Request for Qualification (RFQ): “66 Reasons to Love St. Louis” Mural
Switch, an experiential marketing agency located in St. Louis, MO is seeking qualifications from artists or artist teams for the commission and installation of a mural on the KDHX building (3524 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103). This mural will be an integral part of the 66 Reason to Love St. Louis campaign that will be running in late summer of 2015. 3-4 Finalists will be selected to develop concept proposals for this project. Each finalist will be paid a $500 stipend for the proposal and presentation. The project budget for the selected commission is $20,000.
About the “66 Reasons to Love St. Louis” Campaign
For this summer 2015 activation, Switch, along with several dominant fixtures in the St. Louis community, will help curate a true list of 66 Reasons to love our great city. We’ll promote them digitally, via social media and through major events, including a kick-off event, sponsorship of a summer concert series and a big finale block party. We’ll also be commissioning the creation of a mural depicting the 66 Reasons to Love St. Louis that will be gifted to the city from Phillips 66. This is where you come in. Phillips 66 wanted to do something good and fun to celebrate St. Louis while introducing our citizens to their soon-to-launch newly remodeled gas stations. We’re going to liberate the Phillips 66 brand to connect with St. Louisans in a way that goes beyond the ordinary and shows what’s extraordinary about our town. We trying to move away from the typical ‘best of St. Louis’ type lists that saturate our market and lack new information for our citizens and move to something that will allow St. Louis to venture out and learn the stories and history of these people, places and things that make them so important to our community. We would like the mural to encompass this feeling and include these 66 reasons. All aspects of this campaign are deeply rooted into the St. Louis community and we want the mural to promote this message as well.
Artwork Specifications
Artwork must be durable, suitable for outdoors and able to withstand the elements. The selected artwork will be installed on the KDHX building (3524 Washington Ave., St. Louis, MO 63103) – specifically on the building’s top, western face and should be designed as a single cohesive element. Approximate mural dimensions will be 10’ x 30’. We also want to make note that this mural is not an advertisement for Phillips 66. It is a gift to the city from Phillips 66.
Project Budget: $20,000. This includes design, fabrication, engineering, installation, travel and insurance. Up to 4 artists will be awarded a stipend of $500 to further develop a specific proposal.
Eligibility: This RFQ is open to all professional artists and artist teams over the age of eighteen (18), who are based within 50 miles of St. Louis City. We will require proof to show you/your business is within 50 miles of St. Louis city (the artist being local is an important part of the project).
Timeline
• April 22: Announcement of RFP
• May 1: Deadline for submittal of questions
• May 15: Deadline for receipt of application materials
• Week of May 18-22: Review of proposals and selection of up to 5 finalists
• June 12: Final proposals due
• June 15-19: Proposal Presentations
• June 24: Final selection made and commission awarded
• August 14: Event to unveil “start” of mural to public
• September 11: Mural unveiling & dedication ceremony
Application Deadline
Applications must be received by May 15, 2015 ay 5:00pm CST. Please submit applications in pdf. Format to 66ReasonsStl@theswitch.us. Please note that all questions you may have are due by 5pm CST, May 1st.
Selection Process
A selection panel including but not limited to members of the Regional Arts Commission, Phillips 66, Switch, KDHX, and more will review proposals for the project and select up to 4 finalists who will be invited to submit detailed proposals and visit Switch’s offices for a face to face interview. Each finalist will be paid a $500 proposal and presentation fee. From these finalists, the committee will make the final selection for the commission.
Selection Criteria
The committee will use the following criteria in the selection process:
• Artistic Quality / Technical Ability
• Originality: Creativity and uniqueness demonstrated in previous work
• Quality and craftsmanship exhibited by past examples
• Artist’s ability to work well with members of campaign team and fully understand what is needed for this project
Submission Requirements
The application will require the following:
1. Artists Statements: Brief descriptions of your work as an artist, your interest and qualifications for this project as well as your approach to encompass all 66 Reasons to Love St. Louis into a single piece.
2. Resume: A current resume (artist teams may submit a combined resume).
3. References: Name, address, email and phone number for three (3) professional references.
4. Images: 8-10 images of past works (mural work is preferred). All image files should be in JPEG format, max 1240×1240 pixels, and should be titled: LastnameFirstname_Image#.jpg (SmithJane_01.jpg).
5. Image Description: Attach a document detailing information regarding each work sample image including:
– Title of Work
– Dimensions
– Medium
– Year
– Location (if applicable)
– Three (3) sentence description of work
Questions/Comments
Please submit all questions to 66ReasonsStl@theswitch.us. Please title the email “66 Reasons RFQ Questions.”
Terms
I.e.: Switch accepts no responsibility for the loss of damage of artist’s submission materials; Switch accepts no responsibility for costs incurred by artist in responding to this Call to Artists. Artists and artist collaborations selected for this project will be required to meet contract terms and scopes as well as lump sum budgets. It is further understood that all budgets include travel costs. No additional and/or contingency funds will be available.
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