Shaping Legacy Press & Narrative Strategy Consultant RFP at San Francisco Arts Commission

Shaping Legacy Press & Narrative Strategy Consultant RFP

RFP is issued by the City: November 13, 2024

Proposals due: December 16, 2024, by 12:00 p.m. (Noon)

Consultant selection and award notification: Anticipated by December 20, 2024

Project begins: Anticipated to start in January 2025

Term: January 2025 to June 2026 (18 months)

Budget: $90,000

San Francisco Arts Commission is seeking a press and narrative strategy consultant to work with the Project team to develop and deliver on a press and narrative strategy plan for shaping Legacy: San Francisco Monuments & Memorials initiative.

Project Overview

SFAC MISSION

The San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy.

OUR GOALS

• Invest in a vibrant arts community
• Enliven the urban environment
• Shape innovative cultural policy
• Build public awareness of the value and benefits of the arts
• Improve operations to better serve the San Francisco arts ecosystem

SHAPING LEGACY

Shaping Legacy is a three-year grant funded project that aims to critically examine the monuments and memorials in San Francisco’s Civic Art Collection and to reimagine the future of monuments and memorial in the City. The project will include an equity audit, engagement of communities underrepresented in the City’s commemorative landscape, and temporary installations that consider the future of monuments and memorials in the City.

This project is an opportunity for our agency to holistically assess the monuments and memorials in the Civic Art Collection, build awareness around the collection and processes, rectify current power imbalances, and engage community in a sustained, relevant way.

PROJECT GOALS

• Enable SFAC to begin to shift the narrative of public art to reflect more equitable stories and embrace a new paradigm for public art.
• Create a vibrant, inclusive and respectful public landscape that prioritizes equity, justice and reflects the complexity of our history and communities.
• Ensure that longstanding public art and agency policies and practices are updated and rooted in equity, inclusivity and representation.
• Educate artists and the general public on how SFAC conducts and implements its public art processes and solicit input regarding change.
• Model how artists can inspire the public imagination and create spaces of belonging for a more inclusive commemorative landscape in the civic realm.

SCOPE OF WORK

Press & Public Relations

• Develop the overall PR strategy and review content for press releases with SFAC staff and distribute press releases to local and national media.
• Manage and maintain media relations outreach and ongoing communications with local and national media.
• Advise on, solicit and review feature stories, opinion pieces and artist profiles to secure media coverage that communicate the goals of the project.
• Design a press strategy that reaches a range of media outlets including print, broadcast, radio and arts & culture publications.
• Plan and organize press briefings and public facing events for the key milestone moments of the project.
• Track media coverage and evidence for effectiveness of campaigns.
• Strategize on media format and platforms to amplify existing key messages for the project.
• Build out the strategy for the short-term and long-term goals of the project.
• Oversee the design of advertising campaign for 40 JC Decaux kiosks along Market Street.
• Oversee the creation, design and distribution of marketing and promotion materials including printed materials and online or social media content.
• Oversee the submission and editing of articles, blog posts and featured stories for the project webpage and social media.
• Advise on the video documentation plan to integrate visual storytelling into the overall narrative strategy.
• Provide monthly analysis of PR coverage, pending opportunities, public relations preparedness and recommended refinements to the PR strategy.
• Secure ongoing local media coverage and media engagement for the duration of the 18-month agreement.
• Lead a standing monthly meeting with the Shaping Legacy project team, day and time to be mutually agreed upon.
• Schedule additional meetings as needed around key milestone moments and opportunities.

Selection Process

Evaluation & Selection Criteria

• Applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria:
• Background and statement of interest
• Qualifications and experience as related to scope of services
• Proposed scope of work and budget
• All submitted responses should include the following materials:
• Provide company name, mailing address, phone number, and main contact’s email address and direct phone number (no more than 1 page)
• A brief narrative including a statement of interest in the project, consultant’s structure, capabilities, relevant background, recent experience, and examples of similar services and/or marketing materials you have provided to other arts organizations. Please include 3 examples of the services provided and a discussion of the outcome, including name of project, description of project and project period and cost (no more than 6 pages)
• Resume or CV of consultant team members (no more than 8 pages)
• Proposed scope of work corresponding to project timeline with budget and line items (no more than 1 page)
• Line items with description should include hours, positions with hourly rates, materials, and reimbursables. Total budget, including reimbursables should not exceed $90,000.

Anticipated Timeline & Project Milestones

• Ongoing January 2025 to June 2026 – Community engagement activities, community meetings, artist creative interventions and programming
• January 2025 – Community Collaborators and Artist Circle programming roll-out
• February 2025 – Release of the Equity Audit Report
• Spring 2025 – Release of Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for temporary installations
• Summer 2025 – Announce RFQ finalists and proposals
• Fall 2025 – Announce selection of artists and projects
• January 2026 to June 2026 – Shaping Legacy Festival and programming

Consultants will need to register as a supplier with the City, enter into a Professional Services Contract, and carry insurance as required by the City. Consultants who are registered Local Business Enterprises (LBEs) are eligible to receive a 10% rating bonus. For more information on LBEs visit https://www.sf.gov/departments/contract-monitoring-division.