Public art--what's that?

Have you ever noticed the terrazzo floor inside the entrance at the Bemidji high school? The design was installed as part of the public art that was included in the publicly financed building. The Bemidji Regional Event Center will have a public art component too.

A committee of artists has been working with the City's consultant, Forecast Public Art to define where the art can be incorporated into the building and what the process will be to select the artists. The committee has chosen two areas for art that will give the most impact--the terrazzo floor and a suspended art piece--maybe a light--at the entrance. The Request for Qualifications will be sent to a selected list of artists (developed by Forecast). The committee has also added names of area artists to the list.

Interested artists will have until Sept. 8 to respond to the request and then the committee will narrow the list to six artists--three in each category. Selected artists will receive a $1,000 stipend to sketch or create a model of their idea, which will be presented to the committee for the final artist selections.