Request for qualifications from artists and/or artist teams interested in creating site specific artwork(s) for the Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart Arts and Humanities Building (Elizabeth Hall) on the campus of Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. 

DEADLINE FOR PRELIMINARY MATERIAL:

JANUARY 9, 2008

The new, three-story. 94,300 square feet building will replace single-story buildings that have housed numerous departments and offices during more than 50 years on the Harrison Boulevard campus. 

The university received state funding for the project during the 2006 and 2007 legislative sessions, along with funds generously donated by private sponsors of the project, including the Stewart Education Foundation and the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation

When completed, this new building will be a tremendous resource that will offer more classes than any other facility on campus.  The new classroom building, which will be located at the heart of the Ogden campus, will house the departments of communication, English, foreign languages, and telecommunication and business education.

With the opening of Elizabeth Hall, students and faculty in the humanities disciplines will be housed together, after being separated by brick walls in individual buildings for years. Elizabeth Hall will provide a facility where students can engage in a free flow of information and ideas that encourages interdisciplinary learning.

Features of the new facility include; 31 classrooms with multimedia capabilities, three computer labs, including two for discipline-specific work in technical and media writing and foreign languages, 83 faculty offices, sandstone art feature alongside south entrance.  It will serve as home to departments of communication, English, foreign languages, and telecommunications and business education.

The architect for the project is MHTN Architects of Salt Lake City.  The construction company is Jacobsen Construction.

Elizabeth Hall is named in honor of Elizabeth Dee Shaw Stewart, a longtime supporter and benefactor of WSU. 

BUILDING DESCRIPTION:

Located at the heart of the Weber State University campus, Elizabeth Hall will provide a state-of-the-art learning environment for the College of Arts and Humanities. Its open character responds to the University’s desire for the facility to express the interdisciplinary nature of the programs it serves.

Elizabeth Hall respects the terraced character of the campus by shifting its mass in response to the natural topography of the site. As the building rises on the site, vistas of the Wasatch Range to the east and Great Salt Lake to the west come into view, linking it to the natural environment while washing the interior with natural light.

In order to encourage inter-departmental collaboration and facilitate student/faculty interaction, a “Main Street” feature not only establishes a pathway through the building, but creates a place where people can interact, socialize and even study. This space becomes the symbolic “agora” in the Socratic tradition of encouraging learning to spill out from the classroom and into public space. Main Street is bordered on its western edge by a gently curving wall which introduces a kinetic quality of movement through the space. This wall erupts through the building’s main north and south entrances to create a distinctive signature. Main Street also connects the north arrival zone of the campus to the Bell Tower plaza, becoming a gateway to the heart of Weber State University.

The program includes a two hundred seat tiered classroom which can also host lectures as well as musical events. Located near the north arrival zone, this space is easily accessible to the public and serves to link the University to the community. Faculty offices line the east perimeter of the building allowing each office a window with a view and generous natural light. General classroom spaces “plug into” Main Street along the west. Natural light is introduced into the classrooms from the north and south, thus avoiding western solar glare and heat gain.

All of the building support spaces for Elizabeth Hall are clustered in a core element parallel to Main Street. Structural elements are confined to the perimeter and building core. Together, these two strategies help ensure flexibility for future reconfiguration and expansion by providing open floor plates unencumbered by columns and mechanical spaces.

Project PDF file links: Campus plan - Site Plan - Floor Plans 1, 2, 3, 4
Exterior elevations W, E, N, S - Building Sections E, W, S, N

Additional design and construction is happening in the vicinity in and around the Bell Tower Plaza at the heart of the Weber State University campus.  This plaza is intended to function as the central gathering place for major campus activities.   The plaza sits adjacent to the Stewart Library, Shepherd Student Union with the lower or west plaza becoming a gathering zone adjacent to the Elizabeth Hall Classroom Building.  The Bell Tower is the icon of the Weber State campus.

The area immediately around the tower is a raised plinth which provides a restful gathering place of lawn and trees in the center of campus.   Students can gather and lounge on the lawn area as well as sit on the seat walls and interact with other students passing by.   The southeast corner of the plinth is paved with masonry pavers and will act as a stage for outdoor events.

The stair/amphitheater seating area provides a gathering space for large campus activities in the center of campus and provides access from the Bell Tower Plaza to the Library Plaza and entrance. 

Large boulders imitate and simulate formed dolomite formations found on the hills above campus and create the beginning of the rock water fall features below.   The upper water feature appears to begin in the dolomite formations.  Water cascades from rock crevices, then flows along the stream and falls into a pool below.    This dolomite formation/water feature is on axis with the main stairs leading from the campus below.

