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CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
City of Anaheim
COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT
DATE: FEBRUARY 28, 2023
FROM: COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT
SUBJECT: ANAHEIM PUBLIC ART PLAN
ATTACHMENT (Y/N): YES ITEM # 07
GOVERNMENT CODE § 84308 APPLIES: NO
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council, by Motion, approve the Anaheim Public Art Plan.
DISCUSSION:
In November 2018, City Council approved Ordinance No. 6451 for a Public Art Program for the purpose of promoting visual arts in Anaheim and expanding opportunities for the community to experience public art as a result of the creative expression of visual artists in public places throughout the City. In 2019, City Council approved funding for the creation of the Anaheim Public Art Plan (Plan). The Public Art Ordinance No. 6451 calls for the creation of an Anaheim Public Art Plan. In 2020, Community Services staff selected Designing Local, Ltd. to work alongside staff to gather data to craft Anaheim’s first Public Art Plan with the goal to promote visual arts in Anaheim and authorize the establishment of guidelines and standards for the installation, preservation, restoration, and enhancement of the City’s public art collection.
At the onset of the process in early 2020, Community Services staff compiled an internal Art Plan Advisory Group with representatives from various city departments. Despite the challenges the pandemic presented to traditional public input strategies, the consultants and project team demonstrated a commitment to making this a highly interactive and community-driven process. Our findings and recommendations reflect a robust community input process. The creation of a project webpage highlighted the opportunities available during the community engagement process, which included over 40 meetings with key stakeholders, 25 focus groups, a series of district-specific meetings, and a public participation survey that resulted in over 2,100 responses. In total, over 3,000 people provided input on the contents of this plan.
Staff is prepared to begin work on the steps needed to establish a Public Art Program, the first being streamlining the mural and public art approval process by updating the City’s municipal code to amend the existing mural requirements and create public art permit requirements with new fees and review process. Should staff be directed to move forward with formal policy for additional recommended programs outlined in this plan, Anaheim Public Art Plan
February 28, 2023
staff will bring back to City Council those programs for approval as part of the Public Art Program Update outlined in the Plan.
Ultimately, this plan serves as a toolbox outlining the various strategies to consider while implementing programs related to public art or management and publication of the current collection. While none of the identified recommendations or strategies are required, they are best practices for the realization of the Public Art Plan.
Staff is pleased with the development of this document which will be used to create a program that honors the diverse character and history of Anaheim through a public art strategy. It will help plan the needs of Anaheim stakeholders and greatly assist in the development of future budgetary requests to support, preserve, and celebrate art in Anaheim.
On January 19, 2023, the Cultural and Heritage Commission unanimously approved the Public Art Plan to move forward with City Council approval.
IMPACT ON BUDGET:
There is no budgetary impact of approving the plan.
Respectfully submitted,
Sjany Larson-Cash
Director of Community Services
Attachment:
1. Anaheim Public Art Plan