Opportunity

4Culture, in partnership with King County Metro, seeks an experienced and motivated planning artist (or team of artists) to participate in a two-year residency during which time they will develop a plan for transit-related public art projects to be implemented over the coming decade.

Artists are change makers and culture bearers. They look closely, recognize connections, express shared values and histories, uncover resources, educate and inspire, challenge ideas, experiment, and create new possibilities.

Metro’s Artist in Residence (AIR) will embody these qualities and act as a creative strategist, working jointly with Metro and 4Culture to expand their collaborative potential and identify opportunities for public art programming. The AIR will receive a 2-year, ½ time contract. 4Culture will issue and oversee the contract.

Year one of the residency will be focused on getting to know Metro and connecting with community — listening, learning, and laying the groundwork for successful relationships going forward. Funding will be made available for related engagement activities.

In year two, the AIR will produce a dynamic and strategic arts plan that describes how the 1% for Art legislation and commissioning process works, introduces ways to maximize available resources, reflects the evolution of transit, embraces the diversity of King County’s histories and cultures, and incorporates project recommendations that are broad enough to allow other artists to generate innovative ideas and approaches, and explicit enough to provide a compelling conceptual framework for artwork development. In addition, the plan should consider established Metro initiatives such as Poetry on Buses and SODO Track, and dovetail with the RapidRide-specific art plan penned by Johnson|Ramirez. All design, production, and distribution costs will be covered by a separate budget.

In summary, the AIR will:

• Work alongside 4Culture and Metro staff, acting as a liaison between the two agencies and learning about their cultural and functional realities.
• Develop, promote, and implement engagement activities with Metro and community stakeholders to expand trust and collaborative potential.
• Visit and research neighborhoods and cities where Metro provides services or manages operations to analyze opportunities and constraints, including equity and social justice impact.
• Create and distribute a comprehensive 10-year system-wide art plan for Metro that considers the future of regional transit in line with “Long Game” priorities, forthcoming capital projects, anticipated 1% for Art revenue, existing public artworks, established transit initiatives, and the Johnson|Ramirez RapidRide plan.

Background

4Culture is King County, Washington’s cultural services agency. Metro is the region’s largest public transportation agency, providing bus, paratransit, vanpool, and water taxi services as well as Seattle Streetcar, Sound Transit Link light rail, and Sound Transit Express bus service operations.

4Culture and Metro have a long history of working together on public art projects. For many years, 4Culture commissioned permanent art for integration at transit centers, park and rides, and bus bases. Between 2009-2019, focus shifted to ephemeral art experiences, including a line-specific soundscape and mobile game, a multi-lingual poetry program, Poetry on Buses, and development of a world-renowned mural corridor, SODO Track. In 2020, artist team JohnsonRamirez were commissioned to create a system-wide Art Plan that addressed all of the lines in the RapidRide Expansion program. Now, we are looking system-wide to advance the future of transit in its entirety.

Hundreds of thousands of people rely on Metro’s services every day, helping them get to their destinations. Mobility access connects people to opportunity — and a destination is often more than just a physical place. A destination might be a new job, a better education, a critical medical appointment, or a chance to start over.

Metro’s “Long Game” is the blueprint that shows how the agency will leverage the power of public transit to create a mobility system that increases equity by prioritizing underserved communities, providing new economic opportunities in those neighborhoods, and combating climate change. In order to do this, Metro will:

• Build fast, frequent, reliable all-day service that is both prioritized and co-created for those with the greatest public transit needs.
• Transition to a 100% zero-emissions fleet powered by renewable energy no later than 2040.
• Modernize systems.
• Continue to demonstrate the value of public transit to grow capacity and resources, which will result in more service and measurable outcomes.

“At Metro, we are a microcosm of what is happening across the nation. We are holding ourselves accountable for the role we played in allowing historical systemic practices that cause harm to persist. Even within Metro, marginalized and silenced minorities have been unfairly bearing the weight of an uncaring system.

As we are doing the work externally to benefit the region, we are also internally moving to an organizational culture where all are welcome, and all have the opportunity to thrive.

Going forward, we will remain focused on responding to and recovering from the pandemic, double-down on prioritizing equitable and sustainable systems, and continue to modernize how we provide services to ensure readiness for the very bright and very different mobility system of a post-pandemic world.”

—Terry White, General Manager, King County Metro Transit

Location

Maps – King County Metro – King County

Client Background

4Culture Public Art
King County Metro Transit

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to professional artists and artist teams with a solid history of collaboration. All applicants must reside in the United States and have demonstrable experience in arts-related strategic planning and community engagement. Regular travel to King County will be expected for office and field work. Other activities may be conducted remotely.

The selected artist or artist team will be expected to abide by King County Public Health and national COVID-19 protocols.

Selection Criteria

Finalists will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:

Selection Process

The Metro AIR will be selected through an open call process. A five-person panel comprised of planning and public artists, arts and cultural leaders, community members, and Metro staff will review all submitted application materials, identify finalists for interview, and then recommend one artist or artist team for the role.

Finalists will be invited to a virtual orientation and given the opportunity to ask questions directly to Metro and 4Culture representatives prior to their interview.

The panel reserves the right to make no selection from the submitted applications or the interviews.

Translation and Assistance

If you anticipate a barrier to your participation due to limited English writing ability, visual impairment, or would like to request assistance to access this application, please contact us at hello@4culture.org or 206-296-7580 or TTY 711.

Si anticipa una barrera para su participación debido a la capacidad limitada de escritura en inglés, discapacidad visual, o desea solicitar asistencia para acceder a esta aplicación, contáctenos en hello@4culture.org o 206-296-7580 o TTY 711.

如果您由于英语写作能力有限，视力障碍而希望参加比赛，或者希望获得协助来访问此应用程序，请通过hello@4culture.org或206-296-7580或TTY 711与我们联系。

Contact

If you have questions about the application, please contact:

Fiona Dang
fiona.dang@4culture.org
206-848-0215

If you have questions related to the project, please contact:

Jordan Howland
jordan.howland@4culture.org
206-263-1589

Selection Timeline*

Application deadline: Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Selection panel meeting: week of March 6, 2023
Finalist orientation:** week of March 13, 2023
Finalist interviews:** week of March 20, 2023
Notification of results: Monday, March 27, 2023

Project Timeline*

Contract issued: April 2023
1st residency term: May 2023 – April 2024
2nd residency term: May 2024 – April 2025
Art Plan delivery: May 2025

*Schedules are subject to change.
**Applicants are expected to be flexible this week in order to participate in a virtual orientation and interview if selected as a finalist.

Artists and artist teams must submit an online application. The 4Culture application system is being used for this process. You may be required to create a new account. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions. We encourage you to begin your application early.

Applications must be received no later than Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 4:00 pm PDT.