A rock water fall feature is the focal point of this plaza and is on axis to the main east west campus pedestrian corridor.  The water feature is bisected by a sloped walk way which allows for viewing and interaction with the water feature.

OGDEN UTAH and WEBER COUNTY

Weber County’s population is just under 200,000, with another 200,000 in adjacent Davis County.  Salt Lake City, a major airline hub, is 45 minutes away. Industries such as Flying J, America Online and Kimberly-Clark have corporate offices or facilities in the area, and federal government installations include Hill Air Force Base, a U.S. Forest Service regional office and a new IRS service center.

Ogden City has long been one of the most diverse communities in Utah and a center for industry, technology and finance. Historic Twenty-Fifth Street is a district of distinctive shops, galleries and restaurants so picturesque it provides the setting for the television series “Everwood.”

Northern Utah’s landscape is breathtaking, and outdoor recreation opportunities abound. Residents fish local rivers, boat on the Great Salt Lake and Pineview Reservoir, and hike and bike trails that are literally “just up the street.” Ogden Valley’s three ski resorts include Snowbasin, home of the 2002 Olympic downhill.

Weber State University serves the educational needs of nearly 19,000 students. Founded in 1889 with an emphasis on teaching, WSU offers more than 200 degree programs – the most comprehensive undergraduate offering in Utah.

Abundant classrooms and laboratories, a new computing center, outstanding performing and visual arts facilities, a spacious library and a well-equipped health and fitness complex occupy some of the 60 buildings on the 526-acre mountainside Ogden campus.

In the community, WSU is a leader in economic development partnerships. The Center for Automotive Science and Technology, the Science and Mathematics Center, the Center for Chemical Technology, the Technology Assistance Center and the Center for Business and Economic Development are all examples of university-community partnerships that strengthen business as well as provide learning opportunities for students. Other community partnerships range from hospitals and nursing outreach programs throughout Utah, to the Midtown Dental Hygiene Clinic, to participation in the renovation of Peery’s Egyptian Theater and the construction of the David S. Eccles Conference Center in downtown Ogden.

WSU offers bachelor’s degrees, two-year associate’s degrees and professional certificates in applied science and technology, arts and humanities, business and economics, education, health professions, science, or social and behavioral sciences. Master’s degrees are available in accounting, business administration, criminal justice and education.

As the cultural center for the northern Wasatch Front, WSU offers a variety of speakers, performers and touring groups from around the world who perform in the renovated Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts. The Utah Symphony, Ballet West and Utah Opera visit campus regularly, and the WSU Department of Performing Arts produces a wide array of theater, music and dance performances. Ogden, Park City and the Salt Lake City metropolitan area host The Sundance Film Festival, three annual jazz festivals, Broadway touring company productions, as well as the symphony, opera, ballet and a number of theater troupes.

From the time the early founders of the school mortgaged their homes to guarantee the construction of campus buildings, Weber State University has benefited from its century-old partnership with surrounding communities. The institution’s role has been strengthened over the years by the active and enthusiastic support of its neighbors, faculty, staff and alumni.

COMMITTEE STATEMENT

The committee is open to artist’s suggestion for incorporation and/or placement of public artwork throughout the building and site.  The committee may consider one or more artists for this commission(s).

To understand the culture of Elizabeth Hall, it’s important to underline a couple of items mentioned earlier: Elizabeth Hall will house more classes than any other facility on campus; it will be located at the campus’s heart; it will house disciplines that previously have been at a distance from one another and that are happy to be in one place.  These discipline areas—Communication, English, Foreign Languages, Telecommunications & Business Education—are committed to teaching and learning.  More specifically, these discipline areas engage in teaching and learning about communication arts (speaking, reading, writing), arts that involve human beings in experimentation, exploration, stretching, growing, developing, refining, clarifying, and becoming.  Public and classroom spaces in Elizabeth Hall will be exciting, exhilarating, and noisy (in a good sense) as students, staff, and faculty engage in teaching/learning relationships.  Art in this space should celebrate humans’ abilities to explore, grow, and change, especiallythrough the disciplines of Communication, English, Foreign Languages, and Telecommunications and Business Education.

BUDGET

$306,000 is available for all related expenses of this Public Art commission(s) including (but not limited to) artist fees, fabrication, insurance, shipping, travel, installation, documentation, etc.

The Stewart Education Foundation, one of the donors that have helped make this project a reality, has contributed $100,000 toward the total $306,000 art budget.  The donors have asked that a minimum of $100,000 of the budget be applied toward public art that is part of or in some way includes the main wall at the south entrance.  This is part of the wall that runs the length of the building exterior and interior.  This $100,000 project may be a stand alone project or may be part of a project that includes portions of or the entire arts budget.

