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Staff Report
City Council
Item No. 9.B
Meeting Date: April 27, 2022
From: Stone James, Economic Development Director
Title: Bringas Bridge Artwork: Public Art Commission Artist Recommendations
RECOMMENDATION:
Authorize the Public Arts Commission to utilize the Art in Public Places Fund to commission and compensate the below listed artists in an amount not to exceed $2,000.00 per pilaster for a total project cost not to exceed $57,776.00.
BACKGROUND:
Cathedral City has several key transportation corridors. East Palm Canyon, Dinah Shore Drive, Ramon Road, and Vista Chino allow west-east travelers to quickly traverse our city. North and south transportation corridors within our city, while equally vital, are limited. Date Palm Drive, Cathedral Canyon, and Landau are the primary north/south routes. During heavy rain fall, Cathedral Canyon Drive, one of only two north/south corridors within the southern portion of the city, is often shut down at the Whitewater River low-water crossing.
Thankfully, the Cathedral Canyon Bridge project (Bridge) is replacing the Whitewater River low-water crossing. Fourteen years in the planning and processing stage, the Bridge is under construction and expected to be completed in June 2022.
In 2019, the City Council voted to name the Cathedral Canyon Bridge after deceased Cathedral City resident Ms. Olfelia Bringas. Council chose to honor Ms. Bringas as a way to celebrate and memorialize the decades Ms. Bringas spent caring for hundreds of our Valley’s at-risk youth. The dedication of the Bringas bridge goes beyond a simple naming.
While walking, biking, or driving across the Bridge, travelers will see twenty (20) pilasters located on the street-level portion of the Bridge facing into the roadway. These pilasters have been designed to provide an approximate 3’ by 3’ picture-frame style inset for the placement of ceramic tile-based art. These pilaster picture frames (Pilaster) will provide an unforgettable opportunity to tell the story of Ms. Bringas’ life and contributions.
On January 12, 2022, the City Council authorized the Public Arts Commission (Commission or PAC) to proceed with the estimated $50,000.00 project. These costs are subject to adjustment once more accurate shipping, tile printing, and mounting costs are
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confirmed. The Council also authorized the Commission to obtain proposals for the creation of sixteen (16) art works (Works).
Tonight’s agenda item discusses (1) what will be showcased in each Pilaster; (2) the artistic themes the various artists will be directed to paint; (3) how a June or July Bridge opening ceremony with Works already installed will effectively inhibit a final Council review of the Works prior to installation; (4) Commission’s recommendations to engage four artists to paint up to sixteen themes; (5) next steps; (6) Bringas portrait back-up plan, and (7) summary of total project costs.
DISCUSSION:
1)What Will Be Showcased in Each Pilaster
The twenty (20) Pilasters are planned to house two (2) bronze plaques, two (2) tile portraits of Mrs. Bringas, and sixteen (16) individual Works. The plaques, portraits, and Works will be evenly split on each side of the Bridge and will be positioned to tell a story.
The progression of the story follows the flow of traffic. For pedestrians or cyclists headed northbound on Cathedral Canyon, the first pilaster on the east side of the Bridge will house one bronze plaque. Bridge construction funds will be used to purchase the bronze plaques. Engineering, City Communications, and Economic Development staff have collaborated on the design and wording of the two bronze plaques. A copy of the bronze plaque is attached to this staff report. This plaque will introduce the Bridge and Ms.
Bringas.
The following eight pilasters will house the custom Works illustrating aspects of Ms.
Bringas’ life. The last Pilaster will contain a tile-based portrait of Ms. Bringas, as the family has respectfully requested two Pilasters be dedicated to house Ms. Bringas’ portrait image. Concluding the trip across the Bridge with this portrait is intended to give a face to the woman who has impacted so many. A map outlining the placement of the plaques, portraits, and Works is attached to this staff report.
