Project Summary
The Redevelopment Agency of the City of Fresno (“Agency”) seeks to commission a site specific
artwork that will engage the citizens and those doing business with the city as they approach the downtown and Chinatown area.

Project History/Scope
Fresno, California (pop. 500,000) is located on 106 square miles in the lush San Joaquin Valley in the heart of California, mid-way between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and is the business and cultural capital of central California (Attachment A). Fresno is now the state’s fifth largest city and the Valley’s largest metropolitan city. The greater Fresno County area is approaching one million residents and has access to a market draw of over 1.5 million people within a 30 minute drive. Fresno is a rapidly growing community within a world-renowned agricultural setting and features a culturally diverse population. Many consider Fresno to be the perfect size city that offers both the best of urban amenities and opportunities with the unique appeal and environment of a small town. Fresno is located just 90 minutes from the famed Yosemite National Park as well as Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Numerous lakes and two
major rivers, including one of California’s finest whitewater rafting rivers, are also in Fresno’s backyard.

Fresno was founded in 1872 by the Central Pacific Railroad. By 1875 the population of Fresno was 600, with a third of the residences Chinese who lived west of the tracks. Over the years the city prospered and drew immigrants from around the world, including Scandinavians, Germans from Russia, Japanese, Mexicans, Italians and Armenians. Although ethnic groups intermingled---often shopping and working together in West Fresno’s “Chinatown”--- they also set up distinct residential communities such as Armenian Town, Russian Town and Chinatown.

Chinatown encompasses approximately 125 acres and is generally bounded by State Highway 41 to the south, the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way to the east, Fresno Street to the north and State Highway 99 to the west. The area consists of mostly older industrial and manufacturing buildings with a large number of vacant lots, as well as some older residential uses. Perhaps the most dominant feature of the project area is Chukchansi Park, a modern minor league professional baseball facility built by the City of Fresno.
In recent years, Chinatown has experienced several major improvements in addition to the baseball stadium. The most noteworthy of these are the Central Fish Market; the California Dairies expansion; Smart & Final market; the renovation of the historic Hobbs-Parsons Building for the Fresno Fire Department; the re-use, remodeling, and commercial facade improvements of several older commercial buildings; and, new street scape improvements.

The Agency has been working with a Master Developer, Historic Chinatown LLC, to determine the feasibility of master-developing the Chinatown area through a public/private partnership in a mixed use neighborhood concept, including 500,000 square feet of office space, 250,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, approximately 400 to 500 residential housing units and associated public infrastructure, including public parking, in a proposed master planned development program, while retaining the area’s unique historical and cultural heritage. The Agency and the proposed Developer are also working with approximately 33 property owners and businesses within the Chinatown area who are seeking to improve and or expand their businesses as part of the proposed master planned development program. Additional development and owner participation interests may also involve the portion of the area located between the Union Pacific Railroad and “G” Streets, in the same mixed use approach.

The Role of Art and the Project Components
The Project Site is at the corner of Fresno Street and E Street at the entryway to Chinatown. (See site plan, Exhibit A). Proposed at that site is a 4,700 s.f. multi-tenant building anchored by a convenience store. The City requires a 20 foot landscape setback which is large enough to accommodate the Project. This is a highly visible area as it is located within feet of the Fresno Street exit from State Highway 99, the main freeway exit into downtown.

Art located at Fresno and E Street should provide strong visual identity, and contribute to the overall experience and perceptions of the area in a memorable and vital way. A critical objective of the design is to use materials, colors, and aesthetics that speak to contemporary times while recognizing the area’s historical context. Clarity of circulation, spatial volumes, and contemporary materials are the keystones of the overall design.

All media will be considered but should have the capability of withstanding extreme temperatures and weather conditions. Any proposed landscaping elements should be full sun and drought tolerant. The artwork should be complementary to the project’s architecture. As appropriate, art should function as way finders, bringing people through volumes of space and providing visual points of focus.

Traditional materials for artwork that have met the durability requirements of the street environment have included glass, steel, stone, bronze and aluminum. Other materials can be used that meet the environmental challenges and this will be discussed with the selected finalists. The Agency will coordinate the installation of artwork with the property developer.

