O.J. Watson Park Murals Request for Qualifications

​The City of Wichita invites professional artists and artist teams with a demonstrated history of completing permanent outdoor public art projects to submit their qualifications for a $25,000 public art commission for outdoor murals at O.J. Watson Park. The start of this project is scheduled to begin in late 2025. It is anticipated that the execution of the art will be completed in the middle of 2026. Emerging artists are encouraged to apply.​

INTRODUCTION

The City of Wichita invites professional artists and artist teams with a demonstrated history of completing permanent outdoor public art projects to submit their qualifications for a $25,000 public art commission for outdoor murals at O.J. Watson Park. The start of this project is scheduled to begin in late 2025. It is anticipated that the execution of the art will be completed in the middle of 2026. Emerging artists are encouraged to apply.​

O.J. Watson Park is located at 3022 S McLean Boulevard and is one of the oldest and largest parks in the City’s park system, spanning 119 acres. The park is active throughout the year and well-equipped with amenities. The park offers a peaceful setting and is a popular destination for special events, fishing, pony rides, miniature golf, paddle boating, kayaking, volleyball, and mini-train rides among many others. ​

PARK BACKGROUND

O.J. Watson Park was dedicated on May 22, 1965. Named in honor of former Park Commissioner President O.J. Watson, it is one of the largest and most persistent parks in the City of Wichita park system. Prior to development, the site was four sand pits and partially part of a farm.

ART LOCATIONS

The four murals will each be painted on O.J. Watson’s four public restroom facilities located throughout the park. These facilities are very similar in appearance and dimensions, constructed with CMU block walls, and recently painted in beige and in good condition.​

Please see View Site Details link for restroom locations within the park, restroom buildings images, and dimensions of the building facades. The orientations of the murals are listed below for each restroom building labelled according to their nearby park amenity.

Pony Stables: North-facing towards the road

Concessions: South-facing towards the parking lot

Entrance: North-facing towards the road

Playground: West-facing towards the road

ART VISION

The City of Wichita envisions four painted murals that are contextually relevant to O.J. Watson Park’s aesthetic and that act as landmarks to each area of the park they belong to. The artwork for this project can represent the following aspects of the park:​

• Activities and amenities that the park is known for​, including fishing, pony rides, miniature golf, paddle boating, kayaking, volleyball, and mini-train rides, among others.
• The park’s natural and environmental landscape qualities.

​Artwork must be durable and materials suitable to the extreme Kansas weather. Audial/lighting components will not be allowed. No found objects should be used for this project. ​

BUDGET

ART BUDGET: $25,000​

Pony Stables: $5,500​

Concessions: $8,500 (work is distributed across segmented walls)​

Entrance: $5,500​

Playground: $5,500​

​The art budget is inclusive of all costs and fees for the artist to execute the project from design through site preparation, materials, and execution. Any installation, if applicable, will be coordinated with the project construction team and may be a part of the artist fee depending on installation requirements and responsibilities. ​

PROJECT TIMELINE

RFQ open via CAFE̒ online application system: 10/10/2025​

Artists questions due: 11/10/2025, 4:00 p.m. CST​

Qualifications due: 11/14/2025, 4:00 p.m. CST​

Review of qualifications: 12/5/2025​

Notification of Award: 12/19/2025 ​

Contract: 1/9/2026​

Presentation to Councils and Boards: April 2026 – June 2026​

Art Fabrication and Installation: July 2026 – September 2026​

*All dates are approximate and subject to change​​

SELECTION PROCESS

Four artists will be selected in total, each commissioned to produce one of the four murals. No artist will be responsible for more than one mural.​

Applicants will be reviewed and ranked by a selection committee comprised of City staff and relevant stakeholders. Interviews are not anticipated to be a part of the selection process but may be used in the event of a narrow margin between rankings. ​

SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants will be selected based on a competitive review of the following:​

Artistic excellence: demonstrated vision, professional process and presentation, and quality craftsmanship in examples of past work; examples provided should be relevant to how the artist will approach this public art opportunity.​

Creative process: examples of past work should illustrate the artist’s experience in large 2-dimensional work; examples should be relevant to how the artist will approach this public art opportunity.​

Ability: demonstrated experience in mural art, experience in materials that achieve outdoors durability, delivering contractual milestones, and managing budgets in a timely fashion.​

Meaningful relationship of the creative and conceptual aspects of their artistic process with the purpose of this project as expressed in the Letter of Interest (LOI).​

QUESTIONS

All inquiries should be emailed to Ranim Abiali at rabiali@wichita.gov by 11/10/2025, 4:00 p.m. CST.

Each artist or artist team must submit an entirely digital application. Incomplete applications will not be considered.​

• Submit five to ten images of relevant examples of past work (video accepted). Images should represent ​
  the artist’s style, format, medium, or breadth of work. ​
• Please include an annotated image list for all work examples including scale, budget, medium, ​
  year installed, and location. ​
• Submit a one-page Letter of Interest (LOI) with a brief description of your project approach with respect to the project’s art vision. Letter of interest should outline location you’re most interested in and why. Please rank the four locations based on preference.​
• Resume or CV.​
• Three professional references.​

Professional artists or artist teams located in the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which encompasses Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey, Kingman, and Sumner counties, are eligible to apply. Emerging artists are encouraged to apply. 

​It is the declared policy and practice of the City of Wichita to extend equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, age, political affiliation, sexual orientation, disability, or other non-merit factors.​