Downtown Crosswalk Box Connections

Transforming Five Key Intersections in Downtown Pawtucket, RI

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2023

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Call for Entry:  Downtown Crosswalk Box Connections

Transforming Five Key Intersections in Downtown Pawtucket, RI

 

The Pawtucket Foundation and Art League RI are seeking designs for a public art project for its Downtown Crosswalk Box Connection Project.  The selected design(s) will be installed within the crosswalks at 5 key intersections. 

 

Purpose

Using color and design, the Crosswalk Boxes Connections project will be an important part of an overall branding effort for Downtown Pawtucket, that will also include signage, lighting, and open space.  The five selected intersection “boxes” are the palette that will set a look and feel for a unique identifier for the neighborhood that is “the downtown”.  The project has the added benefit of providing a safe, practical solution for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles as they travel through the overly wide, circuitous streets of downtown intersections. 

 

Contextual Considerations

Historic Slater Mill National Park, located on the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, RI, is the site of the mill where waterpower was first harnessed in America. The industry flourished in Pawtucket, RI until it collapsed in the 1950s.  Since then, Pawtucket has struggled to revive its economy by repurposing the many empty textile mill buildings, and its streets reflect this loss of industry and life.  

 

The City of Pawtucket has a new transit hub with commuter rail to Boston/Providence that opened in January 2023. The train district is surrounded by 1.0M square feet of historic mills, many converted to shared maker space and residential lofts. The city also has a major riverfront mixed-use and recreational development including an ASL soccer stadium, to be completed in 2024-25. The 1/2 mile between these iconic developments is a downtown with many vacant storefronts and unfriendly streets.

 

The Crosswalk Boxes Art project will link these major development areas and promote safer pedestrian and vehicular flow through the downtown with colorful, innovative inner intersection boxes that reflect the City's historic identity and as a community of artists and designers. The Crosswalk Boxes Art project is a way to support all stakeholders, brand and celebrate the city, and encourage bicycle and pedestrian safe movement throughout the city's center.

Award, Submission, Deadlines:

$500 for the selected design(s).  The selected artist will be given a stipend of $1500 for the work of Phase 2, as well as all the costs of installation.

 

Artists have the option of submitting one design layout to be used for all 5 intersection boxes, or to provide a different one for each location.  The designs, once installed, will cover from 855 sf to 3370 sf at each intersection. 

 

The intention remains to connect and identify the downtown as a unique community.  All work must be original. Please submit your concept design, drawn to scale to fit the intersectional box, to:

jbrodie@pawtucketfoundation.org

 

Eligibility:  Any artist who is at least 18 years or older may participate to the extent that their participation is allowed by law

 

Deadline: August 15, 2023.

 

Phase 2 – Implementation

This RFP is Phase 1 of a grant that is for Green and Complete Streets to be made part of the City of Pawtucket’s Comprehensive Plan, and to provide community-driven improvements to the streets of the city.  Phase 2 will be applied for in the fall.  If awarded, it will provide funding for the installation of the painted artwork in each of the intersections, using community volunteers under the oversight of the selected artist of Phase I.  The selected artist will be given a stipend of $1500 for the work of Phase 2, as well as all the costs of installation. 

 

Selection of the winning design will be made by a jury of five stakeholders, including City staff, downtown business owners, and art professionals. 

The selected artist will be notified by September 1, 2023. 

 

Publicity

The design(s) will be viewed by the tens of thousands that travel the streets of Pawtucket daily, and to an ever-increasing population as the riverfront soccer stadium and entertainment development is built in the upcoming few years.  The design will be used as a catalyst for the branding of the entire downtown, now a focus for the City’s American Recovery funds. 

The winning design and artist will be featured in state and local papers and in Phase 2, a city-wide community event will celebrate the installation.  

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This project is being offered by The Pawtucket Foundation in collaboration with Art League RI. 

 

The Pawtucket Foundation (TFP) represents the business sector of Pawtucket as an advocate and catalyst for downtown, riverfront, and transportation gateway improvements.  Its overriding mission is the economic revitalization of the City of Pawtucket through unique strengths found within its creative population of artists and small businesses. 

 

Art League RI (ALRI) is a non-profit membership organization founded in 2000, headquartered in Pawtucket, RI.  The organization’s goal is to provide a venue for the growth and encouragement of artists, to promote high standards in the visual arts, to encourage community participation, and the appreciation of the greater RI arts community. 

 

Liability - Legal Agreement & Participant’s Waiver: Submission of work automatically waives any claim for damage or loss against TPF or ALRI, including the officers, members, and employees of either organization.  TPF and ALRI will exercise reasonable care in handling all entries but will not assume any liability for loss or damage while in their possession. Work should be independently insured by the artist.

 

Usage Rights: The artist retains all copyright interests or claims that they have in their art. By submitting images, you give TPF and ALRI the right to use and reproduce the images to market and document the exhibition, and to enable the image to be part of an online exhibition. Artist’s recognition is provided with any use. TPF reserves the right to adjust any deadline(s) as the result of causes beyond its immediate control. Submission to this RFP indicates acknowledgment of all terms and conditions.