The City’s Public Arts Committee is inviting artists to submit their qualifications to create an iconic, site-specific piece of permanent public art to be installed in the Cradle of Country Music Park downtown.

The major piece of art, to be commissioned for up to $500,000, will help transform the key public space at Summit Hill Drive and Gay Street.

To fully remake the 0.58-acre park, the artist or team of artists will be working side-by-side with a landscape architect. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department will issue a separate Request for Qualifications for a landscape architect or other qualified professional to redesign the park space to complement the artist’s vision. Once the collaborative team jointly decides on the design, the City will bid out the construction work for the new park – likely in late 2018 or early 2019.

The park, adjacent to the Knoxville Visitors’ Center and in the middle of the Central Business Improvement District, is highly visible. More than 14,000 cars pass the site daily, and thousands of people live or work within blocks of it. It’s strategically located between Gay Street, Market Square and the Old City.

The deadline for artists to submit their qualifications is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. Up to five finalists will be selected in February to participate in a spring 2018 site visit, then to develop a proposal and return for interviews. In May 2018, the artist or team of artists to create the piece of art will be selected, and the park design process will get underway in summer 2018.

To view the RFQ document, visit http://bit.ly/2BFWYf9. Questions? Contact Liza Zenni, Executive Director of the Arts and Culture Alliance, who also serves as staff liaison for the Public Arts Committee, at 865-523-7543 or [email protected].