The Buffalo Bills Art Program seeks to commission a professional visual artist, or artist team, to create exterior public artwork(s) to be placed at the New Highmark Stadium grounds. Selected artist or artist team's scope will include, but not limited to, imagining, proposing, designing, engineering, fabricating, delivery, and installation of a herd of large-scale American Bison (buffalo). Project meetings and working closely with stakeholders required. This artwork will be thematic, public-facing, and part of the permanent collection at the Stadium.

Project

The Buffalo Bills Art Program seeks to commission a professional visual artist, or artist team, to create public artwork(s) to be placed in New Highmark Stadium. This artwork will be thematic, public-facing, and part of the permanent collection at the Stadium.

Commission Description:

An exterior, public, large-scale, custom commissioned permanent sculpture featuring a herd of American Bison. Location within the public “family circle” area of New Highmark Stadium grounds.

Commission Theme & Prompt: a herd of large-scale American Bison (buffalo) to be imagined, designed, engineered, fabricated, and installed by an artist/artist team as a monument to the Buffalo Bills experience.

To learn more about the Theme,

Watch the “Exclusive Inside Look At The Bills Stadium Experience | Built For Buffalo”

Episode 2: The Experience

https://youtu.be/-XEwmlBrF0g?si=34t753p_j8wPprd1

About the Site: “Family Circle”

An exterior, accessible area outside New Highmark Stadium where family, friends, and fans can gather, take photos, engage with public art, and learn about the history of the Buffalo Bills.

This space is the ceremonial front door to the stadium with the highest volume of spectators coming into this corner of the stadium. This communal space visually and historically ties the existing team store and Highmark Stadium in with the new stadium and the Bills family future. The element that is the focus in the foreground is the family of Buffalo sculptures that range in size and height. The setting for these sculptures includes: a raised concrete plinth to elevate the sculptures, exposed boulders and cobbles on the ground plane, a large swath of tall ornamental grasses in the background of the sculptures, and concrete seat walls surrounding the space.

Framing this central communal area are seat walls, terraces and a variety of ornamental planting in the 3-4’ height range with large shade trees creating a corridor to focus the eye on the new stadium and Buffalo sculptures. The ground plane helps to tie all the Family Circle elements together. A mix of concrete and exposed aggregate concrete helps to reinforce the definition of the Family Circle while encouraging circulation into and around this space.

View Site Details & Specs

For more information about the site visit:

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/stadium-news

https://www.buffalobillsnewstadium.com

About New Highmark Stadium Project: Watch

Episode 1: The Concepting Behind the New Bills Stadium https://youtu.be/TYJxJdICI1I?si=_MFSeCqXMUQIBQKH

Buffalo Bills Highmark Stadium Background

Highmark Stadium is a stadium in Orchard Park, New York, in the Southtowns of the Buffalo metropolitan area. The stadium opened as Rich Stadium in 1973 and is the home venue of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills. It was recognized as Ralph Wilson Stadium from 1998 to 2015, New Era Field from 2016 to 2019, and Bills Stadium in 2020. The stadium is open-air, with a capacity of 71,870. It has never had a natural grass field. In 1998, $57 million were spent to refit the stadium with larger seats and more luxury and club seating as part of the Bills lease renewal with Erie County. Highmark Stadium has hosted multiple concerts, including The Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead. Highmark Stadium is well known for having some of the most fervent fans in the National Football League.

The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league’s American Football Conference (AFC) East division. Founded in 1959 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), the Bills joined the NFL in 1970 following the AFL-NFL merger. The franchise is owned by Terry and Kim Pegula, who purchased the Bills after the death of original owner Ralph Wilson in 2014.

The Bills won consecutive AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965. The Bills appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993. The Bills have a current streak of five consecutive playoff appearances.

Buffalo Bills New Highmark Stadium Project Description

New Highmark Stadium is an American football stadium under construction in Orchard Park, New York. It will replace the Bills’ existing stadium of the same name and is expected to open in time for the 2026 NFL season. The 62,000-seat stadium is being designed by Populous, a group that has designed twelve other active NFL stadiums.

