Call For Artists

Public Art and Design Portfolio

SOMA Pilipinas is calling on artists and community members to submit concepts for public art portfolio for designs for upcoming and potential projects including: Bike Racks, Freeway Underpass, Gateways, Historical Markers, Murals, Plaques, Utility Boxes and Signage.

 SOMA Pilipinas (SP) is developing an expressive and culturally significant portfolio for public art and designs that reflect the people, vision, experiences and/or history of the South of Market. Applicants may be established artists, emerging artists, urban designers, architects or even members of the community that do not necessarily have an arts background. Individuals or collectives may apply for the program however a collective must apply with a lead applicant as the main contact.

Proposals will be sought in a multi-stage process: first, we will make a call for qualifications, which does not require a specific proposal, but asks for a letter of interest and a portfolio of your past work with a brief description of your initial concept. Second, based on those submissions, we will select finalists to make conceptual designs in the aforementioned categories. Concepts will be presented to community stakeholders for feedback and may be selected for  implementation at site specific locations using the following criteria:

• Aesthetic quality 

• Appropriateness of the proposed artwork for the site and project goals 

• Demonstrated feasibility of the preliminary proposal and proposal budget 

• Consideration of maintainability and durability of the artwork's design, proposed materials, fabrication and installation methods 

Selected finalists will receive commissions ranging from $250-$1000 depending on the scope of the project site.  Chosen designs may be included in SOMA Pilipinas’ public realm portfolio that will be presented to the public, funders, stakeholders, as well as to city officials and developers for potential implementation in the future.

One application is allowed per design project. Applicants may apply for multiple projects.

Background

SOMA Pilipinas is in the Heart (SPH) is a public art planning process, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), that will strengthen SOMA Pilipinas - San Francisco Pilipino Cultural Heritage District’s cultural resources and visibility through strategic assessments of the neighborhood landscape, available resources and best practices. This planning process includes the creation of a portfolio of potential designs that can be shared with prospective developers,  City departments, and major institutions. Together with the cultural district’s organizational sponsor, Filipino-American Development Foundation (FADF), SOMA Pilipinas will draw on the advice of the SFAC’s Public Arts Program and engage community  stakeholders.

FADF and SOMA Pilipinas will focus on a continuation of the initial phase of the larger SPH project so that our priority goals of a strategic public art plan and portfolio of initial designs can be realized. The district has negotiated commitments from specific sites-in-development and has identified key locations for public realm projects. These plans will be realized with community-led vision and artistic framework in place. In the past three years SOMA Pilipinas has undergone a community process, with the help of volunteer artists, designers, and architects, and with the contribution of  organizations like SOMCAN who have also led design charrettes, urban design workshops and surveyed community members, residents, workers, artists, etc. to identify potential iconography and symbolism that may be incorporated into public realm and public art projects, such as: Sampaguita, Jeepney, Filipino Fruits & Vegetables, Animals (sarimanok, carabao, etc.), Textiles, Iconic Philippine Landscapes, Materials (bamboo, capiz, etc.), Banderitas

While proposed concepts are not required to include these cultural markers, these reflect community discussions to-date and are guideposts for selections and discussions about proposals.

SOMA Pilipinas

SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District is a regional cultural hub and serves  the Filipino community including residents, workers, artists, and activists in SOMA, San Francisco, and the extensive  web of community members still connected to the area, its resources, and the communal space it maintains for relationship building, exchange, and building cultural bonds. SOMA Pilipinas is a people-centered cultural district, formed to protect and elevate a community that has weathered generational violence and disenfranchisement: colonization and militarization of the Philippines, exploitation of migrant laborers, the razing of Manilatown and the fall of the I-Hotel, and the uprooting of residents during Redevelopment with Yerba Buena, Metreon, and Westfield. The district emerged in the wake of many displaced families and disrupted networks of support. Because of this, the district, its goals, and programs look to building resilient and agile artistic and cultural strategies that actively combat the continuing erosion of our institutions and build toward a stronger future.

