CALL FOR ARTISTS

Request for Qualifications
Project Title: Kansas Capitol Mural: Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al.

Project Overview: The State of Kansas seeks applications from artists and artistic teams for a commission to create a public mural commemorating Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et aI. to be located in the Kansas Capitol in Topeka, Kansas. The qualifications of artists and artistic teams who apply will be reviewed by the Capitol Preservation Committee, and finalists will be invited to submit site-specific proposals. The Capitol Preservation Committee will select one artist or artistic team from the finalists to be awarded the commission.

Download the Brown Mural Call for Artists (PDF)

Application Deadline: To be considered, responses to this request for qualifications must be received by the Capitol Preservation Committee by 5:00 p.m. CT on May 1, 2012.

Eligibility: This project is open to all qualified artists and artistic teams who are residents of the United States.

Mural:

1. The mural will demonstrate artistic excellence and be an original work. It will be prominently located in the Kansas State Capitol (built 1866-1903), the grandest and most important public building in Kansas. John Steuart Curry’s murals on the second floor, including “Tragic Prelude” (1938-1940), represent some of the finest public art in our country. Each year thousands of Kansas children tour the Capitol and take with them powerful, enduring images of the people and events which shaped their state. Dedication of this mural will coincide with the completion of major projects to restore and preserve the Capitol, greatly increasing public exposure to the mural.

   More information about the Kansas State Capitol is available through the Kansas State Historical Society. The East, West and South Wings and an Underground Parking Garage have been preserved, restored, renovated or constructed new over the past 11 years. The North Wing will be completed in September 2012. The interior and infrastructure work includes new lighting, air-conditioning and heating, plumbing, electrical, finishes, windows and furnishings. The exterior masonry has been repaired. The copper dome and copper roof will be replaced and completed in 2013.

2. The mural will memorialize the landmark significance of Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. by capturing its antecedents, elements, and effects on Kansas, the United States, and the international community. It will be historically accurate. The case memorialized by this mural was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 17, 1954, and is cited as: Oliver Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al. (347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873). More resource information about Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. is available through the Kansas Legislative Research Department.
3. The mural will be located in the Kansas Capitol in Topeka, Kansas. It will be painted, then applied to and made integral with the wall at this site. The mural will be a permanent fixture in the Kansas Capitol, durable, stable, non-deteriorating, low maintenance, and appropriate for the light, temperature, and high volume of pedestrian traffic at this site.

   More information about the possible sites for the mural is available through the Kansas Legislative Research Department.

4. Timeline

   This schedule is contingent upon the Capitol Preservation Committee’s schedule and upon funding for this project, and may be changed at any time.

• May 1, 2012 Deadline for response to the RFQ (received by 5:00 p.m. CT).
• August 1, 2012 Finalists notified by this date. Finalists will be asked to visit the site for the mural.
• December 1, 2012 Deadline for responses to the RFP (received by 5:00 p.m. CT).
• April 1, 2013 Interview of finalists by the Capitol Preservation Committee.
• July 1, 2013 Selected artist or artistic team will be notified of award.
• August 1, 2013 Anticipated date for execution of contract.
• Sept. 2013-Sept. 2014 Art production and completion. Installation of the mural will be coordinated with the artist or artistic team, the mural project manager, and the Statehouse Architect.
• October 1, 2014 Dedication of the mural.

Budget

The funding for this project will be provided by private donations. The project budget and the selected artist’s fee are subject to negotiation.

Educational Public Programs

The artist or artistic team will be required to participate in no more than three educational public programs during or within a year of the completion of the project. These programs will be designed to instruct and to arouse attention and interest in the Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. mural through discussions about the artist’s or artistic teams’ concepts and techniques, and the ideas that shaped the mural’s content.

Selection Process

The selection of the artist, or artist team, will be conducted in three stages.

Stage ONE (RFQ): The Capitol Preservation Committee will evaluate all Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) submissions and select finalists.

Stage TWO (RFP): The finalists will be asked to respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP), by
submitting detailed project descriptions and site-specific, to scale, color renderings of their proposed murals. Finalists will be strongly encouraged to visit the site for the mural prior to the submission of their proposals.

