STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: January 21, 2026
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Magdalena Davis, Community Outreach Manager
Chad Lynn, Deputy Director of Special Projects – Public Safety Subject: Consideration of the Storage of Richard Orlinsky Public Art Currently Displayed on Rodeo Drive for Potential Future Use Attachments: None
INTRODUCTION
In February 2025, the City Council approved the installation of “Rodeo Drive Season 2” by contemporary French artist Richard Orlinsky, including a custom “Kong” piece specifically made for Rodeo Drive. The artist is offering this customer piece, along with a red crocodile from a prior installation, for the City’s continued and future use. It is understood that this offer is at no cost to the City, including moving, installing and maintenance of the pieces. If the City wishes to consider the continued or future use of these pieces, the artist is requesting the City store the pieces while working through the details and formal processes.
The removal of the current pieces is scheduled for January 28th and 29th as part of the transition to the 2026 public art displays. Due to the imminent nature of the request, staff has not been able to obtain detailed information related to the formal terms, conditions, ancillary costs and other impacts and considerations for the long-term acceptance and use of these pieces.
Staff is seeking feedback from the City Council to determine if there is interest in the continued or future use of these pieces. If so, the City will store the associated pieces until more detailed information is obtained and the City can work through the review process, including formally accepting/declining this offer.
DISCUSSION
During discussion of the 2026 Rodeo Drive Public Art program, information was shared about the City’s use of three former art pieces from prior Rodeo Drive art programs, which are currently on display in various areas of the City. The ‘Beverly Hills is Beautiful’ piece is the most well-known of these pieces and is currently being displayed at the Beverly Canon Gardens Park.
Meeting Date: January 21, 2026
Artist Richard Orlinsky, through facilitation by the Rodeo Drive Committee (RDC), is offering to provide the City with two pieces of art from current and past Rodeo exhibits.
As offered, this would include moving, installation and ongoing maintenance of the artwork at the artist’s expense. Unfortunately, due to the timeline of the planned removal, staff has not enough time to review detailed terms and conditions, examining potential ancillary costs or consideration of general impacts related to this offer.
Staff is seeking feedback from the City Council related to preliminary interest in the potential future use of these pieces. The artist has expressed to the City that they no longer maintain local/regional storage for these pieces. Once removed from Rodeo Drive, if the City is not interested in the potential future use of these pieces or is unwilling to store the pieces until such time as a decision can be formally rendered, the pieces may not be easily accessible in the future or may have additional costs associated with transporting them back to Beverly Hills from outside the region. If the City Council is interested in the potential future use of these pieces, the City will store these pieces when they are removed at the end of January 2026 until the City is able to formally work through the details and consideration of formally accepting/declining this offer.
The artist has expressed a preference for the artwork to remain publicly displayed in some area of the City, or stored for only a short period of time. Staff anticipates the City will be able to work through a more detailed and formal review of the terms, conditions, costs and impacts of accepting/declining this offer over a three-month period. If accepted, consideration of how and where these pieces may be displayed may take additional time for review and implementation.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is not a significant fiscal impact related to this consideration. There is no cost to the City for the temporary storage of these pieces while consideration is given to the formal acceptance/declination of this offer. If the offer is declined, the pieces will be returned to the artist at their expense.
RECOMMENDATION
If the City Council is interested in considering the future use of these pieces for public display, staff recommends the temporary storage of these pieces until such time as the details of the offer may be considered and a formal decision rendered.
If the City Council is not interested in consideration of the future use of these pieces, staff recommends declining the offer now and simply having the artist remove the art from Rodeo Drive.
Keith Sterling
Deputy City Manager
Approved By