The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) invites architects, visual artists, and designers to submit qualifications for the design and installation of the Atlanta Children’s Memorial Eternal Flame to memorialize the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders. The monument will be located on the grounds of Atlanta City Hall.
Interested artists are invited to submit their digital portfolio (as one PDF document), resume, and statement of intent for review and consideration to OCA Public Art Program Manager Robert Witherspoon ,via email, at rwitherspoon@atlantaga.gov.
The deadline to submit the requested information for this call is Monday, December 16 at 11:59 pm. The selected artist or team of artists will receive $200,000 for their work.
This is an open call to both local and national design teams and individual artists. Additionally, all artists in the City of Atlanta Artists Registry, which includes both local and nationally recognized artists, are eligible to pursue this call. All qualifying applicants, regardless of race, gender, orientation, religion, nationality, origin, or disability will be considered.
For more details, please review the full Request for Proposals, linked below.
Atlanta Children’s Memorial Eternal Flame Monument RFP
Submission Guidelines:
Artists who wish to submit proposals must send a complete digital portfolio (as one PDF document), resume, and statement of intent to Robert Witherspoon, via email, at rwitherspoon@atlantaga.gov, with the subject line:
ATLANTA CHILDREN’S MEMORIAL ETERNAL FLAME MONUMENT – [YOUR NAME HERE]
Artists interested in pursuing this call must submit their digital portfolio, resume, and statement of intent for review and consideration no later than Monday, December 16 at 11:59 pm. Proposals received after December 16 will not be considered.
Selection Criteria:
All applicants will be evaluated through a competitive process based on the following criteria:
Upon review of all submissions, three (3) finalists will be selected to develop and present a final proposal. Each of the three finalist will receive $1,000 to develop a mock-up of their final proposal over a six week period.
Project Background:
The Atlanta Child Murders were a series of killings committed between 1979 and 1981. At least 30 people, all African American, and mostly children and adolescents, were targeted. The legacy of Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered Children profoundly impacted a generation of Atlanta’s youth.
In 2019, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an administrative order to establish the “Mayor’s Advisory Committee: Atlanta Children’s Memorial Taskforce”. The taskforce, comprised of mayoral appointees from the community, is charged with determining an appropriate acknowledgment of the lives cut short during the Atlanta Child Murders.
“It is important for Atlanta to acknowledge the innocent lives lost during one of our City’s darkest hours,” said Mayor Bottoms. “This taskforce will determine a lasting and appropriate tribute for the victims and their families, and serve as a testament that those lives mattered. That African American lives matter.”
The Atlanta Children’s Memorial Eternal Flame monument will reside on the grounds of Atlanta City Hall and stand as a constant reminder of the lives we lost during this difficult time in our city’s history.
The Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs is sponsoring this installation, which will join the City of Atlanta’s Public Art Collection upon completion.