Shawn SmithTo the La Quinta City Staff and the Art in Public Places program staff:
Please find my application and proposal for the Silverrock Park Mural RFP below for consideration.
Artist Statement
This project is desirable for a wide array of reasons, the incredible landscape and vistas notwithstanding. My
work revolves around community, and how we can not only celebrate everything that is involved with that
concept, but also our surroundings — particularly the grand views of nature in this case.
While my imagery is predominantly character-based and pop cultural in nature, the deeper hope is that the
colorful, fun visuals I create are easily accessible by a wide variety of people. Whether age, gender, cultural
background, or some other facet of being a person, the initial reaction is hopefully a smile, and then an
opportunity to explore the piece, the colors, the expressions, the iconography, and appreciate it more deeply.
My shape-character murals are often mirrors of sorts with characters that people view and identify with. More
than once I’ve heard people say, “I’m totally that red triangle!” Or, “I feel like that circle today…” For this mural
specifically, my intention revolves around not only showing a range of different characters, colors, expressions,
and, of course, shapes, but to also allow these shapes to allude to the environment itself around the park
facility and in the distance. Triangles become a mountain range of sorts. Spheres become a rolling landscape
or clouds. Feature both geometric forms, and perhaps ones that are slightly more organic will achieve this.
In addition, these shape characters always have a hand around a “shoulder” or on the head of someone
nearby. This represents support, friendship, and, again, community. A warm feeling to know that you are part of
something. I also like to add speech bubbles in some cases, which could allow for La Quinta key phrases like
"Love LQ" and others.
Further, while my color palettes usually involve fairly saturated colors, for this piece, I would consider the
natural surroundings, and allow them to inform my palette and compliment them. I’d “turn down” that
saturation, and look to the park and the mountains and the sky to show me the palette—greens, blues, muted
reds, yellows, and oranges, and so on. My hope with this decision is to have the mural be an analogous,
natural fit where the piece will live, while also standing out by being a diverse cast of characters—much like the
park itself. People coming together to enjoy nature and each other, while also utilizing what the park has to
offer and respecting the nature all around it.
Given that the final piece will be created and installed as a vinyl wrap, my approach would focus on not only
executing the piece to the appropriate specification based on my digital art-creative knowledge, but more
importantly collaborating with the City Staff, the Art in Public Places Staff, and any other parties that would help
inform and enhance the artwork with specific and important aspects of the La Quinta community.
From a budget perspective, my focus would be on input, concepts, revisions, and the creation of the final work.
Given my location in Chicago, a portion of the budget would be travel related expenses to the site, whether
early in the project and/or during installation or while celebrating the final piece for the public. I love to talk to
and interact with the community that lives where my murals are, so if the Staff is amenable to this and feel it
would be helpful and interesting to the community, I’d love to offer that as part of the project. I’ve outlined
specific estimates to this end below.
Complete Pricing List
The list below breaks down the steps in the process of the art creation, taking into account the initial concepts,
collaboration with the City Staff and any required revisions via email, zoom, etc, as well as the final artwork.
Further, as noted above, if desired I’d love to visit either during the process or upon the public unveiling of the
completed install. As such, I’ve included a line item for that travel including the flight, lodging, and car rental.
This amount in particular could be less depending on many factors. Finally, I’ve included a 15% margin of error
since estimates can change based on the scope of the project and any additional needs that may arise. The
range for the estimate is $8000.00 to $9200.00 depending on these factors.
ITEM ESTIMATES
Mural concepts (3 - digital) $1500.00
Collaboration and revisions (email, zoom, etc) $1000.00
Final artwork to specification $3500.00
Travel (flight, lodging, and car rental) $2000.00
Margin of error (15% of total) +/- $1200.00
ESTIMATE RANGE $8000.00 to $9200.00
Examples of Previous Public Artwork
Please find a number of selected works with short descriptions for each. If any additional examples would be
helpful, please do let me know.
I created this piece for the Albany Park Chamber of Commerce in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. We wanted
to represent a wide variety of colors and provide a peaceful and positive feeling for a busy stretch of Lawrence Avenue at
Kimball Ave.
I worked with the Village of Skokie, Illinois to create this building-width piece. I provided several sketches, and the Village
Staff opted for this treatment, with select words and icons. The finished pieces measures approx. 80 feet by 15-20 feet.
I worked with a downtown Chicago neighborhood association to create this piece in a high traffic area across from the
Chicago Theater. We wanted to create a piece that provided a positive eco-conscious message in a deeply urban setting.
This piece was created for a local business that is a trampoline park and adventure park for kids and families. I worked
closely with the building owners to create an active and whimsical wall to reinforce the feeling of being in the space and
utilizing the various elements they provide.
This mural on Elston Avenue in Chicago was part of a building-wide project consisting of a dozen or so artists. We all
collaborated and came up with a number of ways to integrate our pieces not only next to each other but integrated into the
buildings recesses, corners, and so on.
Thank you for your consideration of this proposal.
Sincerely,
Shawn Smith
Artist