Summary:

The City of Moline (City), in partnership with Renew Moline, a 501(C)(3) non-profit economic development entity (Renew), is soliciting qualifications and proposals for the development of a Public Art Master Plan. The partners intend to develop a Public Art Master Plan for the downtown Moline area to enhance the urban experience and provide an attractive environment for new development.

Background:

The City of Moline is a Mississippi riverfront city that would like to capitalize on this tremendous natural asset. With a population of approximately 45,000, Moline is the largest city in Rock Island County, Illinois. It is one of the Quad Cities, four mid-sized midwestern cities that straddle the Mississippi River, 165 miles west of Chicago. With its neighboring cities of Bettendorf, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois, the area population is almost 400,000, the largest urban area between Minneapolis and St. Louis.

Scope of Work:

The City and Renew seek individuals and firms ("Consultant") experienced in creating master plans for art and/or directing strategic planning within the arts community. The Public Art Master Plan will be developed in a public, transparent and collaborative process and will apply to the Moline Centre Plan area and limited (three to four) "special areas" in adjacent neighborhoods (See Complete RFQ, Attachment B). The consultant shall produce a detailed and illustrative document to be considered for adoption by the Moline City Council. The document should generally:

• Define and describe public art, to educate and inform the public about the role of art in community building;
• Inventory existing public art assets and features;
• Establish and promote a clear vision for public art that aligns with the City's economic development and urban design goals;
• Identify opportunity areas and specific locations for art with an emphasis on enlivening public spaces, creating a sense of place; unifying and identifying neighborhoods, and respecting the city's historical and physical characteristics. These can be "gateways", connections to the riverfront and between neighborhoods, and/or physical structures but should be descriptive enough to encourage and guide the implementation of art features in the public realm;
• Create public art policies and criteria for review of public art gifts;
• Recommend a process for the implementation of the plan, including solicitation and selection of artwork and a governance structure; and
• Identify costs and potential funding sources for public art features/elements.

Tasks and Work Program

Task 1 –Meetings and administration:

• Attend kickoff meeting with City and Renew staff to review contracted scope of work, schedule and roles and responsibilities;
• Project and contract management tasks necessary to complete all tasks; and
• Meet throughout the contract period with project team consisting of City and Renew staff as well as a nine-member Steering Committee (anticipated at least four times but no more than six). Videoconferencing is available for most meetings.

Task 1 Deliverable:

• Conduct kickoff meeting (agenda, agenda approval, meeting activity and summary)
• Project schedule for endorsement by client
• Accounting, invoicing, monitoring and completing tasks and reporting progress
• Meeting summary (including task list) and schedule update for each meeting
• Meeting with Steering Committee to review purpose, process and progress (may be conducted with project team meetings and/or site visit).

Task 2 – Background Research

• Review Moline City Plans pertaining to Moline Centre to identify potential locations, corridors and themes for public art. Plans include: Moline Centre Plan, Moline Comprehensive Plan Updates, Moving Moline Forward Plan, Moline Streetscape Master Plan, 7^th Avenue Reconstruction & Connector Project, River Drive Corridor Study, River to River Corridor Study, Moline Centre Design Guidelines, Moline Park Master Plan);
• Conduct site visit;
• Identify existing programs and activities related to public art in both Moline (and the Quad Cities, where applicable to Moline);
• Provide "best practices" research and application in Moline to guide development of the Public Art Master Plan; and
• Assemble a catalogue of no more than five successful Public Art Master Plans from similarly sized cities throughout the country. These plans should act as relevant examples and have evident results by which to gauge success and should include a variety of potential (and feasible) funding sources for implementation of a public art master plan.

Task 2 Deliverables:

• Existing Conditions, Inventory and Opportunities Report (or chapter of the Plan);
• List of Best Practices for potential inclusion in the Public Art Master Plan; and
• Electronic catalogue of Public Art Master Plans to reference and inform the development of Moline's Public Art Master Plan.

