Design Inaugural Exhibitions for Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Latino

RFP from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Latino to develop the initial concept plan and design for its inaugural exhibitions. The Smithsonian is building the National Museum of the American Latino to recognize the accomplishments, history, and culture of Latino communities. This world-class destination will center and celebrate the Latino experience as essential to the American narrative. Through innovative and immersive exhibition experiences, the new museum will illuminate the full American story for all and inspire future generations.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENT

This solicitation has a minimum requirement that Offerors must demonstrate the capacity to design a multimillion-dollar museum exhibition experience of similar size and scope as the NMAL exhibits intend to be. Offerors must have worked with a diverse group of personnel, such as content developers, architects, curators, scientists, educators, exhibition evaluators, design coordinators, writers, collections managers, facility managers, engineers, media producers, museum technical staff, and exhibit fabricators, etc. Offerors must demonstrate this capacity by showing the Offeror’s prior experience from the past seven years designing exhibitions for at least three complete museum or very complex museum exhibits that integrated objects, images, and multimedia. For the purposes of this minimum requirement, a “museum” is defined as a not-for-profit institution that uses historical artifacts or living collections to create a participatory, transparent, and educational experience that enhances visitors’ understanding of the world. Each example of Offeror’s prior exhibition-design experience must involve a total exhibition footprint of at least 35,000 sq./ft.; and at least one example must involve a total exhibition footprint larger than 45,000 sq./ft. At least one example must have been fabricated and completed; the other examples may be in the process of fabrication.  Note that subcontractor performance cannot satisfy the minimum requirement of the prime contractor. Failure of an Offeror to meet the minimum requirement will result in Offeror’s proposal not being evaluated. The Smithsonian reserves the right to determine the extent to which Offeror’s comparable projects meet the minimum requirement as set forth and as clarified herein, and the extent to which Offeror’s comparable projects are relevant to the subject project.

To obtain a link to the attachments below, bidders should contact Debra Berke, berked@si.edu. Once provided with the link, please check often for any updates to the materials.

No contract can be executed with a vendor who is not registered in SAM. Contractors must be registered in SAM no later than August 15, 2026.