In partnership with Port Everglades, Broward Cultural Division’s Public Art & Design Program is seeking to commission one artist or artist team to design, fabricate and install exterior artwork at Port Everglades, located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The prominent location presents an opportunity for highly visible and vibrant artwork that contributes to Port Everglades’ unique identity.

Exotic cruise vacations and international trade make Port Everglades an economic powerhouse for Broward County and one of the most diverse seaports in the United States. Located in the heart of Greater Fort Lauderdale and the City of Hollywood, Port Everglades is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world. It is a leading container port in Florida and among the most active cargo ports in the United States and is South Florida’s main seaport for receiving petroleum products including gasoline and jet fuel. A foreign-trade zone and available office space inside the Port's secure area, makes Port Everglades a highly desirable business center for world trade. The Port Everglades Department is a self-supporting Enterprise Fund of Broward County government and does not rely on local tax dollars for operations or capital improvements. There are 13,127 people who work for companies that provide direct services to Port Everglades.

Port Everglades values public art for its ability to welcome cruise guests, and build character and identity that is shared by tourists, the Port’s workforce, and the local community. More than 40 visually stimulating public artworks can be found across Port Everglades’ industrial landscape and in Port buildings. Over the past two decades the Port has invested more than two million dollars in public art, including a 260-foot interactive artwork by Vanessa Till Hooper in Cruise Terminal 25. Alice Aycock created a dynamic outdoor sculpture that suggests waves, water, wind and vortexes of energy. The Harbormaster Tower, a six-story landmark structure for Port Everglades, is topped with a mural by Ernesto Maranje. In Cruise Terminal 18, Michele Oka Doner completed a stunning 3,000 square foot terrazzo floor embedded with bronze sea botanicals; and sculptor Larry Kirkland suspended a swirling multi-component artwork in the two-story entryway atrium.

The site for the artwork is a 1,100 square foot greenspace located on the west side of a busy four-way intersection. Landscaping includes grass and a centrally located 18-foot high palm tree cluster. The site is near the only 24/7 entrance to the Port, where there is direct access to major highway connections. Also nearby are the Port Everglades Administration Building, Cruise Terminals 19, 21, 25 and 26, multiple outdoor cargo container and auto storage yards, and the Port Fire Station. There is no parking near the site or along the busy road.

The artwork will be viewed primarily during daylight hours, when Port Everglades is most active. Nighttime activity at Port Everglades with limited nighttime visibility. The artwork will be of a sufficient height for viewing from vehicles and set back from curbs to ensure that traffic sightlines are not blocked. Port Everglades is proud of its commitment to the environment; therefore, spatially integrated artwork with a kinetic component, or otherwise powered by wind or sun would be welcomed, but not a requirement. Due to public safety concerns, the artwork will not invite public interaction or present a photo opportunity which requires cars to stop or pedestrians to cross the roadway. Florida is subject to high winds and permanent outdoor artwork must be engineered to withstand winds of up to 152 miles per hour.

The selected artist will be required to visit the site, attend a kick-off meeting, and coordinate the artwork installation with Port Everglades.

Other activities include:

• Enter into County’s Commissioned Artwork Agreement (Attached - please read before responding to this Call to Artists)

• Design development of approved conceptual design ensuring that no Port structures are damaged by installation of the artwork

• 2-dimensional visual representation of the approved design, spatially integrated into the site

• Engineering by a Florida licensed engineer

• Obtain all required permits

• Installation of the artwork by a Florida licensed contractor

• Site visits as required by the Contract Administrator

The total budget established for this project will not exceed $90,000. The budget must include artist’s design fee, presentation expenses, insurance, permits, engineering, artwork installation, professional conservation review of proposed materials, site visits, coordination meetings, artist’s contingency, and all applicable taxes.

This Call to Artists is open to professional artists eighteen years of age or older, residing in the United States and who have not been previously selected for a Broward County public art commission in the past 10 years. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate through their submission materials, experience with similar windproof outdoor public art projects. Due to the complexity of the site, experience coordinating project design and installation with engineers and subcontractors is recommended.

The Broward Cultural Division manages the application process. An Artist Selection Panel (Panel) will review the applications. The Panel includes a member of the Public Art & Design Committee, arts professionals, and an agency and community representative. The Panel review the application and shortlist artists based on the excellence of previous work, as demonstrated by the visuals and other submission materials. The Panel will also consider the versatility and appropriateness of the media in which the applicant has demonstrated proficiency, as it relates to the scope of this project.

