Public Art Development | 2019 | Dublin, IE
Fitzwilliam Cycle Route Sculpture Commission
PROJECT INFO
Clients: Dublin City Arts Council and the National Transportation Authority of Ireland
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Stage One: Creation of Brief & Artist Research
Timeline for Stage One: 4 months (April 2019 - August 2019)
Role: Stage One Project Coordinator / Creative Brief Author
Methodology: Research, Cross-Functional Municipal Partnerships, Arts Community Outreach
In 2019, the National Transport Authority of Ireland collaborated with the Dublin City Council in Dublin, Ireland to commission a public work of art for the new Fitzwilliam Cycle Route in South East Dublin. The invitational commission was organized as part of the Dublin City Public Art Program, where I was fortunate enough to be doing an 8-month graduate internship. Thanks to my expertise in sculpture and my familiarity with the city’s public art collection, I was brought on as the initial project coordinator. My role was to define the needs of the project, gather ideas for implementation, and design a creative brief.
The Project:
Design a commissioning brief that can be utilized as a municipal planning document and resource for artist. Five artists will be invited to make proposals for the allocated space on the traffic island at Leeson Lower Street and Adelaide Road. The limited competition challenges creators to make a proposal for a permanent sculpture that responds to the newly developed public space along the new Fitzwilliam Cycle Route.
The final working draft of the commissioning document is attached below. As a reminder, the language of the brief uses European spellings and metrics.
Key Considerations
Compile a municipal document in uniform style as other Dublin City Council documents.
Collaborate with city leaders and architects to clarify needs.
Collect documentation of proposed site.
Define sculpture paramaters.
Invite art experts and artists to participate.
Initial Research of the Proposed Space
The proposed site of the sculpture is Located within the Georgian core of Dublin, home to many of the city’s 18th century streets, squares, and landmarks, and just a few steps from the Grand Canal.
The National Transport Authority provided their municipal planning documents for the location. After several meetings with city officials, I marked on the map where a structure would be best supported. The magenta highlighted area is the proposed space for the foot print of the commission.
To help the ideation process, I added colorful markings to highlight future sculpture placement. The map on the left depicts where the new Fitzwilliam Route will end and join with existing cycle routes.
As can be see on the far right lower map, the space selected is free of any load-bearing restrictions and utility lines. Any unforeseen utilities issues can be easily address and adjusted for the artwork’s structural integrity.
All maps were supplied by the National Transport Authority of Ireland and Dublin, IE city planners.
All reference photos were taken by Megan Moriarty during the research process.
Additional Renovations
Beyond the new sculpture, the plaza selected for the new sculpture will include new features that need to be taken into account for the commissioners and the participating artists.
The drawn planning maps shown above include the changes that will occur during the renovation. These clear planning documents will assist everyone in imaging and planning new art installations.
New features
New flagstone
"Fastigiata" Tree (30-35cm)
Water fountain
Two new benches
Changes
Relocation of bicycle parking
Removal of large digital traffic sign
Relocation of utility boxes
Documenting the Location
Fundamental to creating a document that supports creative ideation are images depicting the every-day look and feel of a sculpture’s future home. I went on multiple excursions trying to capture the exuberant energy of this historic plaza.
Selecting Art Contributors
The city of Dublin, Ireland has a robust collection of sculptures and thorough guidelines for the introduction of new public artworks. The committee selecting the final work would be made up of regional art experts and city planners. To assist the Fine Art experts on the committee, I created presentation of twenty contemporary Irish artists to be considered for the invitation process. For privacy reasons, I will not be sharing this presentation. In lieu of my presentation documents, the artworks used in the ideation board below highlight trends in the contemporary art community and all the artists shown below had a presence within the city’s art scene at the time of the commission in 2019.
Ideation Board
“Turning Point“ by Isabel Nolan 2010 | Dublin Airport | Photo Credit to PublicArt.ie
Untitled artwiork by Áine McBride 2018 | Photo credit to Mother's Tankstation
"Vegetablemineral" by Lucy Andrews 2019 | Photo Credit to lucyandrews.net
Artist Hanna Fitz, Represented by the Kerlin Gallery 2019 | Photo Credit to the Kerlin Gallery
"Scapes; Rose Quartz" by Barbara Knezevic 2018 | photo credit to Berlin Optics
Curatorial Philosophy
To guide the committee in the selection process, we commissioned curator Vaari Claffey to establish a curatorial philosophy for the proposed sculpture.
Developmental opportunity for younger Irish artists, including artists who have been displaced. Commission would be an opportunity to bring them back into Ireland.
Looking for work that uses the energy of contemporary art to engage with the vitality of the plaza.
Responsive approach to how the city space meets with the natural environment of the canal and park.
Work that spatially relates to the kiosk in a way that enhances the harmony of the structural elements and does not compete for attention.
Short Listing Artists
For privacy reasons, the short list of artists invited to submit for this commission will not be included in this portfolio. What can be elaborated on are the key elements we looked for in selecting artists.
Emerging Artists
Irish Nationals or Current Residents
Portfolio of exhibited sculpture
History of community engagement within Irish art communities
Abstraction vs. Realism
Early on I made the decision to support artists that were working abstractly. The city of Dublin has a celebrated collection of figurative sculptures and commemorative status. Many commissions happens concurrently to this one specifically called for realistic or figurative representations of historic figures. This artwork did not have those limitations and it presented a unique opportunity to broaden the diversity of public works and support artists making non-figurative or abstract work.
Final Notes
The research and ideation of this commissioning project was incredibly exciting. The design-based process allowed me to successfully build cross-functional municipal partnerships that supported arts communities while also meeting the needs of the proposed site. My in-depth research and technical writing further elevated the opportunity for Irish artists to contribute to the next generation of Dublin’s public sculpture collection. The largest issue with my draft of the document is that I cannot find the specific weight and size limitations for the sculpture, however I know that the final internal brief had those metrics included. What cannot be shown on this portfolio page are the endless hours spent going to exhibitions to meet artists, connecting with local curators to discuss current trends, and the many emails discussing the physical limitations and opportunities of the proposed site. If I had the opportunity ti do it again, I would better document these experience in an effort to demystify the commissioning process.
So where’s the final artwork?
I very much look forward to divulging specific successful outcomes of this research when the final stages of this commission are completed.