Call to Artists and Request for Qualifications
for a Bronze Sculpture of Te Ata on the campus of USAO      

The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) is seeking an artist to create a permanent, large-scale sculpture of TeAta Fisher. 

A member of the Chickasaw Nation, she was born Mary Thompson in 1895 and died just days before her one hundredth birthday in 1995. TeAta graduated from the Oklahoma College for Women (now USAO) in 1919.  She performed throughout the world presenting Native American culture through well-researched and sensitively interpreted legends, songs and stories of American Indian tribes. Among many honors she was named as the first Oklahoma Treasure by Governor Bellmon in 1987. 

The college will take a broad approach to selecting the artist.

Scope of Work
The statue will be located in a park-like setting on the southeast corner of the USAO campus in Chickasha, Oklahoma.  The location will serve as an entry and welcome feature to the campus and will be visible to campus and community residents as they drive down Grand Avenue as well as from Robertson Hall, the Alumni Chapel and the Stevens Alumni House.

The work will be a representative bronze sculpture of TeAta Fisher, monumental in size and in a full body stance.  The selection committee will look for a work that depicts this “Oklahoma Treasure” with hands raised in her traditional story-telling pose (see attached photographs to reference body and facial features).

Budget
The total budget for the project is one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars ($125,000). This amount must cover the artist’s design and production costs as well as those costs related to designing site features and placing the artwork.  Site preparation, liability insurance, and lighting will be the responsibility of the college.

A Brief History of the USAO
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is the state’s public liberal arts college.  Founded in 1908, it was the first higher education institution formed by the First Oklahoma State Legislature.  It was the last of seven state women’s colleges with similar missions created in the United States, one of only two west of the Mississippi River. The college became coeducational in 1965. The campus is listed as a national historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. The college’s mission--providing residential liberal arts education--has never changed. Indeed, it has the second oldest original mission of any Oklahoma state college or university and is one of the oldest public liberal arts colleges in the United States.  Then and now, USAO brings a long and distinctive heritage to Chickasha, and to the state of Oklahoma.  For more information go to www.usao.edu.

Selection Process
USAO President John Feaver has appointed a TeAta Statue Committee to oversee the project and to select the artist. The make-up of this committee reflects the importance of this project both to the college and to the state of Oklahoma.  The Committee will review all submissions and invite a short list of artists to develop formal proposals and presentations as part of the final interview.  Finalists, artists on the short list who will participate in interviews, will be paid a $2,000 honorarium for their proposals. The honorarium shall cover all proposal-related costs such as models, drawings, and travel to and from Chickasha, Oklahoma. Models and drawings will be retained by USAO for archival purposes. Proposals from finalists will include a written description of the concept, estimated project budget, project timeline and a visual presentation (computer generated renderings, presentation boards, or models, and sample materials) conveying the initial concept or approach to the project.

Selection Criteria
The Te Ata statue project at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma is open to all professional artists working in bronze who can demonstrate implementation experience in the field of public art and creating art for public places. The TeAta Statue Committee will consider artists who can demonstrate sensitivity to the site and surroundings. Artists must be able to commit and effectively work within the aggressive project timeline and collaborate with the Committee and the college administration.

Application Procedure
The following materials are due at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, Attention: TeAta Statue Committee, 1727 West Alabama, Chickasha, OK, 73018, by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 9, 2012.

Preliminary Narrative: One-page maximum letter should state interest in the project, outline artist’s approach to the statue and highlight relevant past experiences.

Professional Résumé: Please outline your experience as an artist on no more than two typed pages. Alternatively, you may submit a narrative description of your experience as an artist on one typed page.  Also include a CD or flash drive with eight to twenty digital photographs of your work in JPEG or TIF format.  All images must have a resolution within the range of 72 to 150 dpi and a size not larger than a 5x7 and include the artist’s name, title of artwork, medium, size, date of artwork completion, location and project details (i.e. budget commissioning agency, etc, if public art). The list of images should be sorted in desired priority of viewing.

Mail Applications to:  Te Ata Statue Committee
                               University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
                               1727 West Alabama
                               Chickasha Oklahoma  73018

Additional information:  For more information about this project, contact Michael Nealeigh, Vice President for University Advancement at (405) 574-1324 or email mnealeigh@usao.edu.

      Projected Timeline
      Deadline for Submissions                November 9, 2012, 5 p.m.
      Announcement of Finalist(s)            December 7, 2012
      Presentation by Finalist(s)               Scheduled during the first or second weeks of February 2013
      Announcement of Selected Artist      On or before February 28, 2013
      Complete Design Work                    To Be Determined

The above timeline may be adjusted by the USAO TeAta Statue Committee as necessary.  All parties involved in the commission process will be notified of any adjustments to the timeline.  USAO reserves the right to modify this solicitation and to request additional information or proposals from any or all participating artists. USAO reserves the right to accept or reject, at any time prior to the commissioning of a work, any or all proposals when the acceptance, rejection, waiver or advertisement would be in the best interest of the project. In addition, USAO may solicit proposals from artists not responding to this call and reserves the right to select an artist outside of the pool of artists responding to this call.

You may download JPG images for use in developing your proposal but these images of Te Ata are owned by USAO and they may not be used for any other purposes. Image 1. Image 2. Image 3. Image 4.