Eligibility
This competition is open to all artists or artist teams, 18 years of age or older. For the purpose of this document, an artist is defined as a professional practitioner in the arts, generally recognized by his or her peers as possessing serious intent and ability. This is a national call for submittals. While residency will not necessarily carry additional weight, California-based artists are especially encouraged to consider this opportunity.

Artist Qualifications
One artist will be selected by a selection panel comprising arts professionals, representatives of Chinatown, and Agency staff. The panel will select three finalists to produce site-specific proposals. Eligibility is based upon the following minimum qualifications:

• Artistic merit as evidenced in previous work and exhibition history, awards,
honors, and publications.
• Demonstrated proficiency and technical knowledge of the materials/techniques of
the medium in which the artist chooses to work.
• Availability to work in Fresno during the required design and construction period (see Project Schedule).
• It is also preferred that the qualified artists have:
Experience working with governmental agencies.
Ability to understand the context of the community’s concerns, dynamics, and diversity.
Experience working with community groups, and making public presentations.
• All artists with applicable, relevant experience are encouraged to apply for these
commissions. (Artists who have previously received and completed MTA Arts for Transit commissions are eligible to submit qualifications for this project.)

Project Schedule
The development project is already in the City’s entitlement process. The Artist chosen for this commission must be available to produce the work and install it by September, 2010.

Project Budget
Up to $30,000 inclusive of all designer fees, administrative costs, travel, research, design, materials, fabrication, engineering, transportation and installation/construction. Lighting should be considered as a key element of this project, with those costs being included as part of the overall project budget.

To expedite this process, this project is proposed as a phased project. The first phase will consist of artist selection with the final selected artist completing all research and design requirements for the commissioned piece at a cost of no more than 5% of the total project budget, up to a maximum of $1,500. The second phase will be the fabrication and installation phase of this project, in an amount not to exceed $28,500, and will commence in late spring, 2010.

Deadline for Submitting Application and Materials
5:00 p.m. PST, Wednesday, February 3, 2010. Applications and materials must be received by this date and time to be considered.

Selection Process
The selection process will be conducted in three stages:
1) An initial submission of qualifications stage, from which up to three finalists may be selected based upon the materials submitted. The selection of finalists will be made by a panel appointed by the Agency.
2) An onsite introduction stage whereby the artist finalists will travel to Fresno to participate in an information gathering meeting involving key stakeholders and interested parties, prior to the development of a conceptual design. Negotiated expenses related to travel will be paid by the Agency.
3) A final interview stage, during which each finalist will be paid a $1000 honorarium to develop a conceptual design for the artwork to present to the selection panel. If submitting as an artist team, the honorarium will be paid to the team, not individual members of the team. Likewise, negotiated travel expenses in addition to the honorarium will be paid to one member of an artist team. A finalist recommendation will be made by the selection panel to the Agency Executive Director. If approved, the Agency staff will then make a recommendation to the Fresno Redevelopment Agency Board for final approval.

Submission Guidelines
To be considered, a complete application consisting of the following components must be submitted. Only complete applications will be reviewed by the selection panel:
1) A CD with PC compatible JPEG files consisting of up to 12 photographs of recent work with images to be no smaller than 300 dpi. Slides will not be accepted. Each photograph should be named or numbered and correspond to an annotated script (see below). No models or original works of art should be submitted. If available, catalogs detailing past works or projects that demonstrate that the Artist meets the qualifications listed above.
2) An annotated script (two pages maximum) which includes title, medium, dimensions, date of completion, project budget, and a short statement describing the work. Save all text as PDF’s or Word documents on a labeled CD-ROM.
3) A maximum 1 ½ page (8 ½ X 11) typed artist statement that addresses interest, relevant experience, your philosophy of public art in general.
4) A current resume (maximum 3 pages for each artist or each member of an artist team) including references and up to 3 reviews or news clippings about the artist’s or artist team’s work.
5) Materials will not be returned.
6) Submissions should not be bound.
Please direct all submission related inquiries to Terry Cox, Project Manager, at 559.621.7622 or Terry.Cox@Fresno.gov.
Mail submittal materials to:
Redevelopment Agency of the City of Fresno
Terry Cox, Project Manager
2344 Tulare Street
Fresno, CA 93721

Submissions must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Please see http://www.fresnorda.com/pdf/calltoartists.pdf for Site Plan