Request for qualifications from artists and/or artist teams interested in creating site specific artwork(s) for the new Uintah Basin Applied Technology College (UBATC)/Utah State University (USU) building in Vernal, Utah.

DEADLINE FOR MATERIALS: October 30, 2008

CLASSROOM AND INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY BUILDING

This state building project is truly a unique partnership between the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College (UBATC), Utah State University (USU) and the community as a whole. The buildings will primarily offer career and technical programs through UBATC and academic courses through USU. It consists of a Classroom and an Industrial Technology building which are connected by a glass pedestrian corridor. The buildings are located across the street from Uintah High School on 30 acres which are adjacent to where USU will soon be building their Vernal campus in the near future. The Campus for both UBATC and USU is on a 138 acre site donated by Bob Williams, a local businessman and entrepreneur who has lived his entire life in Vernal.  Currently the site is used for agriculture but the community has begun to develop the infrastructure and road systems that will support the new Campus. The complete master plan for the 138 acres includes new campus buildings for UBATC and USU as well as some community buildings. This project, which is currently under construction, will be the first building on this new higher education campus and is scheduled to be completed in July of 2009.

BUILDING DESCRIPTION

After operating in the Vernal area for over 35 years, this building will be the first permanent home for the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College and will be the first of many buildings on the new higher education campus. The building will also be shared with Utah State University and will house several academically oriented classrooms for them with distance learning capability. The facility will consist of two buildings, a two story classroom building and a high bay, long span shop building. Both buildings will be constructed with reddish brown brick, buff-tan-rust colored stone and natural aluminum metal panel exteriors, glass will be a high performance green tinted glazing in natural aluminum frames. The two buildings will be connected with a glass pedestrian corridor. The shop building will contain teaching spaces for; Diesel / Heavy Equipment, Petroleum Technology, Welding, Industrial Safety and Building Trades. The Classroom building will contain teaching space for; Computer Technology, Drafting, Allied Health Sciences, General Classrooms and spaces for; Testing, Career Counseling, Book Store, Student Commons, Faculty Offices and Administration.

A major focus of this building is to meet the needs of the booming energy industry in the Vernal areal. Over half of the money for this building is coming from mineral lease funds generated from mineral extraction companies. UBATC offers many courses focused on the hand-on training needs for over 100 energy related companies. Uintah County is the leading natural gas producing counting in the State of Utah and is the second largest oil producing county in the state. Uintah County also has some of the largest deposits of oil shale and tar sands in the world.

UINTAH BASIN APPLIED TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE
http://www.ubatc.edu

The mission of Uintah Basin Applied Technology College (UBATC) is to provide flexible technology education and skilled training in order to encourage individual and employer growth in partnership with the communities we serve.

• Is one of eight regional colleges comprising Utah College of Applied Technology.
• Has open entry/open exit, competency-based training targeted at technical skills and job placement ... "good jobs, good pay, fast!"
  
• Is student-centered and focused on individual needs and capabilities.
• The curriculum is driven by technical and critical workplace skills, job markets, and employer needs.
  
• Offers career learning through occupational upgrade training.
• Offers and maintains over 20 programs for adult and high school students.
• Over 5,000 students are served annually.
• Programs are driven by employer/faculty advisory teams who review training, recommend equipment and materials, and forecast job needs.
  
• Provides specific employee development and training to over 217 local employers annually.
  
• Maintains close partnerships with local/state government, community, high school, and university organizations.

• Is one of 3 regional campuses of Utah State University based in Logan Utah.

• Is USU’s largest regional campus.

• Offers the associate degree, 18 bachelor’s degrees, 11 masters degrees and a doctorate in education.

• Has a strong focus in natural resources, biological sciences, geology and business.

• Services approximately 2600 students. Some through distance education and some on-sight in the Uintah Basin.

VERNAL CITY AND UINTAH BASIN

Vernal, Utah is located in Uintah County in Eastern Utah about 175miles from Salt Lake City. Vernal is located in the Uintah Basin, The Uintah Basin is a physiographic section of the larger Colorado Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger Intermountain Plateaus physiographic division. It is also a geologic structural basin in eastern Utah, east of the Wasatch Mountains and south of the Uinta Mountains. The Uintah Basin is fed by creeks and rivers flowing south from the Uinta Mountains. Many of the principal rivers (Strawberry River, Currant Creek, Rock Creek, Lake Fork River, and Uinta River) flow into the Duchesne River which feeds the Green River--a tributary of the Colorado River. The confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers is located in Canyonlands National Park. The Uinta Mountains comprise one of the borders of the Uintah Basin, though outside of the Basin's boundary, and are the only major mountain ranges in the United States oriented from east to west, rather than north to south. They contain the highest point in Utah, Kings Peak, with a summit 13,528 feet above sea level. Vernal is located at 42°27’17”N 109° 32’ 17” W at an elevation of 5328 feet. The 2007 estimated population is 8,163.

