Art in Public Places

Summary:

The City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places Program (APP) is seeking submissions to create a two-year list of approved artists/teams who can work as Artist Consultants during the design phase for City of Fort Collins capital projects. If you were accepted in 2025, you don’t need to reapply until 2027.

Project:

The City of Fort Collins is seeking visual artists/teams to serve as Artist Consultants for City construction projects. This includes artists working in all media—sculpture, mosaic, murals, etc. The APP Program maintains this resource list of pre-approved visual artists available to work on City projects. Artist Consultants selected from the resource list will work with a project team that may include architects, engineers, community members, and managers to designate opportunities for art within the project or within a separate art budget. This approach requires good collaboration skills, creativity, flexibility, and an open mind. The department, design team, and APP Board will determine the extent of the Artist Consultant’s involvement in a project. The Artist Consultant will be paid a fee of $55 an hour for the design phase and could also be commissioned to create a piece of artwork for the project. The APP program will use this list of artists for approximately two years. If you were accepted in 2025, you don’t need to reapply until 2027. Acceptance onto this list will not exclude the artist from submitting and being selected for other City of Fort Collins’s APP Projects.

Eligibility:

This project is open to artists/teams within a 250-mile radius from the City of Fort Collins, CO, who are at least 18 years of age and are legally residing in and authorized to work in the United States. Artist/Teams must be able to work effectively and collaboratively with the project team selected by the City of Fort Collins.

Media:

This call is open to artists working in all media—sculpture, mosaic, murals, etc.

Selection Process:

A selection committee may consist of members of the Arts & Culture Board and a City Purchasing Department representative. The committee will review application materials and make a final recommendation. The selection committee reserves the right to reject any or all entries at any time in the review and selection process.

Selection Criteria:

• Technical Competence and Collaborative Approach as demonstrated in letter of intent and resume
• Artistic Excellence as demonstrated in digital images.

Submission Information:

Proposals must be received before 5:00 p.m. (our clock), May 20, 2026
Final Selection by June 2026

Email applications to: purchasing@fortcollins.gov
Type "APP Artist Consultant List" in the subject line and request an acknowledgement email

Application Materials to be Submitted:

Please submit one (1) copy of the following materials:

1. Completed form at this link.
2. A one (1) page letter of intent describing how you approach working with a design team or on collaborative projects.
3.  Current resume (max. 2 pages) outlining your professional accomplishments as an artist/team and experience with design team projects. Team resumes can either be 2 pages for the team or one page per team member.
4. Three references: Names, professional titles, phone numbers, and email addresses of three references who can speak to your experience as an artist/team and past public art projects.
5. Image list including artist name, title, media, dimensions, location, date, cost, and description of the artwork. List all names if the work was completed by a team of artists.

Do not include images on resume, letter of intent, or image list.

In addition to the above materials please also submit:

Six (6) digital images total of relevant work completed within the past five years. Digital images should be presented in a jpeg format up to 300 dpi, no larger than 1.5 MB per image. When opened, each image file should appear in the proper orientation. Please label each image with artist’s last name and image number matching the artist’s image list.

Submissions must be complete or will not be reviewed.

Materials not requested will not be reviewed.

Notice

All proposals submitted must meet all applicable City codes and Charter requirements. The City of Fort Collins reserves the right to reject all proposals and to waive irregularities or informalities. Artists are not to contact the project community/neighborhoods for an APP project unless arranged through Ellen Martin, APP Coordinator for the City.

Sincerely,

Jake Rector
Interim Purchasing Director

Summary:

The City of Fort Collins Art in Public Places (APP) Program is requesting designs from artists aged 3 to 18 years old. The drawings will be sandblasted into 16" × 16" granite pavers and incorporated into the City’s streetscape. Drawings should reflect a theme relating to celebrating the 150^th anniversary of Colorado or the 250^th anniversary of the country. The Selection Committee will select multiple artists for this project.

Project:

The City’s Streets and Engineering Departments work to provide safe pedestrian access by creating new pedestrian routes as well as improving existing areas. The City requests black and white line drawings, either representational or abstract concepts with themes celebrating: the 150th anniversary of Colorado’s statehood or the 250th anniversary of United States Declaration of Independence. The selected designs will be sandblasted into 16" × 16" granite pavers and placed in various sidewalks throughout Fort Collins. The artwork will be a signature piece in the city and be highly visible to the public.

Eligibility:

Artwork will be accepted from youth, aged 3 to 18 years old. The artists are required to reside and/or attend a school within the City of Fort Collins Growth Management Area. A map of the Growth Management Area can be found at this link. Entries will be reviewed in three age categories: 3–8, 9–12, and 13–18. Each artist may submit only one drawing.

Budget:

Artists whose designs have been selected by the committee will be awarded $50. Up to 15 designs will be selected.

Selection Process:

The selection committee may consist of the Art & Culture Board, representatives from the City’s Project Team and City Purchasing Department. The committee will review submissions and either recommend finalists or make a final selection. The selection committee reserves the right to reject any entry at any time in the review and selection process. All designs selected become the property of the City of Fort Collins. Selected artists will be required to sign an agreement with the City and provide a W-9 for honorarium payment.

Selection Criteria:

Selection is based on suitability of the design, including form, content, scale, and clarity. The design should be picture-based, not word-based. Designs that include logos; copyrighted or trademarked images; advertisements; or political, commercial, religious, or sexual symbols, themes, or messages will not be accepted.

Submission Information:

Proposals must be received before 5:00 p.m. (our clock), October 26, 2026
Final Selection November 2026

Please mail form with ONE drawing to:
APP 2026 PEDESTRIAN PAVER PROJECT
City of Fort Collins Purchasing Division
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522

Or email form with ONE drawing to: 
purchasing@fortcollins.gov
Type "2026 Pedestrian Paver Project" in the subject line. Request an acknowledgement email.

Or form with ONE drawing may be hand-delivered Tues–Sat, between 12 PM and 6 PM to:
2026 PEDESTRIAN PAVER PROJECT
The Lincoln Center Box Office
Attn: Art in Public Places
417 W. Magnolia St.
Fort Collins, CO 80521
(The Box Office is inside the main entrance at the corner of Magnolia and Meldrum Streets.)

All drawings will become the property of the City of Fort Collins and cannot be returned.

Application Materials to be Submitted:

Please complete the Pedestrian-Paver-Artist-Form.pdf(PDF, 91KB) with the following information:

1. Design: ONE black and white THICK, BOLD, CLEAR line drawing (no shading) completed on the attached form. Fine, intricate details cannot be duplicated in a sandblasted paver and we reserve the right to edit images for clarity.
2. Written explanation: A description of your design.
3. Contact information.

Questions:

Questions concerning the scope of the project should be directed to Ellen Martin at (970) 416-2789.

Notice:

All proposals submitted must meet all applicable City codes and Charter requirements. The City of Fort Collins reserves the right to reject all proposals and to waive irregularities or informalities.

Sincerely,
Jake Rector
Interim Purchasing Director