Call to Artists: Public Art Installation for Wilderton Centre, Montreal

Photo of the pedestrian pathway into the Wilderton Centre.

Request for Qualifications:
Wilderton Centre
Public Art Competition

A permanent outdoor public art installation in Montreal, Quebec

Budget: $100,000 CAD + taxes (see Budget Section on for inclusions and exclusions)
Deadline for RFQ Submissions: Sunday, July 23, 2023, at 10:00pm (ET)

Artists and/or artist teams are invited to submit their qualifications for a juried, open competition to create a public artwork at Wilderton Centre.

This is a two-stage selection process. Artists are asked to submit qualifications at this time. Due to the anticipated number of RFQ submissions, only those selected as Semi-finalists will be contacted. Semi-finalists selected must submit concepts in Stage 2 and shall receive an honorarium of $2,000 CAD (inclusive of all expenses) to develop their concepts and budget in detail and present to the jury. Interested artists, must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada to submit their qualifications for consideration.

Submissions that do not meet requirements will be automatically declined. Please ensure you read the detailed documents in the link below.

For information on submission requirements, artwork location and other pertinent details, French and English versions available, click here.

Overview/Introduction of Wilderton Centre

FCR is seeking qualifications from artists and/or artist teams for the purpose of selecting up to 5 proposals at the second stage of the competition for a permanent outdoor public art installation.

The successful artist or artist team will be responsible for the creation, fabrication and installation of the art and will work with FCR and Zebra Public Art Mgmt. to bring the artwork to implementation in Spring 2024.

Eligibility

We are inviting interested artists, Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, to submit their qualifications for consideration as part of the first stage of this two-stage public art process. Recognition as an artist and experience in public art projects are required.

Interested participants must be professional artists. Architects and designers / design studios are not being considered for this project.

The finalist will be required to carry the appropriate insurance from the signing of the contract until completion when the artwork is signed over to FCR.

We encourage all qualified artists to contact us with any queries.

Public Art Location
Please refer to Wilderton Centre – First Capital (fcr.ca) for the site plan “SITE PLAN” and for more property pictures.

The location(s) identified (outlined in orange) requires an art piece(s). Iit can be anything from sculpture, carvings, metals work, special architectural, digital technologies, landscape features or any other form deemed appropriate.

We strongly recommend interested artists visit the site. You will see there are now trees inside the concrete boxes shown here:

Photo of the pedestrian pathway into the Wilderton Centre, showing the public art location outlined in orange.

FCR is interested in the creation of new work of art for the enhancement of the public space at Wilderton Centre.

The purpose of the Public Art Project is:

To activate, beautify and enliven the public space.
To inspire and engage residents and visitors.
To develop a sense of place, community pride and identity through the creation of new work.

Competition Process

The commissioned artwork will be chosen through a two-stage artwork Selection process:

The first stage will short-list up to a maximum of five (5) applicants based on qualifications.
Short-listed applicants will be required to visit the site in order to gain a familiarity with the building and area.
$2,000 honorarium (including all expenses) and maquette fee will be paid to the shortlisted artists to produce their proposal.
The second stage of the competition the jury will select an artwork based on a full project proposal with a maquette from short-listed applicants.

In the second stage, the semi-finalists will present their proposal and maquette in person to the jury on Monday, October 23, 2023; meeting location and time for the semi-finalist’s presentation will be communicated closer to the date.

The jury will make its final selection on or around Thursday, October 27, 2023.
Zebra will communicate the jury’s decision by email and/or telephone to all semi-finalists.

Budget

The budget for the completed work is up to a maximum of CAD $100,000 + taxes.

Artwork budget must be inclusive of all costs including (but not limited to) artist fees, materials, artwork fabrication, lighting/electrical integral to the piece, site preparation and labour, architectural design costs, below groundwork (if applicable), delivery, artwork transportation, structural engineering services, installation, contingency and artist’s general liability insurance.

Timeline

Deadline for RFQ Submissions: Sunday, July 23, 2023, at 10:00pm (ET)
Semi-finalists Selection: Monday, August 14, 2023
Concept Submissions: Sunday, October 15, 2023
Semi-finalists presentation to jury: Monday, October 23, 2023 (in-person, location TBD)
Selected finalist announcement: Thursday, October 26, 2023
Fabrication: November 2023 – April 2024
Installation: Spring 2024