RFP - Temporary Public Art PRojects
City of Mountain View Public Art Strategy
Applications due: Monday, October 13, 2025 at Noon
Application Due Date:
MON, October 13, 2025 at Noon
Online Infosession:
FRI, September 19, 2025 from 6PM - 7:30PM
Registration Required
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Art Builds Community, on behalf of the City of Mountain View, seeks proposals from artists to design and lead temporary, socially engaged community art engagement activities to gather community input for the City’s upcoming Public Art Strategy. The project's goal is to reach Mountain View community members where they are – public spaces, community events, and gathering spaces – rather than expecting them to attend public meetings.
Ideal art engagement activities will include placement in multiple locations and engage a broad cross-section of the Mountain View community. Additionally, the project will need to involve hard-to-reach populations such as young people, seniors, and workers. Artists will ask community members to think about the role artists can play in shaping the future of Mountain View’s civic and cultural arts. Artists may propose collaborations or residencies in local organizations or companies to develop their projects or propose activities that will actively engage the public.
Eligible projects should take place over two months from October through December 2025 and will produce a collection of ideas and feedback that will inform the City of Mountain View Public Art Strategy.
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The City of Mountain View, in partnership with the San Jose-based consultant team Art Builds Community has launched the Public Art Strategy process, building upon the work done by the City’s Visual Art Committee. The 2025-2026 strategy process is a multi-phase project that will culminate in a comprehensive public art plan, guiding the future of public art in Mountain View over the next ten years.
Currently in the community engagement phase, the goal is to capture feedback from community members who live, work, plan, and visit. The community engagement phase will involve research and in-person interviews, focus groups interviews, public meetings, online survey, and pop-ups with art engagement activities.
Art engagement activities will be used at a variety of pop-up events, which may include the City of Mountain View Monster Bash (October 25, 2025) and Dia de Muertos (November 1, 2025) events, as well as at pop-up tables at the Mountain View Public Library, the Mountain View Farmer’s Market, and the Mountain View Senior Center. Artists may also propose additional events outside of suggested event dates. Proposed events must be approved by the project staff. Dates for the pop-up tables are to be determined and subject to change.
The goal of the City of Mountain View and the consultants is to complete the community engagement by December and present a completed Public Art Strategy for approval by the City of Mountain View City Council in the summer of 2026.
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In collaboration with ABC, develop and participate in 3-4 socially-engaged, interactive community art activities/pop-up events.
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The budget for this project is $5000, including time, materials, fees, and travel.
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Alignment with the project description articulated in this document.
Creativity of approach
Artistic Quality of past work
Capacity to complete project
Local Artist Preference (Mountain View, open to Santa Clara County)
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Please email your PDF application packet to: Quynh-Mai Nguyen at
Quynh-Mai [at] ArtBuildsCommunity [dot] com
Please provide a letter of interest with contact information describing the proposed project, potential project types, and partnerships if any. Please Attach:
Notional Budget
Artist Statement, description of project proposed
Artist CV or Resume
5-10 digital work samples that include title date, and brief description of how it relates to the proposed project. Video content cannot exceed 3 minutes.
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Open Application: September 2025
RFP Infosession: September 19, 2025, 6PM – 7:30PM - Register
Application Deadline: Monday, October 13, 2021, Noon PST
Artists Selection Announced: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Pop-up Events: October 2025 to December 2025
The following are examples of approved pop-ups. Event dates/times are subject to change.
Senior Center Pop-up (October 10)
Monster Bash (October 25)
Día de Muertos (November 1)
Library Pop-Up – Date TBD
And more!*
*Artists may propose additional dates or events but must be approved by the project staff.