Stage THREE: The Capitol Preservation Committee will select one submission from all of the requested proposals to be awarded the commission.

Selection Criteria

The Capitol Preservation Committee will consider the following criteria when making its selection: the applicant’s formal education and professional training; a chronology of achievement in the arts; evidence of artistic excellence; a demonstrated ability to undertake projects of a similar scope; a record of professional public art; and a history of working positively with clients and the public in the creation of an art project.

The Capitol Preservation Committee reserves the right to reject any and all applications.

Applications:

Download the Brown Mural Call for Artists (PDF)

To be considered for this commission, artists and artistic teams must prepare and submit their responses to this request for qualifications by 5:00 p.m. CT, May 1, 2011.

MAIL ALL MATERIALS TO:

Mulvane Art Museum
1700 SW College Avenue
Washburn University
Topeka, KS 66621
ATTN: Capitol Preservation Committee

1. Package all application materials in a sealed envelope, mailer, or mailing box. The applicant’s name and address, and the project title: Kansas Capitol Mural: Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. should appear clearly on the exterior of the enclosure.
2. Do not staple any materials together.
3. Clearly title each page of the application with the applicant’s name, the date of the application, and the title of the project: Kansas Capitol Mural: Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al.
4. Include these materials in this order:
   1. Artist’s resume’. Teams should submit a resume’ for each member.
   2. Three references from clients. Include the clients’ names, mailing addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers.
   3. Visual support materials: Submit all visual materials on one computer disk, clearly labeled with the applicant’s name and contact information. Submit all documents as PDFs. Submit all images in jpg format. Resolution should be 600dpi or higher.
   1. Include a maximum of 10 digital images of previous works, only 4 of which may be detailed images. Include images of paintings, murals, and public art by the artist or artistic team.
   2. Label each image with a name, the title if any, medium, date completed, and where installed.
   3. Provide any links and website addresses where additional images of work by the artist or artistic team may be viewed.
   4. One copy of each printed document, such as an article, catalogue, or news release, directly relevant to the qualifications and experience of the artist or artistic team.
   5. Self-addressed envelope, mailer or mailing box with pre-paid postage, to have hard copies of materials returned following the completion of the selection process. Disks will not be returned. The Capitol Preservation Committee will make every effort to protect submitted materials, but will not be responsible for any loss or damage.

Capitol Preservation Committee:

The Capitol Preservation Committee has the statutory responsibility to develop plans to place a mural in
the Capitol commemorating Oliver Brown et al. v. the Board of Education of Topeka et al. (KSA 75-2267
and 75-2268). Members of the Committee include: the Statehouse Architect, the Executive Director of
the Kansas State Historical Society, the Executive Director of the Kansas Arts Commission, three
members appointed by the Governor, two members appointed by the President of the Senate, one
member appointed by the Senate Minority Leader, two members appointed by the Speaker of the
House, and one member appointed by the House Minority Leader.

Inquiries

All questions regarding this Request for Qualifications are to be directed to the Mulvane Art Museum at
785-670-1124 or mulvane.info@washburn.edu .

Download the Brown Mural Call for Artists (PDF)

Filmmaker and University of Kansas doctoral student Juli Pitzer is taking her film, “Preserving the Past: Topeka’s Jayhawk Theatre” to a live Topeka audience 6:30 p.m. Thurs. April 28 at Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s Marvin Auditiorium.

New Deal arts projects were guided by two novel assumptions: artists were workers and art was cultural labor worthy of government support. If we knew these to be true in the 1930s, why has our governor proposed cutting the Kansas Arts Commission?

Once-empty walls now brightened by work of community artists

Premiering at Top City Thursdays tonight, in the vacant storefront at 8th and Kansas Avenues, the Chords & Oil arts collective will be debuting their newest art installation, POP UP TOP. POP UP TOP seeks to breathe new life into vacant storefronts of Downtown Topeka. Vacant storefronts that have long sat empty are transformed into [...]

The arts and humanities benefit everyone. Our government must continue to support the arts, but we organizers must continue to connect our patrons with our producers.