Task 3 – Public Participation

• In collaboration with City staff, identify stakeholders (business, community and neighborhood leaders) for interviews; and conduct up to ten individual and group interviews with key stakeholders to assess matters of importance; and to elicit "thematic" and historical information;
• One or more public meeting(s), focus group(s) or engagement activity to inform the development of a public art plan;
• One meeting of the Steering Committee to discuss stakeholder input received and direction resulting from input; and
• Participation in public meetings (two anticipated) as part of consideration by Plan Commission and City Council.

*Meetings may be conducted by videoconference, where appropriate.

Task 3 Deliverables:

• List of stakeholders and schedule of interviews;
• Execution and summaries of stakeholder interviews;
• Announcements, materials and presentation graphics necessary to conduct public outreach;
• One or more successfully completed public meetings with a Summary of Findings for each; and
• Preparation for and participation in Plan Commission and City Council hearings to consider adoption of the Plan.

Task 4 – Draft Public Art Master Plan

Produce a narrative and illustrative document that will provide policy guidance and recommendations on public art throughout downtown Moline. The graphic quality, innovation and clarity of this document is paramount. A Public Art Master Plan should do all of (but not be limited to) the following:

• Indicate how art can both "brand" and enhance the public experience downtown, potentially through an arts district;
• Be both inspirational and aspirational;
• Illustrate areas and ways that public art can enhance connections between neighborhoods and activity centers;
• Identify "best practice" principles and processes that can govern the inclusion of art in projects based on research of small to mid-sized cities that have active and successful arts programs;
• Program specific locations where public art can enhance the urban experience and create gateways and/or corridors (via sculpture, murals, structural, streetscape and other types of art); and
• Educate decisionmakers and the public about ways to fund and implement public art; and
• Recommend a process and governance structure for public art administration, and an alternative process if no formal structure is feasible.

Task 4 Deliverable: Public Art Master Plan for Downtown Moline including all maps and graphics necessary to convey concepts described in the Plan.

Selection of Consultant(s): The Public Art Master Plan RFQ is open to professional arts consultants (individually or in partnership with others), urban designers and/or planners with experience in development, administration and management of public art plans and initiatives.

Statement of Qualifications and Proposal: Consultants are asked to submit a Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) consisting of the following:

1. Cover letter signed by an officer of the firm authorized to execute contracts with the City and/or Renew Moline;
2. A summary of the Consultant's qualifications, years in business, location of office(s) and areas of expertise along with those of any proposed subconsultants;
3. A list of pertinent projects or contracts involving similar scopes of work provided for a public agency or non-profit development partner (including client references and total contract amount). Please include name(s) of primary staff that worked on each project along with a brief description of the role of each person;
4. Proposed contract amount. Please include billing rates for each classification of staff member, as well as reimbursables and fees (i.e. overhead, printing, markup for subs and any other cost not included in billing rates); and
5. Any other information that would assist the City and Renew in evaluating SOQs (limited to two pages total).

Evaluation of Submittals: SOQs will be evaluated by a panel consisting of City and Renew Moline staff, with input from the Public Art Steering Committee representatives. Selection will be made based on:

• Experience and demonstrated competence on similar projects as evidenced by the successful adoption of public art plans and/or programs;
• Knowledge and experience of key staff with a demonstrated ability to:
  • Produce documents of extremely high graphical quality, clarity and attractiveness;
  • Establish a vision for public art discerned from engaging with the Steering Committee and the public;
  • Craft a compelling and cohesive Public Art Master Plan to promote an experience of public art that transcends age, income, language or physical ability; and
• Ability to complete work within existing budget constraints.

Submittal Timeline: Consultant shall submit three (3) hard copies and (1) one electronic copy of the Statement of Qualifications to:

Renew Moline
Attn: Alexandra Elias, AICP
1506 River Drive
Moline, IL 61265
aelias@renewmoline.com

Submittals shall be received no later than Tuesday, October 8, 2019.

A complete version of this solicitiation, including a more comprehensive description of Moline and related maps, is available at http://www.renewmoline.com/ or by request to aelias@renewmoline.com.