Opportunity

4Culture and King County’s Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) Stormwater Services Section (the Section) seek an artist or artist-led team to develop an innovative approach to rain garden design. The artist/team will participate in the design of two rain gardens, develop planting plans, design and implement permanent artwork for one of the gardens, and create a palette of planting options for future rain garden designs. The part-time artist engagement will occur from March–November 2019.

The Section stewards stormwater infrastructure and regulations with a focus on water quality and public health, collaborating with organizations to educate and communicate water quality codes and the important role of every resident to protect the health and integrity of King County’s lakes, wetlands and streams.

The artist will support this work. In order to address stormwater issues, the Section is developing a program to incentivize green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) on private properties in unincorporated King County. The Section is in the beginning phases of planning several rain garden pilot projects and conducting audience research focused on public perception of GSI methodology. An artist/team will enable a new perspective on rain garden design by re-envisioning gardens to inspire and encourage engagement.

This is a great opportunity for artists interested in environmental issues to expand their practice to include earthwork, planting design, and exploration of plants as a media for creating a dynamic sculpture; landscape architects with an affinity for sparking curiosity about our connection to water systems to design permanent artwork supporting rain garden function; and teams interested to combine skills in public art and landscape architecture.

The artist/team will work closely with 4Culture and the Section to understand the art and science of stormwater management and the GSI Incentive program goals. In learning about rain gardens, planting design, and Pacific Northwest native plants, the artist/team will gain knowledge to inform the artwork and design of rain gardens. By participating in site visits the artist will experience different rain garden design strategies to inform methods of creatively capturing and filtering stormwater runoff across a variety of landscapes in unincorporated King County.

The artist will be involved with projects in two locations: King County-owned land and on Vashon Island. The Section will propose options for the King County owned site location and the artist will select the final site. WLRD staff will provide support, stormwater engineers will offer technical advice in properly sizing and locating the rain garden, and plant experts will review and provide feedback as the artist develops a planting plan. The artist will create permanent art at this location.

The second site is the Vashon Market IGA parking lot, which is the first GSI incentive pilot project and consists of several connected and engineered rain gardens. For this site the artist will create a planting design highlighting plant groupings and formulate rain garden typologies, which will aid in creation of the palette of planting options. The rain garden typologies are for the artist to define, but could classify site histories throughout unincorporated King County by referencing historical land type – farmland, forest, strawberry fields, etc. They could include a spectrum of private property owners’ aesthetic preferences including; seasonal interest, flower color, or leaf texture. Typologies could introduce a spectrum of contextual plant use based on ethnobotanical history such as; plants collected for building, craft, tools or food.

Potential ideas for exploration include:

Deliverables include the following:

Client Background

King County Water and Land Resources Division
The mission of the Water and Land Resources Division is to protect King County’s water and lands so that residents can enjoy them safely today and for generations to come.

Stormwater Services Section
The Section stewards stormwater infrastructure and regulations with a focus on water quality and public health. The Section designs, builds, and maintains facilities to convey stormwater runoff, remove pollutants and control flow rates. The Section also collaborates with a regional network of cities, counties and nonprofits on education and outreach programs to communicate water quality issues and the important role every resident has to protect the health and integrity of King County’s lakes, wetlands, and streams.

4Culture Public Art
4Culture provides funding and support for the cultural work that makes King County, WA vibrant. Our four program areas – Arts, Heritage, Preservation, and Public Art – put public resources to use all over King County. We are actively working to become a more equitable agency to ensure access to cultural experiences for all, from museum collections to theater productions to artists showing work in our gallery.

Public Art 4Culture commissions artwork for shared public space throughout King County, stewards the King County Public Art Collection, and offers expertise to public and private developers through consulting. We work to ensure that the work and thinking of artists is reflected in our built environment, bringing art into everyday life.

Timeline for Selection

Application deadline: Friday, March 1, 2019, 4:00 pm PST
Selection panel meeting: Thursday, March 7, 2019
Finalist notification: Friday, March 8, 2019
Finalist orientation interviews: Wednesday and Thursday, March 13 and 14, 2019*

*Applicants should be available in this timeframe in order to participate in an in-person orientation and interview if selected as a finalist. The panel reserves the right to make no selection from the submitted applications or finalist interviews.

Project Timeline

Artist selection and contracting: March 2019
Artist orientation and research: March–April 2019
Conceptual development: May–June 2019
Design development: July–August 2019
Implementation: September–November 2019**

**There are two ideal seasonal planting windows: spring and fall. Planting trees and vegetation in fall when the ground is moist but not soaking wet allows plants to establish their roots during the rainy months. In the spring soil is warm enough to work and, with adequate rain, roots stay moist, encouraging plant growth. It is possible project implementation may move to spring 2020, which is the subsequent planting window if the fall 2019 timeline cannot be met. The overall project hours are expected to remain the same, even if the span of months shifts from fall to spring.

Eligibility

Open to professional artists or artist-led teams with a strong interest in or knowledge of planting design and Pacific Northwest vegetation who reside in Washington State.

Selection Criteria

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

Selection Process

A five-person selection panel will review the applications, select finalists for interview, and recommend one finalist for this opportunity. The panel consists of experts in landscape architecture, public art, public engagement, ecology, and stormwater management.

You must submit the following materials via online application. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with questions.

Contact

If you have questions regarding the application, please contact:

Andy Le
andy.le@4culture.org
206-263-1587

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

Selina Hunstiger
selina.hunstiger@4culture.org
206-263-2518

Deadline: applications must be received no later than 4:00 pm PST on Friday, March 1, 2019.