No more than three (3) applicants will be shortlisted by the Artist Selection Panel. The shortlisted artists will have approximately one (1) month to prepare a conceptual design proposal for review by the Panel. Each shortlisted artist will be paid a $500.00 honorarium to develop this conceptual design proposal. Shortlisted artists must submit one (1) digital copy (PC compatible media) of their full presentation five (5) business days prior to the presentation to the Panel. Shortlisted artists may present their design proposal to the Panel via videoconference or in person. Shortlisted artists’ proposals must include a written narrative, estimated project budget, and visual materials necessary to convey the proposed concept or approach. One of the shortlisted artists will be selected and paid a $1500.00 honorarium to develop the concept into a full proposal. Proposals, including models/maquettes, become property of Broward County and will not be returned.

The County reserves the right to re-issue this Call to Artists, to reject any and all responses to this Call, and to reassess and negotiate the design proposal with any qualified artist selected for this project.

Selection of Shortlisted Artists: June/July 2020

Shortlisted Artist’s Interviews, and Artist Selection: August/September 2020

Selected Artist Full Design Proposal: October 2020

Artwork Completion and Installation: TBD, as coordinated with Port Everglades

Applications must be submitted via the Submittable website and must include:

• Cover Letter – briefly, in one paragraph or less, summarize your background and interest in the project

• Professional Résumé – Artist will include public art commissions with contact information for Project Manager or Program Director and budget size of past projects.

• Electronic Images – Artist must submit 10 digital images of most recent relevant work in one PDF document format. All images must be saved using a file name and number that corresponds to the Annotated Image List (see below). Each digital image must feature a single work. Composites of various artworks in a single image will not be considered.

• Annotated Image List – Include name of artist, title of work, year, media, size, and location of artwork and/or project, project budget, image number, image thumbnail and any other relevant information.
 

June 29, 2020 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Contact: Dominique Denis, Public Art & Design Project Manager

Phone: (954) 357-7236

Email: ddenis@broward.org

Fraser Poorman, Public Art & Design Art Assistant

Phone: (954) 357-4795

Bonnie Barnett, Co-Chair, Diane Weinbrum, Co-Chair, Mario M. Cartaya, Lori Pratico, Linda Flynn, John Sandell, Cathy Donnelly, and Kristen Hoover.

Phillip Dunlap, Director

Leslie Fordham, Public Art & Design Administrator

The Broward County Public Art & Design Program was established in 1976. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the enhancement of the built environment through the commission of works of art that create a sense of place, that improve the visual environment for the citizens of Broward County, and that advance the missions of the County departments where the projects are situated. Commissioned artworks are the result of a dynamic interaction between selected artists, the local community, and constituent groups during the design phase of each project.

The Broward County Public Art & Design Program is recognized with distinction in national and international circles. In 2017, two public artworks received Community Appearance awards from the City of Fort Lauderdale. In 2002, four of Broward County’s public artworks were selected among an international ensemble of some of the world’s finest public artworks and listed in the Australian publication, “Designing the World’s Best Public Art”. Broward County Public Art & Design program is a national leader in developing model public art policies and best practices, and producing exemplary public artworks synthesizing design excellence. Broward County has received seven Americans for the Arts Year in Review awards for public art, “an indicator of the program’s outstanding commitment in advancing art and design”, said Liesel Fenner ASLA, former manager of Public Art Network for Americans for the Arts. Broward County public art installations include works by: Clyde Butcher, James Carpenter, Carl Cheng, George Gadson, Duane Hanson, Chris Janney, Lorna Jordan, Patricia Leighton, Gary Moore, Barbara Neijna, Jody Pinto, Ray Olivero, Beth Ravitz, Martha Schwartz, Ned Smyth, Ritsuko Taho, Liam Gillick, Miles Coolidge, Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt, Sara Morris, Sam Gilliam, Vanessa Till Hooper, and Alice Aycock.

Broward County was established in 1915. The early agricultural characteristic of the county was transformed in the 1970s when mid-rise and high-rise development replaced farmland. Today, over 1.95 million people live in the County’s 31 municipalities and municipal service districts, as well as the Seminole Tribe of Florida reservation. Broward is one of five counties in Florida where minorities constitute the majority. It is included in the South Florida tri-county metropolitan area comprised of Broward, Palm Beach and Dade counties, with a combined economic force of over 6 million people. The county’s total land area is 1,322.8 square miles. The eastern one-third of the county is concentrated as developed, urbanized area, and the western two-thirds is undeveloped, protected wetlands and the Everglades. Among Broward County’s interesting characteristics are the many hundreds of miles of canals; highest point is 29 feet above mean sea level; numerous seasonal residents; 12.5 million annual tourists; and the third largest cruise port in the world. The climate is sub-tropical (75.4F average annual temperature) with wet summer and fall, and dry spring and winter seasons.