Calling All Creatives
By: Charlotte Urban Design Center
Tags: Urban Design, Engagement, Artists, Placemaking, Creatives

Public mural artist, Rosalia Torres Weiner, standing outside of her mobile studio, Red Calaca Studio, at the City of Charlotte Eastland Rising event in 2017. (Photo by Austin Caine)

The Charlotte Urban Design Center is calling all types of creatives to apply for two opportunities to work with the City of Charlotte like never before.

First, we are expanding our Placemaking Creative Pool to include a wide range of creatives who manage, create, and implement original compositions. This includes creatives who work in mixed media, performance, written and spoken word, video/photography, fabrication, and more. We also want to include teams, organizations, and businesses who manage the process of implementing public art and performance. Learn more and apply here.

Second, we are putting out the call for creative engagement specialists. If you know the Charlotte Urban Design Center team, you know that we are a small but mighty team, but we need more help! We are looking for teams and individuals who are experienced in community engagement, meeting facilitation, Design and Decision Sprints, web and social media, pop-up public space activation (think block parties), and more. Learn more and apply here.

Queen City Quiz Show hosts, Matt Olin (left) and Tim Miner (right) of Charlotte is Creative, engaging resident teams from East Charlotte and Wesley Heights at the City of Charlotte Eastland Rising event in 2017. (Photo by Austin Caine)

Potential projects will range from community engagement and beautification through the Corridors of Opportunity program, to the creation of street murals for the Uptown CycleLink project.

Our city is growing more diverse every day and we are looking to work with Charlotte’s brightest and most talented creatives. Could this be you?

Qualifications are due by April 25th at 2 p.m.

For any questions, please email us at UDC@CharlotteNC.gov by April 16th at 12:00 p.m. The Urban Design Center will be answering all questions in a live virtual Q&A Session on April 20th at 3:00 p.m. — stream the meeting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_iz2m18mrU.

Questions & Answers

This section will be updated regularly with written responses to questions asked via email and during the April 20th Virtual Q&A Session.

City of Charlotte Prequalified Creatives Pool — Q&A

What is meant by projects? Is that simply just personal artworks I have completed that I want to represent me for the application, or are you talking about larger scale/organized projects we have had a hand in?

Answer: We are interested in your style/skill and your ability to execute larger projects. A mixture of personal work that represents you as creative and larger projects that you had a role in would be great examples of past work.

Deadline is listed as April 25 at 2:00 pm. Since April 25th is a Sunday, can you please verify that this was the intended due date?

Answer: Yes that is the due date. It is a digital submission to be completed through Google using this form: https://forms.gle/V3LDbNqiGSNmRZvZ6. There is no fee to submit qualifications but you will need to sign into a Google account to complete the application.

On-Call For Community Engagement Services — Q&A

What is meant by “on-call?” Would this mean whenever Charlotte Urban Design Center needs the services? If so, over what period of time would the those services need to be available on an on-call basis, and what sort of lead time would the consultants have?

Answer: On-call means that being selected for this RFQ does not guarantee work but makes your services available if needed to the City of Charlotte for two years. Upon request by the City of Charlotte the consultant may choose to put together a specific scope based on the request. The City of Charlotte will then select based on qualifications for each task. There is not a requirement to do the work when requested if the consultant is not available.

Should the lead consultant be a US Citizen or a Lawful Permanent Resident (green card holder)? For instance, can an international student be a (lead) consultant?

Answer: The City of Charlotte is still working to confirm answer to question above.

Can a team consist of a few individuals from different organizations? Should they have an established company before submitting the SFQ?

Answer: A team can consist of several individuals from different organizations. Teams do not have to have an established company prior to submitting SFQ. Individuals may also apply.

If the consultant is selected, what will be the type of relationship between him/her and the City? Will it be a contractual (1099) relationship or an employment (W-2) one?

Answer: The relationship with the City of Charlotte will be as a vendor to the City of Charlotte, not an employment one.

Deadline is listed as April 25 at 2:00 pm. Since April 25th is a Sunday, can you please verify that this was the intended due date?

Answer: Yes that is the due date. It is a digital submission to be emailed to udc@charlottenc.gov

RFQ states one page “resumes may be inserted into the body of the SOQ or as an attachment” if an attachment do they count towards the 10 page maximum for the Qualifications Section?

Answer: These do count towards the 10 page maximum in the qualifications section, even if an attachment.

Does the required SOQ content Fee Schedule, Required Forms, and Exceptions to the RFQ count towards the 10 page maximum for the Qualifications Section?

Answer: No — those pages do not count towards the maximum.

Can you please provide additional guidance related to the fee schedule? Are billing rates for each individual proposed staff required, or is the rate schedule intended to be by staff classification?

Answer: The fee schedule is an hourly rate for classifications and/or staff.

Is a cover for the proposal required? If so, does it count towards the 3 page maximum for the Cover Letter Section?

Answer: A cover is not required, nor does it count toward the 3-page cover letter.