As part of a $36 million renovation at the Central Branch of the
Free Library of Philadelphia, Philly’s
Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy’s (OACCE)
Percent for Art Program has
announced a $50,000 competition for a site-specific artwork.
Because the Free Library’s main branch is "such a flagship building" with a central Parkway location, "we’re hopeful we’ll get a lot of interest," says Margot Berg, OACCE’s public art director. She expects up to 100 applications from artists nationwide who want to put their mark on this historic space.
The Parkway library first opened in 1927 and now serves more than one million visitors each year. The planned renovations -- part of the
Library’s Building Inspiration: 21st Century Libraries Initiative -- will be designed by
Safdie Architects. The remodel will focus on the north-facing rear section of the library in what is now the stacks.
According to OACCE, 35 percent of the Library is currently open to the public, with the rest reserved for staffing and storage. The plan is to open up tens of thousands of square feet across two floors, reversing the ratio of public to administrative areas.
The renovations will create four new public amenities: The Common, The Business Resource and Innovation Center (BRIC), The Marie H. and Joseph M. Field Teen Center, and a new Grand Central Staircase.
For the art installation, the Library, Percent for Art and the architects settled on a location spanning the first and second floors of the renovated space: a two-story open shelving system.
"This was the best opportunity, and something that had high visibility in the library," explains Berg. Space on the floor and the walls is at a premium, and suspended artworks can be expensive and difficult to maintain. This made an art piece targeting the shelving itself the best option.
At this point, it’s impossible to know what prospective artists might propose, but Berg says they could incorporate a series of small objects or sculptures that nest visibly within the shelves and invite viewers to discover them, or it could be some type of visual treatment to the surface of the shelving itself.
Currently, the call is in stage one: the
Request for Qualifications officially closes on June 29 at 5 p.m. The competition will be tough: According to the RFQ, only about five applicants will be selected to submit full proposals, with the help of a $750 honorarium. These finalists will be notified in mid-July, with full proposals due later that month. By early October, the artist will be chosen and notified. Fabrication and installation of the artwork is slated for completion in 2017.
"This project has been a long time coming," says Berg of the renovations. "It’s all about rebuilding, continuing to have libraries be a hub for meeting and learning, and for doing business going into the next century. We’re happy to be a part of that."
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Margot Berg, the Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy