Powhatan Park Public Art RFQ

The City of Alexandria's Public Art Program invites artists and artist teams to submit their qualifications to create public art as part of the City’s renovation of Powhatan Park. Public art at Powhatan Park should improve the sense of identity at the park by providing artwork with a unifying theme that integrates with the park redesign. The selected artist or team will design and install original, site-specific, installations that improve entry experience into the park and includes a budget of $100,000. The selected artist will also be commissioned to prepare designs for a future project phase with an additional budget of $10,000.

Project Overview

The City of Alexandria’s Public Art Program is commissioning public art for Powhatan Park, a 1.5-acre neighborhood park located between Richmond Highway/Route 1/North Henry Street and North Douglass Street in North East Alexandria. A major renovation of the park is in the planning process.

The park features a recently refurbished basketball court, playground and multi-sport (pickleball, soccer, tennis) hard-surface court, and a passive open space that is popular for dog walking. The City’s Neighborhood Park Plan for Powhatan Park (2015) includes recommendations for additional improvements: creating a plaza at the end of Douglas Street and adding a shade structure and game tables. It also recommends new edge treatments, such as a green alley on Douglas Street, and a better landscape barrier between the park and Henry Street.

The approved Public Art Annual Workplan, recommends that public art be incorporated into the park, in consultation with the community, to further the goals of the park renovation.

The selected artist/artist team will design, fabricate, and install gateway or entrance features at the two primary pedestrian entrances into the park—one on the primary entrance at Douglas Street and the other at the southern park entrance along the site’s frontage on Richmond Highway/Route 1.

To ensure a unified public art approach, the selected artist/artist team will be asked to develop a design for a noise mitigation artwork, such as a wall or other type of barrier, to provide a sense of separation between the area of the proposed playground in the northernmost portion of the site and Richmond Highway/Route 1 as part of a future phase that includes a playground renovation. 

For more information about the project and area, please review the project webpage. 

Budget

The project budget for phase one, inclusive of design, fabrication, and installation may not exceed $100,000. An additional $10,000 is budgeted for the design of phase two public art.

Project Goals

The program goals of the project are to:

• Bring new artwork to Alexandria that is inspired by the site history and context, and reflects the values of the surrounding neighborhood.
• Improve the sense of identity at the park by providing artwork with a unifying theme that integrates with the park redesign.
• Inspire, delight, and engage children, families and the wider community.
• Improve the appearance of the park from Route 1 through the use of color and/or form.
• Enhance the design of the park and make it a place where people want to spend time and have memorable experiences.

Scope 

• The selected artist or artist team will work with the City to develop plans for public art within the renovation project.
• The selected artist/artist team will be required to be onsite to participate in community engagement arranged by the City of Alexandria, and the conversations may inform the final design(s).
• The artist/artist team will be required to meet regularly with representatives of the City to coordinate on the project development. Progress meetings may occur virtually.
• Depending on the design, the artist/artist team is expected to obtain professionally certified drawings prior to final approval of the public art by the City.
• The design of the artwork(s) should be appropriate for and inspire all audiences.
• Artwork(s) will be located in areas with high pedestrian volumes and should be highly durable and low maintenance.

Selection and Review Process

Submittals will be reviewed by a Task Force comprised of representatives from the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, community stakeholders and project stakeholders. 

Artist Selection Criteria

Applicants must demonstrate the following qualifications:

• Artistic merit of body of work.
• Prior public art experience with projects of a similar scale and budget.
• Experience working with communities to design engaging artwork.
• Experience in collaborating with City staff, stakeholders, and design and engineering professionals
• Appropriateness of qualifications for the project.
• Effective communication and organizational skills.
• Probability of successful execution of the project.

Additional Information

• Artists can submit up to two applications (one as an individual and one as a team).
• Selected artists will be required to sign a contract with the City of Alexandria.
• Selected artists may be required to obtain a Certificate of Insurance for general liability coverage for the fabrication and installation of the public art.

Additional Resources

Two approved plans guide the arts in Alexandria: 

• Public Art Implementation Plan
• Arts and Culture Master Plan

To apply, please include: 

• a brief letter that describes your interest in the project, how your public art approach aligns with the project goals, and the role community engagement plays in your work.
• works samples including projects of a similar scope and/or budget as the project.
• a CV/resume.
• the names, titles, phone numbers, and email addresses of 3 -5 references.

Please do not send specific proposals at this time.

Artists must be 18 years or older to apply and have prior public art experience.