Artwork Consultation, Sales, and Acquisition Services

The King County Rural Library District (dba King County Library System (KCLS)) is seeking proposals from Contractors for the purpose of Artwork Consultation, Sales, and Acquisition Services . KCLS is one of the top three largest circulating libraries in the United States. Located in the Puget Sound area, KCLS serves over one million residents at its 49 community libraries and with its Outreach services. Established in 1942, KCLS is a special purpose taxing district that is governed by a Board of Trustees and operates under the constitution and laws of the State of Washington.

Since being established in 1942, a number of existing community libraries were annexed into KCLS and in addition, new buildings were built to fulfill its mission to serve King County with library services. Existing artwork was inherited with the annexed buildings, and new artwork was purchased for new facilities as they were built. This has created an artwork collection of over 450 pieces that may not currently be serving the best needs of the organization in current times and not in a cohesive way.

In recent years, KCLS has created a strategic framework and initiatives that focus on the communities for which it serves ( https://kcls.org/strategy/ ). KCLS has also recently initiated a project to create standard interior design themes that will support easier facilities management as buildings are refreshed over time. There has also been an effort to review accessibility in the libraries and those concepts will need to be used as any new artwork is considered. As a result, over time KCLS will be continuing to review its artwork collection, will identify pieces that no longer fit the goals of the organization, and will need to find new artwork as part of the regular Facilities building refresh process.

This RFP is seeking an art consultant/broker to provide services ad hoc, as KCLS refreshes its art collection. This may include, but is not limited to, helping refine the process for refreshing artwork in the libraries, providing guidance on art markets, galleries, and artists, researching provenance for existing pieces, identifying efficient methods of sale (including online), and identifying options that maintain fiscal responsibility while refreshing the collection. Please refer to the statement of work and the schedule sections of this RFP for additional details as well as Attachment A, the KCLS Art Program Policy.