new mexico covid memorial

The Bernalillo County Arts Board issues a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for artists for a site-specific, outdoor public art project that will be integrated into the future New Mexico COVID Memorial located at the Dr. E. A. Swede Scholar Regional Recreation Complex, 5601 University Boulevard SE, 87106 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Six artists will be commissioned to each create a unique 2D concept/ “blueprint” for a decorative, four-foot by eight-foot fabricated, perforated metal panel. Six different panels will be installed along the memorial’s “pilgrimage path” and are intended to create a calming experience as patterns of light and shadow interact with the viewer along the ground.

Bernalillo County will contract directly with a local fabrication company to produce the panels. The fabrication company will work closely with each selected artist to translate the original artwork into a digital design that can be fabricated into metal. Regional artists residing in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and Texas are eligible to participate. Each artist will be paid $11,000 from 1.5% for the Arts, from voter approved general obligation bonds. This budgeted amount is all-inclusive for each artist and includes the creation of the original artwork and collaboration with the fabricator.

Location/Context/History:

Since 2020, COVID has run through our families and communities and has left more than 10,000 New Mexicans dead. More than a million Americans have died from the pandemic, and the pandemic will continue to take on new forms as time progresses. The legacy of COVID has and will continue to alter our work and daily activities into the foreseeable future.

Construction on the New Mexico COVID Memorial is scheduled to start in the fall of 2025. The project will be the first publicly funded COVID Memorial in the United States. The site for the memorial is within the Dr. E. A. Swede Scholar Regional Recreation Complex in Mesa del Sol located at 5601 University Boulevard SE, 87106 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The memorial will be on a mesa that overlooks the Rio Grande Valley and several mountain ranges.

Visitors to the memorial will experience a short pilgrimage with places for personal and societal expressions of grief, celebration and commemoration along walking paths and intimate courtyards. The pilgrimage path will be lit by light filtering through the decorative panels to form shapes and shadows on the pavement. The walls will be arranged to frame views of the mountains or the valley. Colorful plantings of marigolds or other meaningful plantings will be strategically planted where the trail changes direction. At the end of each path are dedicated spaces that look outward or inward for a solemn and respectful commemoration of our collective loss during COVID.

Media/Style/Size:

Selected artists will each create an art concept/”blue print” that will used to fabricate a four-foot by eight-foot metal panel to be installed along the memorial’s “pilgrimage path.” For Phase I of the Covid Memorial Public Art Project, six panels will be fabricated and installed. Additional panels will be installed during future phases of the project. The rendering provided is an approximation of how each panel will be installed. The panels will fit into a metal frame to secure the artwork and provide contrast with the decorative elements.

To maintain a consistent aesthetic within the memorial, each artist’s final design will be created in collaboration with the fabricator and must be compatible with the fabrication process, installation process, and engineered specifications. The exact installation plan will be determined prior to fabrication of the panels. The materials for the fabricated metal panels include but are not limited to:

• Blackened Steel

• Raw Steel

• Corten Steel

• Powder coated steel

Any original concept renderings, drawings, etc. produced by the artists may be added to the county’s permanent public art collection and displayed in a publicly accessible area of a county facility.