The project includes a new 1.35 million GSF open-air stadium, 18,750 SF ancillary building, demolition of the current stadium, and related site development. The stadium’s capacity will be a minimum of 60,000 seats with an expandable capacity to hold special events. Premium areas will include suites, ledge seats, clubs, and other premium seating products.

The stadium will include state-of-the-art video and scoreboards, sound system, administrative and event staff offices and lockers, broadcast facilities, team store, locker rooms, food service kitchens and concessions, signage, sports lighting, maintenance, and storage areas, plaza, parking, and site landscaping.

The groundbreaking for the stadium occurred in June 2023.

Over the next year, the Buffalo Bills Art Program at Highmark Stadium will include Calls for Art of various sizes and budgets for newly commissioned artworks. The first artwork to be commissioned will be the American Bison sculptures.

Delivering a World-Class Stadium for the Buffalo Bills

The Bills, in conjunction with Legends, and stadium architectural firm, Populous, have left no stone unturned in covering every innovative element of new stadium design. The stadium exterior highlights a visual identity that reflects some of the historical architecture of Buffalo, while also delivering a modern appearance.

New Highmark Stadium will foster culture of:

• Belonging: a culture of Bills fans, where they can be together as a community

• Pride: a culture that lives and breathes for the Bills

• Generosity: a culture that finds a place in their hearts to be generous

• Honor: a culture that knows how to honor those that have graced the uniform and those who cheer the loudest

• Respect: a culture that respects the grounds built for them

It's also a place to call home through:

• Football: the place where every football fan wants to be, and the place where every visiting team hates to play

• Functionality: the place where no one notices the things that make it function well

• Comfort: the place where it feels warm and safe; safe for families

• Thoughtfulness: the place every other NFL franchise will say, ‘Wow, they thought of everything,”

• Experience: the place where fans experience the loudest, vibrant, toughest, ground shaking Bills football

Budget

The American Bison sculpture commission location and budget are as follows:

Location: Exterior Family Circle

Budget: up to $5,000,000 (five million US dollars), all inclusive

Budget includes, but is not limited to, semifinalist stipends, design fees, travel, engineering, fabrication, supplies, material costs, meeting and administration hours, labor, artists legal review fees, approval by a New York-licensed engineer, permits, licenses, lighting, equipment rental, shipping, delivery, documentation, installation.

Application Requirements
RFQ Submission Materials

Please submit the following via https://www.callforentry.org/ by no later than Monday, April 29, 2024 by 11:59 p.m. MST. Submissions received after this deadline will not be considered. Submissions emailed, mailed, or hand-delivered outside of callforentry.org intake program will not be considered. The Buffalo Bills Art Program Consultant, Stakeholders and/or Administrators reserve the right to conduct on-site or telephone interviews to clarify submission materials as needed.

No new artwork proposals are needed at the RFQ phase. Only semifinalists invited to the RFP phase will create artwork proposals for review. The selected Shortlisted Artists will be notified by May 2024.

Artist Statement/Team bio

• briefly introduce yourself/your team

Letter of Interest, up to 1-page

• Clearly describe your interest in the project and how you/your team will be able to contribute to its success.

• Articulate your interest and/or experience in public art design, fabrication &/or project collaboration.

• Summarize your experience in developing and/or executing creative projects of this scope in the public realm at stadiums, Buffalo NY (if applicable), Municipal buildings, and beyond (i.e. site-specific art installations, interactive and participatory artworks, multimedia projects, creative placemaking events, festivals, etc.).

Resume/CV

• Include a resume/CV for each member of your team, if applicable, (combine as a multi-page document for upload)

• Artist’s Experience: list your professional experience including any commissions,

residencies, touring, exhibitions, collaborations, and projects involving the community, and

work in the public sector.

• Education: list your educational background and training

• Experience working with organizations, institutions, developers, locally and beyond

References

• 3 professional references

Images...