Smithfield Street Sculptural Lighting Project (Due July 21)
Smithfield Street Sculptural Lighting Project
Deadline: July 21st, 2025
Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) is collaborating with the City of Pittsburgh to redesign the streetscape on Smithfield Street between Forbes and Sixth Avenues. A study conducted by SmithGroup identified many opportunities to improve the experience of this historic Downtown location including better connection to Market Square and Mellon Square, improved transit amenities, and a better pedestrian experience. Planned enhancements include new planters and street trees, wider sidewalks, improved crosswalks, and raised intersections. The project is currently in the construction document phase and will begin construction in 2026.
Building on their long-term commitment to working with artists to create permanent and temporary artworks, PDP is seeking to commission one artist to create six permanent sculptures with a lighting component in this corridor. To take advantage of the opportunity to collaborate with the project engineers and prepare the location for artwork, infrastructure for the artwork including electrical junction boxes and 2’x2’ foundations to support the six sculptures will be installed along with other street improvements starting in 2026. Artwork will be installed at the end of construction in Fall 2028.
Selection Process
Three finalists will be selected from this RFQ process to learn more about the location and the streetscape parameters to develop initial conceptual designs for a fee of $5,000. One commissioned artist will be selected from the finalists to develop their design further for an additional fee of $15,000. PDP expects the budget to implement the artwork will be $300,000. This may change based on the artist’s advanced design and availability of funds. The commissioned artist will enter into an agreement with PDP for implementation.
Information Session
An information session will be held via Zoom on June 23, 2025 at 12 PM EST. Please note the new time! A recording of the session will me made available.