AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: March 18, 2024
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Stephanie Harris, Director of Community Services
Patty Acuna, Assistant Director of Community Services
Brandy Scott, Arts and Culture Program Associate
Subject: APPROVAL TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE
ALL AGREEMENTS AND PURCHASE ORDERS UP TO A NOT TO
EXCEED AMOUNT OF $650,000.00 RELATED TO THE PURCHASE
OF TRINITY BY JUDY CHICAGO; AND
APPROVAL OF AN APPROPRIATION FROM THE FINE ART FUND
OF $650,000.00
Attachments: None
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute agreements and purchase orders necessary for the purchase, installation, and ancillary costs of Trinity by Judy Chicago in the not to exceed amount of $650,000 and to appropriate $650,000 from the Fine Art Fund for this purpose.
INTRODUCTION
The Arts and Culture Commission conducted a Fine Art Priority Exercise on May 16, 2022 and selected the sculpture Trinity by Judy Chicago (the “Artwork”) for acquisition and installation to be brought forward to City Council for approval. The previous Council Liaisons (Bosse and Nazarian) met on August 24, 2022 and March 27, 2023, to review the proposed acquisition and installation sites. These recommendations from the Arts and Culture Commission and City Council Arts and Culture Liaisons were then brought before the City Council on May 16, 2023 and August 15, 2023.
On May 16, 2023, the recommendations included the purchase and support of the preferred location for installation as well as the “all in” cost of the acquisition at $550,000. The selected location presented was at the Northwest corner of Crescent Dr. and S. Santa Monica Blvd. adjacent to the Crescent Dr. parking structure at City Hall.
Following a robust conversation with the City Council, staff was directed to secure a 10- year warranty from the fabricator, Ironwood, and return for final approval for installation Meeting Date: March 18, 2024
at the secondary proposed location in Beverly Gardens Park on the corner of Parkway and Canon.
Following the August 15, 2023 City Council meeting, staff met with the Arts and Culture Commission Ad Hoc and Jeffrey Deitch from the Deitch Gallery (or “Gallery”) to go over next steps. At this time, we were informed that the artist, Judy Chicago, no longer supported the Beverly Gardens Park as an installation site due to the various concerns raised of possible heavy public interaction with the Artwork as well as the artist felt that the site lacked the imbedded back drop and protective barrier that the City Hall location would have provided. The Arts and Culture Commission Ad Hoc proposed a new site location at this meeting which the artist and Gallery both supported.
The proposed new site is the northwest corner of the intersection of South Santa Monica Boulevard and Crescent Drive on the Wallis Annenberg property. This is the location where the 2013 temporary art installation of Coups de Pinceau by Roy Lichtenstein was installed on the Wallis Annenberg property.
DISCUSSION
The Wallis currently maintains the landscaping where the Artwork will be installed and will continue to do so following the installation. The City will cover the costs associated with the landscaping as part of the installation and will be reflected in the amendment to the lease agreement that the City is currently working on to include the installation of City owned art on the property and the ongoing landscape maintenance requirements.
The art will be added to the City’s insurance policy as is done with all Fine Art acquisitions.
The anticipated “all in” cost of the acquisition of Trinity by Judy Chicago for the purchase of the Artwork, transportation, design, and fabrication of the preferred anchoring system (that will allow for the Artwork to be deinstalled for future conservation efforts without impact to the concrete base), fabrication of the integral concrete colored base, engineering, inspections, permits, landscaping, and lighting is $650,000. The new proposed location on the Wallis property will require additional site treatments including additional concrete to be added to the existing base, the removal and replacement of the existing lighting with lighting suitable for the Artwork as well as removal and replacement of the landscaping including durable ground covering and new manicured box hedges to provide a barrier to the Artwork. The ancillary costs associated with the new proposed location will exceed the original request of $150,000. The City’s Project Administration staff has worked to obtain quotes associated with the site treatments listed above and anticipate an estimated increase of up to $100,000 for the additional work required to accommodate an installation at this location.