SOMA Pilipinas’s mission centers on three intertwined strategies--artistic & cultural visibility, community-led development that stabilizes existing assets and builds for an affordable future, and economic, social, and racial justice. The public art program for the district most naturally falls under the first strategy, but must advance all three. The SOMA Pilipinas public art program carves out a space for the South of Market and regional Filipino community by making our creative presence visible to others and ourselves; strengthens the professional development of the Filipino arts community through a variety of public art programming and opportunities; operates in alignment with housing advocates and community organizers to combat ‘artwashing’ and other potentially gentrifying impacts of public art and ‘placemaking’ efforts; and advances social justice within and for the community, whether through specific artistic themes or equity in the processes that enact the work.

Filipino-American Development Foundation

The Filipino American Development Foundation exists to strengthen the social, physical, and economic well being of the Filipino American community and the South of Market community with special attention to the underserved segments of the community.

FADF's Mission will accomplish this by:

• Increasing awareness and knowledge about the Filipino American community through participation in educational and cultural programs.

• Increasing access to a wide range of economic, health and social services through collaboration with existing programs and the development of culturally appropriate services.

• Providing a community space to strengthen community ties, to facilitate the sharing of resources and expertise among service providers in SOMA, and to build leadership skills and the capacity of service providers to effectively provide relevant social services to the community.

​Our vision is to provide the necessary support to strengthen and empower Filipino Americans to enable them to develop resources and assets that can benefit the local and broader community. We believe that the Filipino cultural value of bayanihan, which means mutual assistance and mutual caring, can be the catalyst for engaging the Filipino American community to self-development and broader participation.

Values: 

Bayanihan - Community working together

Katatagan - Social sustainability "strong and grounded"

Karangalan - Cultural integrity and pride

Malasakit - Caring for each other

Kagalingan - Betterment of all

How to Apply

Fill out this form https://forms.gle/1FK6YfpJQwBwRvdL9 and submit a letter of intent with 3 to 5 images of past work by the deadline Tuesday, February 16, 2021- 5pm PST.

In the letter, include the project design you’d like to submit for (i.e. Gateway, Plaques, Mural, etc.), and any initial concepts or direction you may have. Please detail any past experience that might support your application. This includes but isn’t limited to: art, design, community planning background, participation in any design charrettes or workshops, and/or any relevant information that supports your relationship to the Pilipinx community in SOMA organizationally and/or as an  individual.

Images of past work should be geared toward giving the review panel a sense of your artistic skill, ability to explore concepts, and exploration of relevant cultural themes. Please do not send proposed designs for new public art at this stage--proposals will be commissioned if you are selected. Images should be sent as .jpgs or links to specific, hosted image files. Please do not send full websites for review.

Process

For projects on private developments, an advisory group developed by FADF and SOMA Pilipinas will select one to three artists (including alternates) who have the capacity and experience to create a public art piece for the Project. 

Finalists will be selected by the Project Sponsor, after proposals are made to the community and a selection panel made up of individuals from community groups, community leaders, advisors to the Arts & Culture Committee of the Filipino-American Development Foundation, and representatives of the Project Sponsor. 

Phase 1: Initial RFQ submissions are assessed by an advisory group developed by FADF and SOMA Pilipinas (SP staff and art expert(s) (artists, curators). Artists selected in this round are given a small honorarium to develop refined proposals.

Phase 2: 

For specific private projects, a community selection panel made up of community groups, art experts (artists, curators), SP/FADF representatives will review proposals to be presented to the developer/project sponsor for final selection. 

Projects selected for  public right of way and/or utilizing City funds are also subject to approval by the SFAC and other departments as required. 

Phase 3:  Projects selected for final implementation will go into contract with the project sponsor.

Timeline

Letter of Intent due: Feb 16, 2021 - 5pm PST

Finalist Notified by: March 15, 2021  

Design Concepts due: April 16, 2021 - 5pm PST

For more information on SOMA Pilipinas visit:

https://www.somapilipinas.org/about

https://www.somapilipinas.org/vision

https://www.somapilipinas.org/history

For any questions please email Rachel Lastimosa - Arts and Culture Administrator at rlastimosa@somapilipinas.org with the subject line: “ (Insert First Name and Last name) SPH LOI”.