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Renovation Completion Date:
Construction complete
RFQ submission deadline:
September 26, 2008, 5:00pm MST
An $80 million renovation of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in downtown Providence, Rhode Island which includes linking the facility to the adjacent Rhode Island Convention Center will be completed September 2008. The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) invites artists to submit a “Request for Qualifications” (RFQ) for an exterior public art site associated with this renovation in accordance with the Rhode Island 1% Allocation for Art for Public Facilities Act, which states that “public art creates a more humane environment: one of distinction, enjoyment and pride for all citizens”. The 1% allocation for this project is $420,000 (1% of hard construction costs.)
The Dunkin’ Donuts Center, a multi-use venue known locally as “the Dunk”, is the home arena for the AHL Providence Bruins hockey team and the Providence College men’s basketball team. In December 2005, the center was purchased by the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority (RICCA) from the City of Providence with the intention of turning the 33-year-old, 14,000-seat arena into a state-of-the-art facility and creating a world-class destination and entertainment venue for both large-and small-scale events, meetings and conventions. It was announced recently that in 2010 the first two rounds of the prestigious NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will be hosted by Providence College and held at “the Dunk”.
Over the years, literally millions of people, from near and far, have visited the Dunkin’ Donuts Center attending sports and other events including but not limited to hockey and basketball games, rock concerts, boat shows, monster truck jamborees, professional bull riding exhibitions, and family shows. The venue has and continues to serve a wide cross-section of the community and plays an important role in the quality of life here in Rhode Island. This highly visible, popular venue represents an excellent opportunity for the creation and integration of public art.
Project and Site Descriptions:
Appointed by RISCA, a five-member art selection panel composed of one representative of RICCA, a community representative, two professional artists, and the project architect, met to discuss the Dunkin’ Donuts Center renovation and the goals of the public art project at the facility. A first round of reviews did not result in the commissioning of a work, and RISCA has re-opened the search.
In this round, one exterior site has been identified for the installation of public art has been selected by the panel.
Exterior South Plaza. Located at the south corner of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center this exterior corner plaza is an irregularly shaped rectangle open to the southwest, south and southeast, and bounded by the Center to the northwest, north and northeast. Sabin Street runs along the east side of the plaza, the confluence of Sabin, Broadway and Empire Streets to the south/southeast, and an alley/service road to the south/southwest. A 14-floor Hilton Hotel is located directly across the alley from the plaza to the south/southwest.
This urban plaza is an open public space, quietly tucked back off, and adjacent to, a busy streetscape, providing pedestrians with a secluded area to sit, rendezvous, visit, and rest. Previously, the space lacked a clear purpose with aging concrete benches, tables and planters that populated the area, as well as an outmoded LED sign. All elements of this plaza have been demolished and removed, providing a raw site for development. A secondary entrance to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center is accessible via this plaza, as will be a new retail store, once renovations are complete. This site provides a unique opportunity for artists to develop an underutilized downtown open space into a spectacular public space for locals, tourists, pedestrians and users of the Dunkin’ Donuts Center for their use and enjoyment. Developing this plaza will add a level of sophistication and pedestrian-friendliness to this corner of Providence not currently extant and enhance the Downcity as it continues to rebuild and undergo new development.
Budget:
A total of $420,000 has been designated for the acquisition of public art for the Dunkin’ Donuts Center project. This amount must cover all costs of the artwork including artist fees, fabrication, modifications and/or additional demolition of existing site features, site grading and drainage, all necessary utilities to support artwork, installation, and transportation of the art, as well as all necessary engineering studies and site work required for fabrication and installation.. The commissioned artist will be responsible for the coordination, sub-contracting and execution for all of these operations. No additional funds will be made available for this project.
Code Requirements:
Artwork is required to meet egress capacities and ADA requirements. The commissioned artist is responsible for ensuring artwork is installed in accordance with all current local, state and federal building codes.
Request for Qualifications (RFQ) Submission Requirements:
Qualifications and proposal statements for the Dunkin’ Donuts Center public art project will be submitted online through CAFÉ ™ at www.callforentry.org by the submission deadline of September 26, 2008. All materials must be submitted through CAFÉ ™. There is no charge for this service. No slides or hard copy materials will be accepted. First-time CAFÉ ™ applicants must allow ample time to prepare their proposals and digital images for electronic submission in accordance to CAFÉ ™ requirements in order to meet the deadline. (CAFÉ ™ survey estimates approximately 1.5 hours to prepare images and submit applications via their system.)
Note: If an artist would like to apply as an individual as well as part of a team, two separate applications must be submitted.
Submissions will consist of:
• Current resume of principal artist and of key assistants and/or subcontractors, if applicable. Teams must submit all resumes within one document.
• A written proposal statement not to exceed 2,000 characters specifying the site and describing the concept and materials, proposed budget and installation requirements;
• Six (6) digital images of relevant work completed within the past five years. The following information must accompany each image:
Note: If you wish to submit a “detail” image, it will be considered one of the six images allowed.
RFQ Finalist Selection Criteria:
The Dunkin’ Donuts Center public art selection panel will review all submitted Applications in mid-to late-September and choose 3-5 finalists based on the following key criteria:
Full Proposals:
Finalists chosen by the public art selection panel will be notified before the end of September. Concurrent with notification, a preparatory site visit to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center will be arranged for each finalist by RISCA. This will allow finalists to meet with the architects and project and construction managers in order to gain a better sense and understanding of the project scope. Finalists will be asked to create a full proposal to be presented in person to the art selection panel on December 1, 2008. This presentation should clearly convey the artist’s concept for artwork through plans, drawings, and/or scale models with a clear description of materials, fabrication, installation requirements (including engineering and other specifications), and overall project cost. For their completed proposals, an honorarium of $1,500 will be awarded to each finalist.
RISCA will be responsible for all travel and lodging arrangements and expenses, as well as a small per diem for both the preparatory site visit and the final presentation visit.
RISCA reserves the right to retain all artist proposal materials for up to one year and the right to reproduce final proposals for documentation and public education purposes. The public art selection panel reserves the right to determine which proposals will be funded and the extent of funding for each commission and installation. The panel also reserves the right to reject any final proposal submitted. Upon final approval by RISCA for the purchase of artwork, the selected artist(s) will enter into contract with RISCA. The completed artwork will be owned and maintained by the State of Rhode Island.
Deadlines for submission:
RFQ submission deadline: September 26, 2008, 5:00pm MST
Application review and finalist selection: mid-to late-September
Finalist notification: before end of September
Finalists’ preparatory site visit: October 2008 (date TBA)
Finalist presentations: December 1, 2008
Final selection and notification: December 2008 (date TBA)
Artist Eligibility:
Open to all visual artists. The panel will not discriminate against any applicant based on age, race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or physical challenges. Excluded from participation are RISCA council members, staff and their family members, as well as, art selection panelists and their family members.
For additional information:
If you have questions regarding the submission of materials, please contact. For CAFÉ ™ technical support contact café@westaf.org. For specific questions regarding the scope of the public art project, please contact Elizabeth Keithline at elizabeth@arts.ri.gov..