Maintenance:
The Gallery has provided maintenance instructions which have been approved by the artist as recommended by RLA Conservation of Art & Architecture (RLA). The maintenance of the Artwork will become part of the City’s annual maintenance plan for our Fine Art collection and funded through the Fine Art Fund. Artwork located in high traffic areas is scheduled to be cleaned by our art conservationist twice a year.
Warranty:
The Deitch Gallery has indicated that the fabricator, Ironwood, will honor a 10-year warranty, which the Gallery will cover the costs of the warranty. The Gallery has provided the below warranty details provided by the fabricator.
This Ironwood warranty will cover the following items:
Meeting Date: March 18, 2024
• Any defects in materials used to manufacture the Artwork • Any defects in workmanship under normal use
• Any broken components under normal use
• The fabricator will repair the Artwork, at no cost, if the Artwork is still under warranty (not including the paint finishes)
• The fabricator will repair any broken parts of the Artwork using new parts or replacement parts in good condition.
• The Warranty Period for Physical Goods purchased from Ironwood is 10 years from the date of completion.
Items not covered under the warranty provided by Ironwood are:
• Damage to the Artwork resulting from negligence.
• Damage to the Artwork resulting from unauthorized modification of the product.
• Damage to the Artwork caused by natural disaster, human or wildlife abuse.
• Theft of the Artwork
Ironwood warrants to the City that the Artwork will be free from material defects in workmanship and materials under normal use and service, for a period of ten (10) years from the date of Ironwood’s completion of the fabrication to the Delivery Point (the “Warranty Period“). There is NO WARRANTY in cases of negligence, abuse, abnormal usage, misuse, accidents and alterations of the Products, failure to follow Ironwood’s maintenance instructions or improper storage.
In addition to the above, Matthew’s Paint has provided the fabricator with a 5-year warranty as well for painting of the Artwork. Additionally, Ironwood will provide aluminum paint chip samples for each of the 5 colors used on the Artwork. The use of aluminum will ensure that the color remains true and therefore available for paint matching if the colors are discontinued by Matthews Paint.
CCTV:
At the request of the City Council Liaisons, staff reached out to the Beverly Hills Police Department to inquire about the current CCTV coverage. Attachment 5 shows the CCTV coverage of the intersection where the Artwork will be installed. Cameras may be adjusted slightly once the Artwork is installed to provide the best coverage and ability to sense motion for recording in the event of theft or vandalism.
Ancillary Cost:
Base: In order for the existing base to accommodate Trinity, the width and height will require additional concrete pours. The original 6” platform of integrated concrete will be increased to 15” to increase visibility at this new location.
Lighting: The proposed lighting consists of 8, pedestal mounted, adjustable, spotlights around the perimeter of the base. The intention is for these lights to emulate the existing lights found on the Wallis Annenberg Campus. Studies were completed to gauge the appropriate amount of wattage after dusk.
Landscaping: The landscaping will include 3 plant species. A 15”-17” manicured box hedge will wrap around the front perimeter of the site. In the northwest corner of the site there will be a loose hedge similar to the existing plants. The ground covering immediately around the base will be drought resistant and has recently been used in the Burton Way median project.
Meeting Date: March 18, 2024
Bollards: There are currently three, 3’, ground mounted, bollards on the site. These will be replaced with embedded 17”, impact resistant bollards.
FISCAL IMPACT
The funding for acquisition and installation of the Artwork is available in the Fine Art Fund, a restricted fund that can only be used for fine art related expenses. The current balance in the Fine Art Fund is approximately $1.6 million dollars with $700,000 available for artwork acquisition/installation through the Arts and Culture Commission Fine Art Priority Exercise process.
City Council is asked to appropriate $650,000 from the Fine Art Fund for the acquisition and installation of Trinity by Judy Chicago.
Stephanie Harris,
Director of Community Services
Approved By