NYC PARKS AND THE FRESHKILLS PARK ALLIANCE ISSUE CALL FOR DESIGNERS FOR NEA-FUNDED PUBLIC ART PROJECT
NYC Parks and the Freshkills Park Alliance today announce that a Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) has been issued for skilled designers to develop a digital project that will engage New Yorkers across the five boroughs with the evolving Freshkills Park on the west shore of Staten Island.
This project will illustrate several aspects of New York City history through the lens of the park transformation and site composition over time. A qualified design team will be selected to translate complex information into an environmental media installation for an off-site, public location to educate a general audience about the site’s history, engineering, and ecological restoration as part of park design.
In conjunction with the Department of Sanitation, NYC Parks is transforming what was once the world’s largest landfill into New York City’s 21st century park. And in partnership with NYC Parks, the non-profit Freshkills Park Alliance is working to provide public education about the park project while it is being built incrementally.
Freshkills Park, once the world’s largest landfill, is undergoing a transformation to 2,039 acres of public parkland. Natural features include beautiful expanses of tidal marshes and creeks, over 40 miles of trails and pathways, and Parks is the process of planning and designing significant recreational, cultural and educational amenities for the Park. There will be a hilltop monument to honor the September 11th recovery effort, and the Park promises to be a diverse haven for wildlife, cultural and social life, and active recreation.
Because the site is so large, the park is being developed from the exterior inwards so that people, particularly those who live at its edges, are able to enjoy the benefits of the new park space sooner. Schmul Playground, Owl Hollow Soccer Fields and the recently completed New Springville Greenway are already providing benefits to the surrounding community. Soon, North Park and East Park will open and the unusual combination of natural and engineered beauty, including creeks, wetlands, expansive meadows and spectacular vistas of the New York City region will be made accessible. The basic framework of the plan integrates three separate systems—programming, wildlife, and circulation—into one cohesive and dynamic unit that evolves as public parkland over time.
In addition to providing a wide range of recreational opportunities, including many uncommon in the city, the park’s design, ecological restoration and cultural and educational programming emphasize environmental sustainability and a renewed public concern for our human impact on the earth.
NYC Parks is implementing the project using the illustrative park plan known as the Draft Master Plan, developed by James Corner Field Operations in 2006, as a framework. The plan is the result of a 5-year master planning process conducted by the NYC Department of City Planning and supported by the New York Department of State’s Division of Coastal Resources. We recommend that respondents to this RFQ review that plan.
How designers can apply:
Email the following materials, as a single PDF, to freshkillspark@parks.nyc.gov with the subject heading “Section Story design applicant” followed by your last name or studio name.
Please do not exceed page limits. Only complete applications will be reviewed.
Submissions must be received by June 8, 2016 at 5pm (Eastern Time) and include:
- Letter of interest (one-page maximum), addressing the following:
- What interests you about collaborating with Freshkills Park?
- What special qualifications does your team have?
- What is the role of digital storytelling in today’s society and how do you see it impacting everyday life?
- CV or bio, including contact information (email and phone). Please specify roles of each team member and contact information for a team leader who will receive notifications.
- An edited portfolio of up to five projects, no more than ten 8.5” x 11” pages (additional pages will not be reviewed by the jury). Environmental media and film/animation projects that reflect an ability to organize complex information or explain natural and scientific processes to a general audience are especially helpful. Each project should include:
- a concise description of the project (up to one paragraph)
- your role in the design
- captioned still images
- links to videos as appropriate/available
Email complete submissions to freshkillspark@parks.nyc.gov by June 8, 2016 at 5pm Eastern Time
For more information, applicants may contact Mariel Villeré, Manager for Programs, Arts and Grants at mariel.villere@parks.nyc.gov