Vernal City is currently experience rapid growth in the development of natural resources in natural gas and oil production. Additionally there are extensive oil shale and tar sand deposits near Vernal that will most likely begin development in the next 10 years as energy costs and demands increase. All this growth and potential for growth has impacted the local community dramatically. 

Local infrastructure for roads and utilities will be updated and expanded, support systems such as hospitals, hotels, restaurants, retail services, education and law enforcement are growing and expanding.

HISTORY

The first explorers came through Vernal around 1776 leaving no major settlements but in 1825 a fur trader named William H. Ashley arrived. He would become the namesake for Ashley Valley where Vernal is located. The Uintah Basin area was set aside by resident Lincoln in 1861 as the Uintah Indian Reservation and the first significant settlement in Ashley Valley occurred in 1873. The Vernal area was referred to by early settlers as “the bench” and described as a barren cactus plain. It was the David Johnston family in 1878 who began cultivating this rugged terrain into a hardy settlement and by 1879 many settlers began joining them.

When the people first established a post-office the U.S. Postal Service officially named the city Vernal, but it had been known as Jericho, Hatchtown, and Ashley Center until then. Vernal became incorporated in 1897, 15 years after it was officially established as a city in 1884. The city is most famous currently for its successes in the oil-industry and the discovery of a major site for dinosaur fossils. Adding to Vernal’s colorful history is the documented presence of historic outlaws such as the notorious Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch who bought supplies from the general store during the early 1900’s. Points of attraction for visitors include the Utah Field House of Natural History and Dinosaur Gardens; close proximity to the Dinosaur National Monument; Navajo petroglyphs in nearby Dry Fork Canyon; rodeos; and nature recreation throughout Ashley National Forest, Flaming Gorge, and the Uintah Mountains.

COMMITTEE STATEMENT

This facility represents over twelve years of effort to bring a more significant technical and academic higher education presence to Vernal and begins a new era of commitment to education in the Uintah Basin.  The importance of training and education, the resulting opportunities and the unique needs of Vernal are all manifested in this new facility.  Ultimately it is about students and the power of education.

Unique to Utah and the Nation is the strong and beneficial partnership between the Uintah Basin Applied Technology College and Utah State University Uintah Basin.  These two institutions have joined forces to collaborate and offer the community a wide spectrum of solutions to education needs.  This kind of leadership and partnership is almost unheard of in institutions of higher education across the nation and even within the state.

The artwork for this facility should reflect the unique character of the site, the community, the strong push and demand for energy development technologies in this community and the unique collaborative nature of education being offered here.  The Artist can look to the site, the strength of the community, the history of Vernal, the Architecture of the new building, but most importantly to the student that will be served here.  The committee has identified two exterior areas as possible sites for public art work (the exterior plaza – the center island of the circular drive drop off area) but will be open to other possibilities as suggested by interested artists.

BUDGET

$81,000 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.

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 Harris Associates 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 (please do not staple or double side any part of the written material):

• 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) is 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
  
  
• 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 UBATC 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 UBATC 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 October 30, 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: UBATC
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:

            October 30, 2008        Deadline for receipt of preliminary material

            November 18, 2008     Committee reviews material

            January 13, 2009         Finalists proposal presentation and commission awarded

            July 2009                     Building occupation

SELECTION COMMITTEE

Paul Hacking                            President, UBATC
Rob Behunin                            Utah State University
Steve Ehninger                        Architect, Harris Associates
Mark Holyoak                           Community Representative, Ashley Medical Center
Dennis Honrubia                      Architect, Harris Associates
Ron Litton                                 Community Representative, Uintah Arts Council
Tammie Lucero                       Community Representative, Impact Mitigation District
Vic Middleton                           Project Manager, Utah Division of Facilities Construction 
Jean Mold                                Economic Development, UBATC
Elaine Muir                               Instructor, UBATC
Jeff Taniguchi                          Instructor, UBATC

If you have any questions about this project contact:

Jim Glenn at 801-533-3585 or jglenn@utah.gov
Fletcher Booth at 801-533-3586 or e-mail at: fbooth@utah.gov

IImages courtesy of Harris Associates Architects

In compliance with Governor Huntsman's Working 4 Utah initiative, the Utah Arts Council Public Art Program has shifted to the new "4-10s" Monday-Thursday, 7am- 6pm office hour schedule. This new initiative is intended to conserve energy, save money, improve air quality, and enhance customer service.