Artist Call: Entries Sought For Berkeley BART Plaza Sculpture

BERKELEY, CA – The City of Berkeley is seeking an already-made, large sculpture for the future downtown Berkeley BART plaza, city officials said.

The city's Civic Arts Commission will choose the free-standing sculpture as the first in a series of pieces to be exhibited at the plaza in years to come, the city said.

The city plans to display the piece for nearly a year starting in early 2018, when the redesigned BART plaza is expected to be completed.

The plaza is a block from Berkeley's downtown arts district, a regional destination for theaters and live music.

"The sculpture and the plaza it sits in will be at the crossroads of Berkeley's downtown, seeing over 40,000 commuters at the BART station and thousands of others who pass through by foot, bus or car," the city said. "The Plaza creates a new venue for art that's just a block from the Addison Street Downtown Arts District, a regional destination for theatres and live music. The plaza also looks upon the new UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, which is a block away."

The $25,000 project is funded through the public art fund, which, by City Council ordinance, is allocated 1.5 percent of the construction cost of eligible city buildings, officials said.

More information about the sculpture project is available on the City of Berkeley website. See the call for artists and use it to apply.

Artists who wish to apply also can contact Mary Ann Merker, Civic Arts Coordinator, mmerker@CityofBerkeley.info.

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--Bay City News contributed to this report/Morguefile image