Tooele Technical College Public Art Opportunity - Utah Public Art

TOOELE TECHNICAL COLLEGE
The mission of Tooele Technical College is to provide rewarding, competency-based, affordable, and accessible career preparation for youth and adults to meet the needs of Utah employers. It concentrates on providing competency-based, flexible, affordable, high tech and focused workforce training for high wage jobs and complimentary services in an open-entry / open-exit environment.

EXPANSION PROJECT
Tooele Technical College was established in 2009 and opened the doors to its first and only building on June 5, 2013, receiving State Legislative funding of $12.3 million. Because of the community’s passion and commitment to technical education, the project also received $5,000,000 from Tooele City, and 8.5 acres was leased to the College from Utah State University; who entered into a 99-year/$1.00-a-year lease with the College. During the construction of the building, the College focused within the tight budget on maximizing the number of programs it could construct in this first building, creating spaces for over 20 technical training programs. 
Within the last few years Tooele Technical College has witnessed unprecedented growths in its programs. This is in part due to a recent partnership with Tooele County School District. Juniors and seniors are now allowed, as part of their normal high school schedules, to take advantage of educational opportunities along with the adult students in the programs. This new partnership, along with the population growth that is occurring in Tooele county, has led to significant growth in most the College’s programs. The Tooele Technical College Board of Directors, the Administrative team, and local stake holders all recognize the need for the College to expand its available program space for it to continue to play a significant role of developing the workforce, not only in Tooele County but along the Wasatch Front.

TOOELE COUNTY
The land now known as Utah was first inhabited by the ancient Pueblo people, sometimes referred to as the Anasazi. Later, the Ute Tribe, which the state is named for, settled in the area centered around the Provo Valley. The state has eight federally recognized Native Nations, the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Indians, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Northwestern Band of Shoshone, Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, San Juan Southern Paiute, Skull Valley Band of Goshute, and White Mesa Band of the Ute Mountain Ute. Tooele County resides on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Aipimbaa Newe, the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes, and the People of Deep Creek Valley, who today are the Confederated Tribes of the Goshute. 

The US Census has listed Tooele County as the second fastest-growing county in the state and the seventh in the country. Tooele Technical College not only trains students for jobs within Tooele County, but it is estimated that 60% of Tooele’s working population is employed outside the County. Therefore, the College must be in a position to efficiently train secondary students and adults, who in most situations live in Tooele County, for an increased number of jobs available in expanding Tooele County, in the western and northwestern quadrants of the Salt Lake Valley, and other areas along the Wasatch Front. This expansion project is especially critical to the best interest of Utah’s workforce needs as forecasts for Utah’s unemployment rate of 3.0% or lower shows further tightening of the labor market and little relief for employers seeking skilled workers, especially in the construction, logistics, manufacturing, energy production, and IT industries, all of which represent a heavy presence in Tooele County.

This workforce shortage stands to be further compounded in the Western Wasatch Front as more businesses are forecasted to locate in Tooele County, which is ideally positioned for business. With Denver and Las Vegas being one day’s trucking drive, Los Angeles San Francisco in direct line of the I-15 and I-80 corridors (Hence the choice West Salt Lake as site of the inland port), and most west coast cities a short, one-hour flight from Salt Lake City’s hub airport –Tooele’s central location is key.

COMMITTEE STATEMENT 
It is the intent of the Art Selection Committee to commission a public artwork that will reflect the interests of the diverse, innovative community in Tooele County. In development of work for this project, artists may consider the specific training offered at Tooele Technical College and/or the union between educational training and economic development – a significant responsibility of the college. The artist may also consider, through the use of color and material, an inclusive theme that speaks to the celebration of diversity and inclusion. Other considerations should reflect already established themes within the building that are meaningful to Tooele County, such as topography, local resources, innovations, and culture of our community. 
The Selection Committee invites artists to consider the role of technical education, trades, and innovation while interpreting the functionality and purpose of this new addition. With this in mind, the Committee recommends the following areas as potential sites for an artist’s integration:

1. Outdoor entry of new Trades Building, with an emphasis on functional art or outdoor seating
2. Outdoor landscape path along new Diesel Expansion

BUDGET
$164,000 is available for all related expenses of this Public Art commission(s) including (but not limited to) artist fees, fabrication, insurance, shipping, travel, installation, documentation, etc. 

DEADLINE
Complete application packages must be RECEIVED on or before December 5, 2022 by 11:59p.m. MDT (THIS IS NOT A POSTMARK DEADLINE)

ARTIST SELECTION COMMITTEE
Lucas Davis, Project Manager, Division of Facilities Construction Management 
Todd Kelsey, Principal, Method Studio
Paul Hacking, President, Tooele Technical College
Tricia Walker, VS of Student Services and Marketing, Tooele Technical College 
Katrina Flores, Tooele Arts Guild

Please do not contact committee members directly. If you have any questions about this or other projects information is available at: artsandmuseums.utah.gov/public-art-opportunities/ 
Or contact: Hannah Barrett at hbarrett@utah.gov or 801-245-7271

SELECTION PROCESS AND SCHEDULE
The Selection Committee will review all properly submitted qualifications from which a short list of semi-finalists will be selected. Semi-finalists will be asked present a full proposal to the committee on February 7, 2023 to include concept, budget, and timeline. All semi-finalists will be awarded an honorarium to help defray the costs of the development of the proposal. The honorarium will be applied toward the commission amount for the artist(s) awarded the commission(s.) Utah Arts & Museums will not be responsible for applications delayed or lost. The Tooele Technical College Expansion Art Selection Committee reserves the right to withhold the award of a commission or  re-release the call for entries. 
Schedule: 
December 5, 2022, 11:59pm MDT – Deadline for receipt of preliminary materials 
December 12, 2022 – Committee Review 
February 7, 2023 – Finalists interviews and presentations 
Fall 2024 – Project substantial completion 

ELIGIBILITY
This project is open to legal resident artists / artist teams residing in the Southwestern United States to include: Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada. Utah artists are strongly encouraged to apply. Art Selection Committee members, staff and Board of Utah Arts & Museums, and employees of Method Studio are not eligible to apply for this commission.