Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
Coburn Gore LPOE Art in Architecture Project
General Services Administration · Public Buildings Service
AI summaryOnly small businesses can bid on this General Services Administration (GSA) art commission. Step 1 is artist applications showing past work, due November 18, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern; only shortlisted artists are later asked for more information. GSA wants a permanent public artwork for the new Coburn Gore Land Port of Entry (a border crossing) in Coburn Gore, Maine, in any medium, with an estimated art budget of $275,000 to $400,000 under a fixed-price contract. More in the summary
A newer version of this notice was posted Oct 19, 2026. It moves the due date from Aug 14, 2026 to Nov 18, 2026, which is the date shown on this page. See the latest version.
AI summary Beta
Summary of another version of this notice: check what changed on SAM.gov. The notice looks incomplete: The list of required application materials, file formats and size limits isn't in the notice or its answers; GSA points to its National Artist Registry web page, which wasn't read, and the answers say to see the SAM.gov posting. Check the attachments on SAM.gov.
Only small businesses can bid on this General Services Administration (GSA) art commission. Step 1 is artist applications showing past work, due November 18, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern; only shortlisted artists are later asked for more information. GSA wants a permanent public artwork for the new Coburn Gore Land Port of Entry (a border crossing) in Coburn Gore, Maine, in any medium, with an estimated art budget of $275,000 to $400,000 under a fixed-price contract.
Who can bid
- Small business. This commission is a small business set-aside, so only small businesses can bid.
- The artist selected for award must be a United States citizen or Permanent Resident
- Active SAM.gov registration (System for Award Management, the government's contractor database), needed at the time of award
How to submit: Email the application materials to nationalartistregistry@gsa.gov; GSA points to its National Artist Registry web page for how to apply. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (9)
From the version posted Oct 19, 2026.
- Serious: Small business set-aside, U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents. Only small businesses can bid, and the selected artist must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident.
- Serious: Two-step selection: applications now, shortlist later. This notice is for step 1 only, with applications due November 18, 2026; only shortlisted artists are asked for more, including a statement they can do the work within the budget. The date for that later step isn't given.
- Worth checking: All-inclusive fixed price. Travel, fabrication, delivery and installation must all fit inside one fixed price, so costs you can't yet see are your risk.
Show all 9Show fewer
- Worth checking: Site details only after award. Dimensions, renderings and elevations are not shared until after contract award, and the artist picks the location with GSA, so the work can't be priced from drawings.
- Worth checking: Actual budget not posted. The $275,000 to $400,000 figure is a range GSA was told to post, not the real budget.
- Worth checking: SAM registration timing is stated two ways. The notice requires SAM registration at the time of award, while the answers say all interested parties must be active in SAM.gov; confirming and registering before applying avoids a problem. Check a SAM.gov registration.
- Worth checking: Late applications not considered for this project. Applications received after the deadline are skipped for this commission, though they stay on the National Artist Registry for future ones.
- Minor: Long project timeline. GSA ties the schedule to the building's construction, and installation typically comes 3 to 5 years after award.
- Minor: Executive order guidance on subject matter. GSA says agencies should prioritize works that portray historically significant Americans or events, or the ideals the nation was founded on, though it says no other theme limits apply.
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. Show which files.
- 0332CG-AIA Questions Answers 2026 10 07.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Create a permanent, publicly scaled artwork for the new Coburn Gore Land Port of Entry (LPOE); any material or medium is allowed
- Work with the lead designer chosen for the port project and travel to the project site
- Develop and present preliminary and final concepts, and take part in meetings and conservation reviews as needed
- Fabricate, deliver and install the artwork
- Provide professional documentation of the artwork and a detailed maintenance plan for it at the site
- Contract type
- Fixed-price contract (one set price, whatever the work ends up costing)
- Period of performance
- Not stated. GSA says these commissions typically take 3 to 5 years from contract award to installation.
- Place of performance
- Coburn Gore, ME, USA
- Estimated value
- Estimated art budget of $275,000 to $400,000, all inclusive of travel, fabrication, delivery and installation; GSA says the actual budget was not to be posted
- How they'll choose
- Artists are picked on the strength of their past work, then a shortlist is asked for more information. All selection criteria combined count significantly more than price.
- Offers due
- November 18, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email the application materials to nationalartistregistry@gsa.gov; GSA points to its National Artist Registry web page for how to apply
What they'll judge offers on
- Past work: the media, materials, content and style of the artist's earlier work
- Past performance and experience with commissions or projects similar to this one
What to include when you submit
- Application materials must reach GSA by the response due date. Artists already on the National Artist Registry need not resubmit but may update their information before then.
- An authorized agent may submit the required materials on the artist's behalf
- GSA will review the artist's existing portfolio and past work; no concept or proposal for this site is required at this stage
After award, you must have
- Renew the SAM registration every year for the length of the project From the notice:
Artists selected for the contract award will be required to renew the registration in…
Current contractor
None. GSA says this is a brand new project.
Not in the notice text
- The list of required application materials, file formats and size limits isn't in the notice or its answers; GSA points to its National Artist Registry web page, which wasn't read, and the answers say to see the SAM.gov posting.
- Whether an LLC or small business can hold the contract with the artist as an employee or subcontractor, and whose SAM.gov registration goes with an agent's submission, isn't clearly answered.
- The date for the shortlist step and the date of award aren't given.
- How small business status is checked for an individual artist isn't stated.
Eligibility and how to respond
- Set aside for small businesses: only a business that counts as small under this notice's NAICS code can bid as the prime contractor. More open small business set-asides under NAICS 711510
- How to submit, from the AI summary: Email the application materials to nationalartistregistry@gsa.gov; GSA points to its National Artist Registry web page for how to apply. Check it in the notice before you send anything.
- Service contracts usually set minimum pay rates (the Service Contract Act). Price the labor with the SCA price calculator.
Notice details
- Posted
- Jul 9, 2026
- Notice type
- Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
- Office
- PBS Project Delivery Capital Construction - Branch Northeast, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- T001 · Photo/Map/Print/Publication – Arts/Graphics
- Business type
- Printing & publishing (FedReady's grouping, from product/service code T001)
- Versions
6 versions have been posted, newest first.
- Oct 19, 2026 · Amendment 0005Due Nov 18, 2026 (changed)
- Oct 7, 2026 · Amendment 0004Due Oct 22, 2026
- Sep 14, 2026 · Amendment 0003Due Oct 22, 2026 (changed)
- Sep 8, 2026 · Amendment 0002Due Sep 30, 2026 (changed)
- Aug 4, 2026 · Amendment 0001Due Sep 16, 2026 (changed)
- Jul 9, 2026 · Combined Synopsis/Solicitation (this version)Due Aug 14, 2026
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
- How to respond to a solicitation (8 steps)
- How to read a government solicitation
- How to price a government contract
- Set-aside contracts explained
Terms on this notice: Solicitation, Set-aside