Incoming Dayton arts venue seeking bids from artists

Artists in the region will have more time to be a part of a new venue coming to the region.

The Contemporary Dayton (The Co) recently announced that its request for qualifications (RFQ) submission deadline for the University of Dayton’s (UD) Roger Glass Center for the Arts wall artwork has been extended. Artists interested in contributing to the new performing and visual arts center will now have until July 1 to submit their application.

The Co is administering the RFQ through their ArtSource program, providing consultation, commissions and installation of artist’s work for local business and non-profit organizations. The University of Dayton Roger Glass Center for the Arts seeks to bring together the vibrant artistic community and provide a space that nurtures creativity and innovation. The Center is seeking both large-scale 2D and 3D artwork that showcases the talent of local and national artists.

Interested artists can choose to create new large-scale 2D or 3D wall works specifically for the Roger Glass Center for the Arts or submit existing works that align with the center’s vision. The center offers four locations for commissioned works, providing artists with a range of possibilities to make their artistic mark.

For more information about the Roger Glass Center for the Arts, to access the RFQ guidelines and to submit applications, visit https://codayton.org/events/calls-for-entry/.

The Roger Glass Center for the Arts is a $45 million, 51,000-square-foot project named after the late Roger Glass, who was president and CEO of Marion’s Pizza, a local philanthropist and UD graduate.

The center, which is currently being constructed at the southeast corner of Main and Stewart streets, aims to elevate the arts on campus and provide greater connection with the Dayton community through concerts, dance and theater performances, as well as art exhibits featuring students, faculty, visiting artists and community members. Glass, who held a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from UD, was the lead donor on the project.

The visible and accessible art gallery is just one of many features that will be present in the new center; it will also include a flexible space for theater, dance and performance technology and a 400-seat concert hall that can be acoustically tuned to groups ranging from orchestras to smaller ensembles. Additionally, the center will provide custom-built experiential learning space for student-managed media — Flyer News, Flyer TV and Flyer Radio — to prepare for careers in media.

The project has support from 120 donors, including Martha Walter, whose 2002 bequest for a future arts center was critical to making the facility possible. Donors also include faculty and staff who wished to support the vision for the arts center.

The facility is expected to be open by the end of the year.