Calling all artists. The city is currently seeking proposals for a public-art project in Uptown.
The new projects will be the first in a series of art installations in the Uptown Eco-Innovation District. Launched in fall 2015, the Eco-Innovation District is a city program encouraging environmentally friendly and sustainable development in the neighborhood.
As part of the program, the city worked with members of the community and Uptown stakeholders to develop a plan for the Uptown district. During the process to develop this plan, the community identified priorities, such as access to public transit, economic opportunity and investment in public-art projects.
The latest call for submissions will be the first step in bringing the art portion of the community plan to life. So far, the city plans to create three permanent art installations in the district as part of the Uptown Art Program.
Uptown is already home to a vibrant art community. There are several murals dotted around the neighborhood, in an effort to beautify vacant buildings and blight. And on Gist Street, which has become home to several artists, there is an outdoor gallery of mixed media.
According to the request for proposals submitted by the city on March 2, with the new art installations, the city and members of the community are hoping to see the addition of “artistic interventions ranging from experiential objects to interactive experiences.”
The first public-art site will be located in Tustin Park, at 2028 Tustin St. The deadline for submissions is March 30.
Proposals can be submitted by an artist, artist collective, arts institution, educational institution or designers. The budget for the project is $24,500. Artists are asked to propose a concept for the project that will ultimately be finalized through community input.
The process is being spearheaded by Pittsburgh’s Public Art and Civic Design Division which is tasked with ensuring “quality design of city-owned architecture, infrastructure, and landscape in order to create and enhance place-making by the inclusion of art and arts programming to reflect the city’s history, diversity and culture.” In addition to its work on new public-art installations like those slated for Uptown, the division currently oversees the city’s Art Commission, as well as the conservation and maintenance of the city’s collection of public artwork, monuments and memorials.
