West Hollywood, CA

As part of the cultural planning process, the City of West Hollywood through its Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission is seeking an artist or artist group to join the planning team to create opportunities for the public to participate in the process in creative and engaging ways. The selected artist/artist group should have experience in social practice art. The artist/artist group will be asked to engage the community with artworks, events, workshops, or other experiences as a way to inform the cultural planning process. For the purposes of this RFQ, social practice is defined as an “art medium that focuses on social engagement, inviting collaboration with individuals, communities, and institutions in the creation of participatory art.”

The artist/artist group will participate in planning discussions and in the design and execution of public interactions. It is anticipated that the artist/artist group will instill the values of creativity-in-practice, unexpected interaction, and collective discourse on the City’s cultural life in the planning committee’s work, as well as in the process’ outcomes. 

The planning group does not have pre-set parameters for the types of public interactions to be developed, nor the artistic discipline(s) of the selected artist(s).

It is anticipated that the selected artist/artist group will participate in the Cultural Planning Process for seven months, June to December of 2016.

ELIGIBILITY

The Request for Qualifications is open to professional artists and artist groups residing in Los Angeles County. The ideal artist/artist group will have proven experience in social practice, work with diverse communities, creative problem solving, and unique examples of prior project documentation.

BUDGET

The City will provide a $2,000 per month stipend for seven (7) months for the artist/artist group.  If an artist group is selected, the $2,000 stipend will be divided by the group. It is anticipated that some portion of the stipend will cover costs associated with the social practice experiences and creative documentation. 

DEADLINE TO APPLY: Applications must be submitted online by April 4, 2016, 5:00 P.M. (PDT) 

SCOPE OF WORK

Over the course of the cultural planning process (June to December, 2016), the AIR will:

• Participate in collaborative dialogue at planning meetings with, but not limited to, the City’s Performing and Cultural Arts Subcommittee (PACA), Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission (ACAC), Arts and Economic Development Division (AED), and cultural planning consultant.

• Attend monthly ACAC and/or PACA meetings (7 total). ACAC meetings take place on the fourth Thursday of every month at 5pm. PACA meetings take place on the second Thursday of every month at 5pm. 

• Develop and execute no fewer than four (4) social practice experiences to invite participation, gather and share stories, and collect feedback from residents of West Hollywood on the city’s artistic and cultural life in creative and innovative ways.

• Produce (or may collaborate with other parties in the production of) documentation of the social practice experiences.

• Act as an advocate and ambassador of the process in interactions beyond those within West Hollywood’s 1.9 square miles – bringing reflection and insight to the planning process and to the role of West Hollywood in the regional arts community.

• Participate in a post-process discussion with the AED staff and cultural planning consultant to provide feedback on the engagement.

SELECTION PROCESS

A selection committee composed of, but not limited to, Arts and Cultural Affairs Commissioners, the cultural planning consultant, and AED staff will convene to review submissions through this request for qualifications. An artist/artist group will be selected and recommended to the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission based upon the following criteria:

• Proven artistic merit and strong professional qualifications as demonstrated through previous social practice projects.

• A strong letter of interest outlining the potential for the residency to create a meaningful and educational participant experience.

• Successful track record of completing projects on time and within the allocated budget.

• Ability to execute high quality, site-specific temporary artwork/events/workshops that will resonate with the West Hollywood community.

• Experience working directly with community members and projects requiring public participation and interaction for successful implementation.

The selection committee will identify a small group of semifinalists for interviews and presentations.  Once the committee has made its recommendation, it will be forwarded to the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission (ACAC) for approval.  

SCHEDULE (subject to change):

March 3 – RFQ released

April 4 – RFQ deadline at 5:00 P.M.

April 14 – Selection Committee review of applications and selection of semifinalists

April 21 – Semifinalists interviews and presentations before the Selection Committee

April 28 – Final selection approved by the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission

May 2 – Selected artist notification

June 1 – Orientation/kick-off meeting

TO APPLY

To apply, upload all of the following information to the online Social Practice Artist Application below (scroll down):

• Current resume/curriculum vitae (Limit 4 pages)

• Letter of Interest (Limit 2 pages) to include the following:

‣ Describe your previous work, artistic process, and experiences as a social practice artist.

‣ How you might create a meaningful and educational participant experience?

‣ What is your current project load?

‣ Describe how you would evaluate the success of this art opportunity.

• Evidence of Previous Work (up to 5 projects total):

‣ Provide project descriptions of up to five (5) completed residencies and/or social practice projects.

‣ Include name of project, client name, date, number of participants and budget for each project description.

‣ Include website and/or video links to project, if available.

‣ Provide images to correspond with the project descriptions. (Limit of 5 images per project)

• References: Provide contact information for three (3) current professional references including name, title, organization, website, phone, and email addresses. It is preferable that these references have worked with you in the past in a similar context to the nature of this RFQ.

ABOUT WEST HOLLYWOOD

The City of West Hollywood, known as the “Creative City,” was incorporated in 1984. It is 1.9 square miles in area and is bounded by Beverly Hills to the west, Hollywood to the east, and Los Angeles to the north and south. West Hollywood is home to approximately 37,000 residents and over 3,500 businesses. Sixty percent (60%) of adults are college-educated, and 54% are employed in managerial and professional occupations. Approximately 40% of the City’s residents are gay or lesbian, 10% are Russian-speaking immigrants, and close to 20% are senior citizens.

QUESTIONS

For all questions related to this Request for Qualifications contact Rebecca Ehemann, Public Art Coordinator, City of West Hollywood, (323) 848-6846, rehemann@weho.org.

For additional information on City of West Hollywood arts projects please visit www.weho.org/arts or www.facebook.com/WeHoArts.

• The City of West Hollywood reserves the right to cancel or postpone this Request for Qualifications at any time.

• The City of West Hollywood reserves the right to photograph, videotape, and distribute images of the artist and all resulting artwork for non-commercial purposes.

• The City of West Hollywood reserves the right to retain, remove, and relocate all artworks commissioned as a result of this RFQ.