Artwork sought for new federal building

Artists are being encouraged to submit applications during the next two weeks in order to be considered for prospective commissions to be displayed at the new San Francisco Federal Building, which is scheduled for completion in 2004.

The U.S. General Services Administration is asking artists to submit slides and resumes by Jan. 9 as the first step in awarding $600,000 worth of commissions in late winter 2001.

"Following a long and cherished tradition of supporting creative expression, GSA plans to commission original works of art for the public areas of the building complex," according to GSA Regional Administrator Kenn N. Kojima.

"We are seeking artists who reflect the richness of our history, the strength of our future, and the many cultures that contribute to our nation," Kojima said.

The new building, under design by the architecture firm of Morphosis of Santa Monica in partnership with SMP/SHG (Stone Marriccini Patterson) of San Francisco, will consist of about 475,000 square feet of office space. The building will be located on a site that was donated to the federal government by the City of San Francisco on the corner of Seventh and Mission streets.

It is intended to enhance the city's mid-Market redevelopment area, forming an anchor to the Market Street end of the Civic Center. The estimated cost of construction is approximately $112 million.

Kojima said the GSA's Art in Architecture Program commissions artists to create publicly scaled and permanently installed artworks that are "appropriate to the diverse uses and architectural vocabularies of new federal buildings and courthouses."

Interested artists should submit slides and resumes to Donald Douglass, the GSA's Regional Fine Arts Officer at: GSA, Property Development Division, 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco, 94102.<