The Portland Public Art Committee is pleased to announce that four artists have been selected as finalists for the Congress Square Public Art Commission. The artists will be invited to Portland for interviews with the selection committee, a site visit, and a public presentation on August 8th.
The selected artist’s work will include developing a concept for public art to be sited in Congress Square in collaboration with WRT, the design team selected last month, who will create a concept for Congress Square as a whole.
The Public Forum is free and open to the public, but RSVP by August 5th is required to attend: http://whoozin.com/V4W-DRP-YK69.
The four artist finalists are (in alphabetical order):
- Ned Kahn (Sebastopol, CA)
- Patrick Marold (Denver, CO)
- Matthew Ritchie (New York City, NY)
- Sarah Sze (New York City, NY
The artists are evaluated based on five selection criteria: Relevant experience, Qualifications and record of artistic achievement, Demonstrated ability to coordinate and collaborate with the public and designers, Project understanding, and Artistic merit and aesthetic appropriateness for the project parameters. The Congress Square Artist Selection Committee is comprised of representatives from the Portland Public Art Committee, Friends of Congress Square Park, Maine College of Art, Portland Museum of Art, and the local architecture community.
The finalists will speak at a public forum on Monday, August 8th to be held in the Portland Museum of Art auditorium from 5:30 – 7:30pm. The event will be free and open to the public, though RSVP will be required for capacity reasons, and will include a presentation from each finalist and a question and answer session.
“The Congress Square Artist Selection Committee is looking forward to bringing four outstanding, internationally known artists to Portland. Collaboration is important for this project and these four individuals have worked collaboratively with urban designers and community members in the past. We are looking forward to their presentations on August 8th and hearing feedback from the community,” said Portland Public Art Committee member Alison Hildreth. An online survey will also be available to gather community input about the finalists. Stakeholders and the general public will be invited to provide feedback and participate throughout the design and public art process.
Interest in the Congress Square Redesign project has been high because of the unique opportunity to combine urban design and public art to transform Congress Square into a welcoming, accessible public open space in the heart of the city with a focus on arts and performance.
The Congress Square Redesign project is a public/private partnership between the City of Portland, the Portland Public Art Committee, and the Friends of Congress Square Park.
For more information, please visit http://www.portlandmaine.gov/1113/Congress-Square-Redesign