PURPOSE
To provide support to El Paso recurring arts, cultural and sporting events that activate and enrich downtown El Paso with high quality public experiences that are innovative, accessible and promote both tourism and local interest in downtown El Paso.

WHAT WILL BE FUNDED
KickstArt Downtown funds can be used for project related expenses such as production costs, permits, artistic/talent fees, coordination (including non-permanent event staffing), audience development, and marketing for recurring arts events and recurring sporting events that promote tourism.

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
 

• Have a demonstrated capacity of at least three (3) years of successful public programming

• Have qualified artistic/administrative leadership capable of completing the proposed project with a commitment to funding artists and artistic products and promoting tourism

• Proposed activities must start no earlier than September 1, and end no later than August 31, of the applicable City of El Paso fiscal year

• Proposed project must be conducted within the core of Downtown El Paso (See map) and be a recurring event

• Proposed project must have be able to demonstrate a draw to tourists

• Awardees must submit a final report with an included budget summary

• Awardees must not be the recipient of another MCAD cultural funding award for the same project in the current fiscal year

• MCAD Employees and family members in the same household can not apply

• One time events/programs or events that are primarily operated as fundraisers are ineligible

 

 

---

EL PASO DOWNTOWN ARTS DISTRICT MURAL PROJECT
CALL TO ARTISTS - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Deadline: June 3, 2013
Budget: $2,000 USD


The City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department seeks to commission an artist or artist team to design and produce a mural for the Downtown Arts District. This call is open to artists or artist teams living within 200 miles of El Paso.

El Paso Downtown Arts District
The vision of the El Paso Downtown Arts District is to stimulate the artistic and cultural life of the region by providing a lively space for arts and cultural events. The El Paso Downtown Arts District is comprised of 18 museums, presenting venues, green-spaces, festival footprints, cultural organizations, historic facilities and tourist amenities within a 19-block footprint. Additionally, the Downtown Arts District organizes a monthly art walk, LAST THURSDAYS, as well as oversees a competitive funding program called KickstART Downtown for recurring festivals and events downtown. Further growth in the Downtown Arts District is projected in 2014 with the addition of ArtSpace, Inc. an affordable live/workspace for artists.


Project Description
The City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department will commission an annual mural competition for the Downtown Arts District. The mural will be located on W. Missouri Avenue, along the north facing façade of the El Paso Museum of History. The mural will be outdoors along Missouri Avenue and viewable to pedestrians and passing traffic. The mural is intended to serve as a lively and inviting visual landmark for the Downtown Arts District. The theme must focus on the arts, be representative of the local art scene, local heritage, and promote the Downtown Arts District.


Project Overview

• The project is open to any media appropriate for the flat wall surface and site, with the ability to withstand exposure to the climate and environment for the duration of one year.
• Appropriate applications include: archival paint including acrylic or aerosol paint.
• Mural Wall dimensions are 30 feet in length and 6 feet in height with a working surface area of 30’ in length by 5’10” in height; 175 square feet in total.
• The City of El Paso will hold copyright, access, etc. to the rights of the work and all reproductions.
• The design of the project shall comply with the Obscenity Clause Section 10(7)(b) of the Texas Commission on the Arts Enabling Legislation, which prohibits the Texas Commission on the Arts and its grantees from knowingly fostering, encouraging, promoting, or funding any project, production, workshop, and/or program that includes obscene material as defined in Section 43.21 Penal Code of Texas.

 

Budget
Total project budget is $2,000 USD and is all-inclusive


Eligibility Requirements

• This project is open to artists/ artist teams living within 200 miles of El Paso, Texas.
• Artists applying for this project must be over the age of eighteen years old.
• Students are eligible to apply only as part of an artist team, that is supervised at all times by a lead artist over the age of eighteen years old.
• Recipient must be able to receive payment from the City of El Paso as a legal vendor.
• Artist and/or artist teams whom are awarded the commission are ineligible to reapply for two years following last commission.

