By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
GOVERNORS ISLAND — The city is seeking ideas for the first permanent art installations on Governors Island.
While the island has become a formidable art venue over the past five years — featuring everything from quirky craft fairs to a pavilion made of plants — the projects have been temporary, disappearing after a weekend or a summer season.
Now, the city is looking for something permanent for Governors Island's public spaces and is asking artists' to offer ideas.
Artists have until Dec. 1 to submit their proposal for a sculpture, installation or any other idea to the Department of Cultural Affairs, which will work with the Trust for Governors Island to pick the winners.
"Public art will be essential to the visitor experience and the very character of these new park and public spaces," the Trust for Governors Island wrote on its blog.
The winning ideas will be part of a $30 million overhaul of the northern, historic part of the island, set to break ground in 2012.
The design by West 8 includes replacing paved lots with plants, creating a new public plaza with a water feature and picnic area and adding a welcome area beside the ferry landing.
West 8 is also developing a larger plan for the rest of the island, including a hammock grove, waterfront terraces and forested hills, which would likely provide more opportunities for public art, but that phase of development does not yet have funding.
