Summary
The Board of Trustees of the California State History Museum has adopted a plan to develop the new California History Center (CHC) utilizing the museum's existing galleries and program spaces. The History Center will address broad themes of state history and will include a specific allocation of space and program resources for the development of the first ever California Women's History Museum (CWHM). The History Center is located in the State Archives, one block from California's state capitol of Sacramento.
The scope of work includes the replacement and renewal of 17,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space with interactive exhibits and immersive environments that support and encourage visitor engagement. The CWHM will address the history and evolution of women in California; the CHC will address broader state history with a focus on the diversity of people, environments and industries of California.
The CWHM/CHC will not be a collecting entity, however, it will have access to selected collections from the California state archives and the museum collection of California state parks. A substantial portion of the galleries should be dedicated to low security, low conservation level installations that utilize technology and experiential design techniques. The museum will feature a "teaching collection" of objects aimed at teachers and school-aged children and will be programmatically linked to school curricula. Finally, we envision an infrastructure that will support the renewal, revision or expansion of exhibit content without intensive capital costs.
We seek a qualified firm to work with the Board, staff, and key stakeholders of the CWHM/CHC to develop programs and exhibits that will engage a diverse audience of adults, families and school children. Qualified vendors should demonstrate the capacity to develop thematic history exhibits, interactive programming (physical and virtual), and audio-visual content and production. Work will commence in early 2005.
Calendar
Request for Qualifications:
Request issued: Monday, December 20, 2004
Proposals due: Thursday, January 13, 2005
Request for Proposals for museum master planning, exhibits, and program design:
RFP issued: Thursday January 27, 2005
Proposals due: Monday, February 10, 2005
Vendor selection will be made in late February 2005, with work commencing soon thereafter.
The RFP Process
The RFQ process is intended to educate CWHM/CHC's selection group on the capabilities and history of firms and teams. The museum will invite 3-4 qualified firms to submit an RFP response based on the excellence of their submitted credentials.
Vendor Services
The CWHM/CHC is seeking potential vendors for this project with experience and expertise all of the following areas:
Required RFQ Information
The main purpose of the RFQ is to acquire clear, concise snapshots of potential design firms including capabilities and relevant experience described by the firms themselves. Brevity is encouraged. Please include the following:
RFQ information may be sent by post, express delivery, or e-mail attachment. If sent by e-mail, all materials should be included in a single .pdf file.
Interested firms are asked to send the RFQ responses to:
Ross McGuire
Director
California State History Museum
1020 O Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Deadline for receipt of credentials is Thursday, January 13, 2005
Please address any inquiries to rmcguire@ss.ca.gov or call 916-653-1771 You may view the existing museum at www.castatehistory.org.