Schlow Centre Region Library Sculpture Project
Introduction
The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts seeks to commission a unique and permanent work of art on behalf of Schlow Centre Region Library and the Centre Area Transportation Authority to be placed in front of the library in downtown State College, Pennsylvania.
The Client
Schlow Centre Region Library is located at the corner of Allen Street and Beaver Avenue in the heart of downtown State College. The library serves not only the borough of State College, but also the surrounding townships that make up the Centre Region. It is part of the Centre County Federation of Public Libraries.
Then known as the Bella S. Schlow Memorial Library, the library opened to the public in 1957 in two rooms of a rented house on College Avenue. In 1965 the library moved to its current site at the intersection of Beaver Avenue and South Allen Street, in a building that formerly housed the State College Post Office. Shortly thereafter the library became a regional institution when it started to receive financial support from the townships surrounding the Borough of State College. In 1986, the library expanded once again, adding an addition in the postmodern style that housed a new entrance, elevator and meeting room.
This building was demolished in 2004 and a new library, designed by Hayes Large Architects, opened on the site of the old one in October 2005. The building’s cupola and golden dove weathervane were salvaged from the old building and reinstalled on the new structure. The Library annually serves over 350,000 visitors, checks out over 700,000 items and offers educational programs to over 27,000 attendees.
The corner of Beaver Avenue and Allen Street serves as a transportation hub for those traveling to and from downtown State College on the CATABUS system, operated by the Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA).
Not only does the corner act as a major transit stop for three of the Authority’s routes and a transfer point to meet other buses in the downtown area, but its Downtown Sales Pass Office is located at street level on Beaver Avenue under the Schlow Library. The Downtown Sales Pass Office is by far the busier of the Authority’s two office locations, handling the majority of monthly pass and token sales and questions from the traveling public.
In 2005 CATA became the first transportation agency on the East Coast to have replaced its entire fleet with one that operates solely on clean compressed natural gas. On an average day, the system’s clean natural gas powered vehicles provide over 35,000 individual rides with a total yearly ridership of just over 7.1 million.
The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (CPFA) was founded by the State College Chamber of Commerce and Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture in 1967. Over the years, the festival has grown to encompass a well regarded Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, a juried mid-Atlantic regional fine art and craft gallery exhibition, children’s events, and music, dance and theatrical performances, a book festival and educational opportunities for young and old. Since 1995 the CPFA has produced First Night® State College, a family oriented alcohol free New Year’s Eve event. The Festival has worked with government agencies, local committees, and The Pennsylvania State University to promote and commission public art in downtown State College in the Centre Region.
The Site
The work will be anchored to the ground in front of the library directly in front of the northwest corner of the library building, on one of the busiest street corners in the Borough of State College.
Learn more by viewing the video below:
Schlow Centre Region Library Gallery
Click any image for a larger view and slideshow:
The Submission
Applicants must submit the following items through www.callforentry.org · a letter of interest not more than 5000 characters long describing their work, other commissioned work they have completed, and their vision for this piece
All materials must be submitted online via CaFETM. There is no application fee to use CaFETM online application system. To view the application for this project, www.callforentry.org, register a user name and password, and then navigate to Apply to Calls and search for Schlow Centre Region Library Sculpture Project, State College, PA.
The Selection Process
A selection panel will meet to evaluate the submissions. The panel will be made of library administrators, a representative of the Centre Area Transportation Authority, artists and arts professionals who have been engaged by the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts specifically for this project.
Jurors will select a winning entry by the quality of the artist’s work and his or her response to site. The ability to respond to these values will also be considered: · A vibrant downtown is important to the Borough of State College and the Centre Region (State College in addition to College, Ferguson, Harris, Halfmoon, and Patton Townships)
The artists’ experience in completing commissions of this scope will be considered.
Three artists will be chosen to produce maquettes and will receive an honorarium of $1,250. Half of this will be paid in advance, and the second half will be paid on delivery of the maquette, due on January 2, 2013 Applicants chosen to produce a maquette are strongly encouraged to visit the site. The commission will be awarded after evaluation of the maquettes. The panel reserves the right not to award the commission.
The selection will be based on the quality of the artist’s work, the artist’s vision for the piece, and ability to complete commissions of this scope. Budget
The commission will be worth $36,000 to the selected artist. The artist will enter into a contract with the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts for the production of the work. Calendar
Entry Deadline: Midnight, MST October 25, 2012 Links
Questions
Please contact the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. (814) 237-3682, Mailing address
State College Public Art
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