 

Scope of Work
The selected artist or artist team will:

• Contract with the City of El Paso to fulfill the artist’s services.
• Once commission commences, the artist or artist team has four consecutive weeks to install or complete the mural according to contractual timeline.
• Conduct research, design and production, which include examining the site, reviewing pertinent documents, and meeting with City staff.
• Prepare verbal, written and visual presentation to show schematic and final artwork proposal. Presentation should include:
  • A preliminary depiction of the proposed artwork in the form of a to-scale drawing or depiction.
  • A narrative description of the sources and methodology used to develop the proposal, plus information about the scale, location,context, materials, maintenance requirements, and fabrication and installation methods
  • Preliminary budget
  • Material samples, if available
• Participation in-person for meetings, presentations, ribbon-cutting ceremony, and outreach to media.
• Fabricate, transport, and install artwork.
• Coordinate with City Staff, as required.
• Establish and submit a working schedule that meets the approval of the Downtown Arts District Coordinator.
• Willingness to clean up at the end of the day and run errands as needed.
• Submit a weekly progress report with digital photographs, to be used for documentation of the process and for social media use.

 

Timeline

• Submission Deadline: June 3, 2013 cut off at 5:00pm
• Artist Selection Panel Review: July 9, 2013
• Notification to Selected Artist: August 1, 2013

The above dates are contingent on the agencies’ schedules and may be changed at any time.


To Apply
Applications must be submitted using the Call for Entry (CAFÉ) online application system managed by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF). Artists will be required to create a username and password and set up a personal account, free of charge at www.callforentry.org. Following successful set up, all interested applicants will be granted full access to our detailed application; simply click on “Apply to Calls” and click on “El Paso Downtown Arts District Mural Project”. Your account information and image will be saved for your convenience and easy access when applying to future calls using CAFÉ.


Submission Requirements

• Letter of Interest: briefly describe your interest and qualifications for this project.
• Current Resume: outline your experience as an artist. Artist teams must submit a resume for each member with a one page maximum.
• 1 image of a past completed mural artwork. Including: title of work, dimensions, medium, year of completion, and a three (3) sentence description. If applying as a team, only one (1) JPEG image can be submitted to CAFÉ.
• Prepare verbal, written and visual presentation to show schematic and final artwork proposal. Presentation should include:
  • One (1) JPEG image of the proposed artwork in the form of a to-scale drawing or depiction that serves as a preliminary depiction submitted on Café.
  • Image must be sized to the following dimensions (as required by the CAFÉ online application system)
  • Dimensions: 1920 pixels horizontal or vertical
  • File Format: Baseline JPEG (do not use progressive JPEG format)
  • Compression: Please size each image to be no more than 1.8 MB in file size. On average, each image will be roughly 1.2. MB. Larger is not necessarily better. JPEG images cannot be saved as progressive JPEG files. Progressive JPEG files will appear on the CAFÉ web site, but will not display properly during the jury process.
  • Media: Internet submissions only
  • File Name: CAFÉ will automatically rename files
  • A narrative description of the sources and methodology used to develop the proposal, plus information about the scale, location, context, materials, maintenance requirements, and fabrication and installation methods
  • Preliminary budget

 

Artist Team Requirements

• If available, please include images of work that demonstrate a collaborative effort to create an artwork by all members of the team.
• Artist teams must include a lead artist who will solely enter into a contract with the City as the vendor associated with the contract.
• When applying as a team you are expected to accept the commission as a team throughout span of the project.

 

Selection Process and Criteria
Applications will be reviewed and scored by an Artist Selection Panel (ASP) assembled by MCAD, which may be comprised of representatives from diverse disciplines, community perspectives, and field expertise, and are to include a visual art professional, and a member of the El Paso Downtown Arts District Committee. The ASP will review all complete, eligible applications received by the deadline.

• Criteria used to select artists will be:
• Artistic quality- strength of the artist’s concept and demonstrated craftsmanship
• Immediate availability and ability to work with fluctuating deadlines
• Feasibility in terms of meeting budget and timeline restrictions
• Structural and surface soundness in terms of resistance to vandalism and weather
• Meets City codes for accessibility and public safety
   

For Further Information or Questions Please Contact:
Kaycee Dougherty
Downtown Arts District Coordinator
City of El Paso Museums and Cultural Affairs Department
400 W. San Antonio Ave. Suite A, El Paso, Texas 79901
915.541.4280 | doughertykl@elpasotexas.gov