Overnight Art 2008 submissions sought

This year, when May rolls around, flowers won’t be the only things blooming in the Port City. Public art will also take root at various locations throughout Portsmouth. Art-Speak, Portsmouth’s Cultural Commission, recently announced its call for submissions to its public art contest, Overnight Art 2008. The competition will culminate in a scattered-site exhibit of public art from mid-May until the end of the summer.

“We’re recognizing, in a cultural and economic sense, the value of arts to Portsmouth—to its community and as a way to draw visitors,” said Sue Cobler, coordinator of Art-Speak. Applications for the competition are available online and are due at Portsmouth City Hall by Feb. 15. The competition and subsequent exhibit are funded by the New Hampshire State Council for the Arts, anonymous donations and sponsorship from local businesses.

Proposals can include work in any media, including audio, Cobler said. “I would love to have something more than just visual,” she said. Art-Speak also encourages collaboration among multiple artists. The only requirement is that the installation be able to withstand the elements and remain outside for six to eight weeks during the summer.

“It must be freestanding and take into account the potential for wind,” Cobler said. “Also, will the proposed piece generate an impact on the audience? Is it an innovative approach to public art? Multimedia type things would be interesting.”

The winners will be selected by a jury, which will consist of four representatives from Art-Speak, two representatives from the outside art community and Judy Rigmont, creative communities coordinator on the N.H. State Council of the Arts. It will also include Portsmouth economic development director Nancy Carmer, a representative from the city’s legal department and a representative from the Department of Public Works. 

Winning artists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and a stipend of up to $1,200 for all aspects of material, fabrication, installation and removal. Each work will be installed at one of 10 public sites, including Prescott Park, Vaughan Mall, Hay Market Square, Hanover Street Parking Garage, Islington Street Baseball Field/Park, Deer Street Pump Station, Memorial Bridge Park, City Hall, Market Square, Portsmouth Public Library, the former library building and Seacoast Media Group at Pease Tradeport. “There is a chance that there may be some more sites,” Cobler said.

On the application, artists are encouraged to select their top three site preferences. “We want the artists to choose the site, so that the piece will have a relationship with the site,” Cobler said. The city held a similar public art initiative in 2005. “Basically, everyone managed to get the site they wanted,” Cobler added. 

Overnight Art 2008 is meant to highlight the recently enacted Percent for Public Art Ordinance, which requires the city to donate 1 percent of the construction or renovation cost of any new public building toward the commission of public art. The Percent for Public Art Ordinance comes into effect whenever the cost of a construction falls between $2 million and $15 million. Ten percent of that 1 percent goes into a maintenance fund, which helps offset the cost of caring for the art pieces, which would be located at the site of the new construction.  

“It could be outside or inside the building, in the lobby or public meeting room. For each opportunity at a location, there would be a committee” to design the installation, Cobler said.

Overnight Art 2008 is a way of keeping the Percent for Public Art program visible to the public. “We’re really coming into the first fiscal year where there will be an opportunity for it. We want to have the artists in the area get excited about it, too; let them know how willing the city is to work with them, that they are valued. Also, to expose the general public to art they might not otherwise see,” Cobler said.

The first project in Portsmouth that could fall under the new ordinance is the renovation of Fire Station 2 on Lafayette Road, which will be a “case study for how to do it,” Cobler said.

For more information, visit www.art-speak.org.