Columbus Time Machine

Request for Artist Proposals

Project: Design and install a historically-inspired, site-specific window display in a downtown Columbus storefront

Budget: $3,000/window (all-inclusive – supplies & stipend)

Call issued: August 11, 2011

Entries Due: Received by October 3, 2011 by 5PM

Fred Lazurus Jr., of Columbus department store fame, likened a good store to a circus. Andy Warhol referred to the department store as a museum of the modern age. Both men recognized how stores can operate as sites of public spectacle and aesthetic pleasure.

In 2012, the citizens of Columbus will recall the 200-year history of our city in many ways. As a kick-off to our bicentennial celebration, BrickStreet Arts Association (501c3), in association with Capital Crossroads Special Improvement District (CCSID) and Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC), envision a series of site-specific artworks designed to fill storefront windows around Capital Square. Like dioramas in a museum, these history-inspired pieces will tell stories from Columbus’s past. Recalling Lazarus’s department store windows, they will be creative and playful, drawing people downtown and captivating the attention of pedestrians already in the area.

Columbus Time Machine will be on view during the first third of 2012 (December 31, 2011-March 31, 2012), providing entertainment and education 24 hours each day. They will offer moments of light and color during the darkest time of the year.

Proposal Overview:
Themes
The Columbus Bicentennial Commission has dedicated the first third of 2012 to remembrances of Columbus history. (Subsequent periods will focus on Columbus present and future.) Therefore, artists are encouraged to consider, but need not feel limited to, the following themes:
- Figures who made Columbus what it is today
- Columbus innovations/inventions
- Moments from our collective past
- Places gone but not forgotten

Media
Artists are encouraged to think creatively and three-dimensionally with regard to material selection.

Note: If you plan to include any mechanical or digital components, please explain all installation and support requirements. Artists will be responsible for supplying all materials necessary to complete their work.

Please consider the dynamic window displays from stores like Anthropologie and Bergdorf-Goodman (NYC) as benchmarks for what we have in mind.

Site Description:
Artists are encouraged to visit the Capital square area to become familiar with the look and feel for storefront windows in the area. We are currently working on selecting and securing installation locations and will do our best to meet, but cannot guarantee, any specific requests for spaces included in design proposals.

Eligibility:
Artists or members of design teams must be 18 years of age or older and reside, work, or attend school in Columbus.

Selection Process:
An eight-member selection panel will evaluate artists’ submissions and select artists (or teams) for the project. The panel may include representatives of CCSID, GCAC, the Bicentennial Commission, Columbus Historical Society, downtown business owners, and Columbus artists.

Submitted materials will be judged based on the following criteria:
• Excellence, innovation, creativity, and originality as demonstrated in proposal sketches and narrative, as well as samples of previous work;
• Historic content combined with dynamic style – think “history with an attitude” in a unified design;
• Experience working on site-specific projects or installations.

Note: We are still raising funds for this project. The total number of windows we are able to produce will depend on those efforts.

Timeline:
August 11, 2011 – Public announcement of project and call for proposals.
October 3, 2011- Proposal Submission Deadline
October 2011 – Committee selection of designs
mid-October 2011 – Artist notifications and site visits
December 30 – Window installations completed by 6pm December 31st – Windows unveiled during First Night Columbus
[NOTE: Alternate opening may be moved to February 14, Columbus’s birthday. This decision will be finalized by the time artists are notified of participation.]
February 14 – Roving Reception to coincide with Columbus birthday celebration
March 31st, 2012 – Displays removed

Application Process:
Applicants must submit:

1. Completed application form (see attached);

2. Preliminary rendering of proposed design, drawn to scale. The proposal need not be executed in full color or detail, but should clearly present intentions. Renderings should not exceed 11” x 17” and should be mounted on foam core no larger than that size;

3. A statement about the proposal (no more than one page) explaining choice subject, imagery, media, etc;

4. Hard copy prints illustrating 5 examples of previous work;

5 (optional). If you would like your proposal to be returned: Self-addressed, stamped envelop large enough to fit submission and support materials. All remaining proposals will be discarded after October 30th.

Submit to:
Columbus Time Machine
c/o Capital Crossroads SID
23 N. Fourth Street
Columbus, OH 43215

Proposals will be accepted until 5:00 PM on Monday, October 3, 2011.

Applicants will be notified of the panel’s decision by October 17, 2011.

Questions: Artists may send questions about this call to:
Jodi Kushins, President
Brick Street Arts Association
jkushins@hotmail.com.
Please include your name, phone number, and question in the message.

Columbus Time Machine
APPLICATION

Name:

Mailing Address:

Email:

Phone Number:

Please list experiences (education, work, hobbies, etc.) that prepared you for this project.

Please provide two references who can speak to your experience as an artist. If possible, list people you have worked with and/or for on mural projects in the past.

Reference:
Name:
Phone Number:
Email Address:

Reference:
Name:
Phone Number:
Email Address:

Columbus Monthly, June 2005

Josie Rubio authored a short write-up accompanied by a full page photo in the June 2005 issue of Columbus Monthly Magazine.

BrickStreet Arts Association would like to invite you to a Community Conversation on Public Art – Sunday, November 8th @ 4PM at the Northwood-High Buildling (2231 North High Street, 43201. Public parking is available in the back of the bldg on the left side of the parking lot.

Please RSVP by October 30th.

The purpose of this event is two-fold.

1. We would believe public art is built on conversation. Building on the energy inspired by the Public Art Summit held at the King Arts Complex a few years ago, we hope that by coming together and sharing ideas and dreams, we can help one another make Columbus a more beautiful and engaging place to live and work.
2. Like many non-profit organizations in the city, BrickStreets is at a crossroads. After a decade of work on projects in Harrison West and The Short North, we are ready to expand our reach and are looking for new partners and means for making public art happen.

Please let us know if you can join us for this guided discussion and networking opportunity with a few light snacks. In addition, please feel free to share this invitation with others you know who might be interested.

Jodi Kushins
President
BrickStreet Arts Association

You know all those public artworks that have popped up lately in the Short North, like the mural of George Bellows’ Cliff Dwellers at 641 N. High Street and the whimsical limestone sofa on High Street just south of 5th Avenue? They owe their existence to a group of art lovers and civic leaders determined to help make Columbus more beautiful, one artwork at a time.

Since 1998, the BrickStreet Arts Association has worked independently and with other local organizations to bring about four major public art installations in the Short North and surrounding neighborhoods.

The only arts organization in Columbus with the sole mission to facilitate the installation of public art in Columbus’ old neighborhoods, BrickStreet is now one of the motivating forces behind the controversial Goodale Park fountain project. And its history reflects as much concern for the Short North’s history and future as have the artworks it has helped bring into existence.

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