be developed for the project. After the panel agrees on a short list of finalists, the artists will be invited to visit the site to further advance their design proposals and engage with the community and local artists.
Once the panel selects its top candidate, the 11-member Art in Public Places Committee must approve the panel’s recommendation before a contract between the artist and the city is executed.
Holechek said considering the magnitude of the project and the international search, the artist for the project probably won’t be selected until late this year. It could be as long as two years before the new art work is installed at the courthouse.
The Cultural Council already is seeking public input for the project. The organization established a blog for the courthouse public art on its website at culturalcouncil.org. Comments and suggestions also may be submitted by email at [email protected].
“We want the public to be involved because the collection belongs to the public,” said Holechek.
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