ELIGIBILITY

Resident American or legal resident artists / artist teams are encouraged to apply.  Art selection committee members and immediate families, and employees or consultants of MHTN Architects are not eligible for this project.  Artists residing in Illinois are not eligible due to Utah statute that requires artists considered for Utah commissions live in states where Utah artists are also able to apply for public art commissions.

SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSIONS

All applications must include the following:

• A letter of interest not more than three typewritten pages. This letter should include the artist’s reasons for interest in this project in particular.  In doing so, the artist should also describe how his/her work and/or experience relates to the project. 
  
• A PC compatible CD Labeled with applicant's name, contact information and number of images (not to exceed 10)  Images must be JPEG format, 1920 pixels maximum on the longest side, 72 dpi, with compression settings resulting in the best image quality under 2MB file size. The file or files should be named so that the list sorts in the order of the image listing.

- OR –

• Slide documentation of previous work that represents site-specific art in public places. Up to ten (10) slides in 35mm format with 2" x 2" paper or plastic mounts of applicable work labeled with artist' s name and identification number (for ID sheet.)  Indicate on the slide the top of the image. Slides should be submitted in a 9" x 11" clear plastic slide file sheet.

- OR –

• DVD (of no more than 3 minutes) or VHS (of no more that 3 minutes cued to the point you wish the committee to view) are also acceptable media as documentation of artist’s projects that cannot be documented well with still image.   Only one media, film or stills, will be presented to the committee per artist.

• An identification sheet must accompany documentation.  This sheet should include title, year, medium, dimensions

• A professional resume (do not staple or double side resume.)

• An addressed and stamped envelope of ample size for return of documentation.  Material that is not accompanied by a stamped envelope cannot be returned.

The Utah Arts Council will not be responsible for applications lost in transit.  While all reasonable care will be taken in the handling of materials, neither the Utah Arts Council nor the Weber State University Elizabeth Hall Art Selection Committee will be liable for late, lost or damaged materials.  We strongly suggest originals or one-of-a-kind material not be submitted for this preliminary phase.  Faxed or e-mailed applications cannot be accepted.

The Weber State University Elizabeth Hall Project Art Selection Committee reserves the right to withhold the award of a commission or re-release the call for entries should it be determined that the proposals submitted are unacceptable.

DEADLINE

Complete application packages must be RECEIVED on or before January 9, 2008 by 5 p.m. (THIS IS NOT A POSTMARK DEADLINE.) All supporting materials must accompany application.

Please send, deliver or courier applications to:

Jim Glenn, Utah Public Art Program
Attention: WSU Elizabeth Hall Project
Utah Arts Council
617 East South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84102

SELECTION PROCESS AND SCHEDULE

The Selection Committee will review all material properly submitted. A short list of semi-finalists will then be selected and invited to interview and submit a proposal and maquette to the committee.  An honorarium will be extended to the finalists with the amount determined by the number of finalists selected. This honorarium will be applied toward the commission amount for the artist(s) awarded the commission. Final selection(s) will be made from the semi-finalists. The schedule follows:

            January 9, 2008          Deadline for receipt of preliminary material

            January 30, 2008        Committee reviews material

            April 2, 2008                Finalists proposal presentation

            December 15, 2009    Building occupation

ARTIST SELECTION COMMITTEE

Erick Migacz               MHTN Architects
Norm Tarbox               WSU, V.P. of Administrative Services
Bill Bowen                   Utah Division of Facilities Construction & Management
Suzanne Kanatsiz      WSU, Department of Art Professor and Artist
Jim Harris                    WSU, Campus Planning and Development
Carol Biddle                WSU, Development Director of University Relations
Kathy Herndon            WSU, English Language and Literature Department
Anne Mooney              Utah Arts Council Board of Directors and Architect
Leah Wadman            WSU, Student Representative and Artist
Madonne Miner           WSU, Chair, Arts and Humanities

If you have any questions contact:  Jim Glenn at 801-533-3585 or e-mail at: jglenn@utah.gov
or Fletcher Booth at 801-533-3586 or e-mail at: fbooth@utah.gov

Please note the Utah Arts Council maintains an Artist Image Bank of resident Utah artists working in all media that are interested in Public Art Projects. If you are interested in being included in this bank the form can be downloaded from http://arts.utah.gov/publicart/slidebank.html  or call, write, or e-mail us to for more information or to request a registration form to be mailed to you.