We are thrilled to announce that the City of Portland’s Planning & Urban Development Department, in partnership with the Portland Public Art Committee and the Friends of Congress Square Park, has issued an open call for landscape designers and visual artists for the Congress Square Redesign project. The City has released two Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) to hire a design team and an artist to concurrently develop schematic designs for the Square (Park and the intersection) and an integrated public art commission. This project presents a unique opportunity for collaborative urban design and public art, with the design team and artist to be chosen simultaneously.
We are excited to take this next step towards a high quality re-design that creates a more accessible public space with community use and public art at its core and that prioritizes the pedestrian experience.
Responses to the open call will be collected until 3pm on January 28, 2016. Applicants will be reviewed by the selection committee and finalists will be invited to a site visit, interview, and public forum to present their work. The public forum, to be held in March, 2016, creates an opportunity for the community to learn about the prospective designers and artists and to provide input about the finalists.
The City currently has funds allocated to develop schematic level concepts for the Congress Square and to cover for the artist fee. The design concepts will be used to help raise money to implement the project.
Information about both RFQs (Congress Square Public Art Commission RFQ–Bid #4016 and Congress Square Redesign—Bid #3916) are posted on the City of Portland website (http://www.portlandmaine.gov/1034/BidsRFP-Search). To obtain a copy of the RFQ you must contact the City Purchasing Office at 207-874-8654 or jrl@portlandmaine.gov.