Commissioning + Curation Project Examples

ANOKA COUNTY LIBRARY

Circle Pines, MN

Forecast was hired by the Anoka County Library to curate a selection of artworks to be placed in the stacks at the new library under construction. Forecast facilitated the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process, selection process, and assisted as a liaison between the Library and the artists.

MALL OF AMERICA

BLOOMINGTON, MN

Forecast was hired by Mall of America (MOA) to facilitate the commissioning of a temporary art installation in the Atrium space on the north side of the Mall. In 2017, the Atrium featured a colored yarn installation by HOTTEA (managed by Forecast), which was considered a big success. The process this time involved a “Design Slam” approach, with a group of 11 artists or teams (selected through a nomination process) developing preliminary concepts over a two-day period, with one getting selected for a $60,000 commission. Originally planned for the summer of 2018, the project’s opening was postponed until Earth Day 2019, given the theme of the Monarch Butterfly (by selected artist Christopher Lutter Gardella)—and to allow more time for design development and fabrication/engineering, etc. This project is now designed to be reusable (de-installed and packaged for future installations, either at MOA or other malls under the same owner’s control elsewhere in the US).

MALL OF AMERICA

BLOOMINGTON, MN

Forecast was hired by the Mall of America to help commission a large-scale art installation. Internationally recognized artist Eric Rieger, also known as HOTTEA, was commissioned to create a new piece—his largest and most challenging yarn installation to date—for the mall’s atrium. The temporary yet monumental installation was comprised of 13,000 strands of yarn—in 103 colors—each 60 feet in length, weighing a total of 721 pounds. The stunning artwork hung below the atrium’s oval skylight and greeted visitors from around the world as they walk into the north entrance of the Mall of America. It also generated more than 2 million media impressions.

Augsburg College, Hagfors Center

Minneapolis, MN

Augsburg College contracted with Forecast Public Art to facilitate the development of public artworks for the new Hagfors Center for Science, Business, and Religion. Five individual artists and artist teams were selected to work with project architects HGA to design integrated public art elements, such as a terrazzo floor and fritted glass curtain wall, and a second group of 25 artists were selected to create custom artworks for interior spaces.