Building partnerships through collaboration.
Call for Artists
Professional artists are invited to submit proposals to be considered for custom or commissioned work for the University at Buffalo for one-year public art installations.
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This call seeks artwork for the new Contemplative Sites program at the University at Buffalo’s North and South Campuses. The Contemplative sites are pre-determined and include (3) Exterior Public Murals and (1) Exterior Landscape Installation.
This call for artwork is open to all professional artists, artisans or artist-led teams currently residing and legally permitted to work in the Western New York region, including UB faculty and staff.
Walking Labyrinth
This will be a landscape installation approximately 20’-30’ in diameter. Materials have not been identified but the installation will require easy maintenance for the duration of the installment. The committee will work with the artist on the exact location on South Campus.
This is a SAMPLE only. The design does not have to be this exact design.
Celebrating 50th Anniversary of Title IX
This project will be located on North Campus in the Athletics Precinct. The project will be a painted mural. For more information on Title IX, please see: https://www.insightintodiversity.com/womens-history-month-2022-celebrating-50-years-of-title-ix/#:~:text=This%20year%20marks%20the%2050th,of%20legislation%20for%20gender%20equity
Site locations for the Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Title IX
Celebrating the 1958 UB Bulls Football Team
The award-winning 1958 men’s football team made national news when they refused an invitation to play in the Tangerine Bowl against Florida State on December 27, 1958, upon learning the local school district banned integrated games. Attached is a link to the ESPN article about the story: http://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/story?page=buffalo58&redirected=true
- There will be two art projects with this theme:
o North Campus Site: Ellicott Complex. In 2021, the university renamed the Porter Quadrangle to Willie Evans Quadrangle. Wille Evans was a member of the 1958 UB Football team. This project will be a mural on a substrate that is attached to the building. The site is in the attached diagram.
o South Campus Site: Campus perimeter at Winspear St. and Bailey Ave. The mural will be on a mounted substrate measuring approximately 10’ x 30’ (to be negotiated with the artist). Please see the attached diagram.
Celebrating the 1958 UB Bulls Football Team suggested locations
Up to four artists/teams will be selected, one per site. Each site will be allocated a combined artist’s and production budget of $10,000. This production budget for each artwork installation covers all expenses associated with, but not limited to the design, labor, fabrication, project management, materials, tools, contracted services, operations and meetings, travel required to complete the artwork installation, installation, permits, licenses, taxes, insurance, transportation and delivery of the artwork to the site.
If special installation requirements are needed for large and/or complex pieces, the artist is responsible for working with the University at Buffalo Public Art Committee, to coordinate all aspects of the installation. The Buffalo Public Art Committee will provide reinforced, structured attachment points on which the artwork can be mounted. The university will provide the substrate if applicable.
- Deadline for idea submissions: June 1, 2022, 5:00 P.M.
Artist and/or artist teams may submit their work for consideration and selection by the Selection Committee as defined below. The artist’s work that is selected will be announced through the email to all submitters. Letters/emails will be sent to the selected artist with details of the purchase process. The selection committee may select a shortlist of artists to be interviewed prior to making a final selection and requesting a proposal.
Evaluation Criteria
- Artwork reflects the themes identified above
- Artwork compliments the campus environment
- Artwork translates well to a large format
- Artists and artist-led teams interested in the project should fill out the form and attach the entire package as a single PDF that does not exceed 10 MB
- Each item should be labeled with the artist’s name.
- Images (10-15) of the artwork along with size and media of the artwork
- Artist Resume (if a team- one from each team member) with current contact information
- Artist Statement of intent (one page maximum)
- Images of installed past work (three examples maximum)
- Artists are encouraged to tailor their submission based on one of the two available project sites
Interested artists must send images of the material by Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 5:00 P.M. Submissions received after this date will not be considered for this project but will be kept for possible review and consideration for other public art projects.
Legal Agreement
The University at Buffalo Art Committee reserves the right to alter any aspect of the selection process or overall project in any way for its own convenience at any time. This Call for Artwork does not constitute either an expressed or implied contract and these provisions are subject to change.
Kelly M. Hayes Mcalonie FAIA, LEED AP
Director
Campus Planning