(TRENTON, NJ) -- Artworks Trenton Inc., Trenton’s visual art center, is seeking expressions of interest from qualified artists for an asphalt art project to be painted at the crosswalks and intersection in front of the main entrance to the Trenton Transit Center, the intersection of South Clinton Avenue and Barlow Street/Raoul Wallenberg Avenue. The crosswalk/intersection art will be the centerpiece of Stepping Into Tomorrow, a partnership between Artworks and the City of Trenton for the beautification and improvement of this busy and prominent public intersection in the city.
Stepping Into Tomorrow has been funded by a 2020 Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Grant. Trenton is one of 16 municipalities nationwide to receive funding in 2020 from Bloomberg Philanthropies for asphalt art projects.
This is a regional call, open to artists living and/or working within a 100 mile radius of Trenton. An artistic or community connection to Trenton will be considered a plus for artists but not a requirement.
Artists are required to submit an artist statement of not more than 250 words, a one-page CV or bio, and a minimum of 6 images of prior work, up to a maximum of 12 work images. Without these three components, artist submissions will be deemed incomplete and discarded.
TO APPLY: Email publicprojects@artworkstrenton.org including artist statement, CV/bio and images as attachments, and putting “Stepping Into Tomorrow RFQ” in the subject line. The deadline is April 29th.
Selection Process: The Stepping Into Tomorrow Art Selection Committee includes members of the Trenton community, representatives from Artworks, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and NJ Transit. The selection committee will review applicant materials and make recommendations for three finalists. The three finalists will be notified in early May. Each finalist will receive a $500 stipend to develop a proposal for the project and present it at a public forum in Trenton in early June. Following the finalists’ public presentation of their proposals for the project, the selection committee will select the winning individual artist or artist team to execute a final project proposal at the Transit Center intersection in July. The winning artist/team selected for the project will receive a $3,500 artist fee, and will work with Artworks staff to install the project using a $16,000 materials and installation budget.
The selection committee reserves the right to reject any or all entries at any time in the review and selection process.
Selection Criteria: The goals of the Stepping Into Tomorrow asphalt art project are to improve the overall experience of pedestrians and bicyclists navigating the intersection at South Clinton Avenue and Barlow Street/Raoul Wallenberg Avenue. This includes beautifying the intersection, traffic calming, and making it easier to access and navigate between the multiple public transit modes (bus, light rail, commuter rail, Amtrak) located there.
Artist submissions will be judged on the following criteria:
* Artistic excellence of work samples;
* Subject matter of submitted work samples are appropriate for publicly displayed art and don’t include images depicting violence, nudity or that are sexual in nature;
* Artist’s involvement with prior public mural projects, specifically asphalt art projects;
* Artist’s demonstrated ability to manage large-scale outdoor mural projects, specifically asphalt art projects;
* Community involvement in artist’s prior public art projects.
Eligibility: This project is open to artists/artist teams who are at least 18 years of age, and legally able to complete a contract with Artworks Trenton Inc. Artists (individuals or all team members) must live or work within a 100-mile radius of Trenton, New Jersey. Preference will be given to artists with an artistic or community connection to Trenton, although this is not a requirement for selection. Artist/teams must be able to work effectively and collaboratively with Artworks to further develop their initially proposal idea to a final approved design. Further, artists should consider the project timeline prior to submitting a proposal. The asphalt art project is intended to be completed and installed in July 2021, meaning the three selected artist finalists will have 3-4 weeks for creation of a project design and preparation to publicly present it. The winning artist/team will have 3-4 weeks to finalize an approved design, and work with Artworks and the City of Trenton to acquire materials, plan and execute the installation.
Media: The Stepping Into Tomorrow asphalt art project is intended to be long lasting. Roadway paint, epoxy traffic marking paint, or similar is the intended media. Artworks staff will work closely with the winning artist/team on the technical production aspects to the project, helping realize the winning design fully.
Budget: Artworks will provide a $500 stipend to the three selected finalist artists/teams, payable immediately following the artist/team public presentation of their proposed Stepping Into Tomorrow design. The winning artist/team, whose design is selected for installation, will be provided an additional $3,500 design fee, for a total artist fee of $4,000 for the winning artist/team. The winning artist/team will work with Artworks on other project costs, including paint, supplies and installation, utilizing the $16,000 installation budget for the project.
Deadline for artist submissions: April 29th
Decision on selection of finalists will be announced by early May; Three finalist design presentations will be scheduled for early June; Winning finalist will be notified by end of June; Project installation is scheduled for July 2021.
Contract: Upon selection and final design approval, the artist must complete a contract with Artworks Trenton Inc. for stipend payment.
Questions? Please direct any questions about the project or artist call to Jesse Vincent, Artworks Public Projects Manager at publicprojects@artworkstrenton.org or by phone (609) 394-9436