2)Artistic Themes
Members of the Public Arts Commission and the Mayor have had multiple meetings with Ms. Bringas’ son and daughter-in-law, Henry and Michele Bringas. These in-depth discussions and online research have led the Commission to identify the following themes as most representative of Ms. Bringas’ life and contributions.
These themes include:
Artist Themes for the Sixteen (16) Pilasters
1. Education 9. Ms. Bringas surrounded by her
community
2. Cathedral City Boys and Girls Club 10. Fundraising
3. Love of animals and children 11. The legendary avocado green station wagon transporting children
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4. Overcoming language barriers 12. Miss Bee
5. Hispanic American background 13. Sugar skull/Dia de los Muertos celebration
6. Food insecurity 14. Instilling hope and opportunity within her children
7. Leader and a mentor 15. War on poverty
8. All children benefited by her 16. No tolerance for gang activity Each theme will be assigned to artists through a collaborative combination of artist self- selection (e.g., an artist who loves painting cars would select #11) and Commission direction (e.g., when two artists work with food insecurity, the Commission will select the optimal artist to paint #6).
To ensure a quality finished product, the Commission is treating the Bridge as one art installation. Care is being taken to ensure continuity between the various Works. This includes (i) all art must utilize a similar medium (paint on stretched and framed canvas), (ii) only a handful of artists will be selected to ensure style consistency between the various Works, and (iii) the theme of each artists’ Work will be focused on the assigned themes. 3)Impact of a June, July, or August Unveiling Ceremony on Council’s Review of Artistic Works
The Bridge is scheduled to be completed by June 9, 2022. The physical completion of the Bridge does not include the completion and installation of the art Works.
To complete the Works, the artists must be (i) commissioned; (ii) each artist must paint their assigned themes/Works; (iii) the Commission must receive, inspect, and approve each work; (iv) the individual Works must be shipped to the ceramic tile manufacturer in Colorado; and (v) the tile manufacturer requires approximately six weeks to (a) prepare the digital Works, (b) inspect, compare and adjust digital colors to match the actual painted colors, (c) print the Works onto ceramic tiles, (d) fire-bake the ceramic tiles, (e) inspect and approve the finished tiles, and (f) package and ship the finished tiles back to the City.
Finally, the tile works must be professionally installed on the Bridge.
The Commission has been operating with the understanding that the City Council would like the Bridge dedication ceremony to occur as soon as possible following the Bridge completion date and the dedication ceremony occurs with the plaques, portraits, and Works installed.
For the dedication ceremony to occur as soon as possible with the Works installed, the Commission has attempted to shorten the timeline between artists creating the Works and installing finished ceramic tiles on the Bridge. A key component in compressing this production cycle is to have the Commission Chair, Commission Vice Chair, and the Commission liaison be the final authorities to inspect and accept the painted Works as the painted Works are completed. This means the Council would not review the Works in a regularly scheduled Council meeting prior to the Works being installed on the Bridge.
If the Council would like to retain final review and approval authority, one of two paths may be taken. The first and most expeditious path would be to appoint a Council subcommittee. This subcommittee would have the authority to approve Works on behalf of Cathedral City Page 4 of 6 Printed on 4/21/2022
the full Council. A second and more time-consuming path would be to require all Works be brought back to Council for review and approval prior to being shipped to the tile manufacturer. This second option would likely add 45 to 90 days to the production cycle.
It is important to note, taking the second path, or requiring full Council approval of all Works, would likely result in finished tiles being installed in September or October.
Gantt charts outlining the timing of both scenarios (no Council oversight and full Council oversight) are being created and will be included during the Council presentation.
4.)Commission’s Artist Recommendations
During the April 12, 2022, Public Arts Commission meeting, the Commission reviewed submissions from four (4) artists. Given the tight timelines and the unique nature of the engagement, the Commission requested that interested artists send samples of work. The attached submissions do not represent Works that will be placed on the Bridge.
Based on these general submissions, the Commission believes the four respondents are talented artists capable of creating quality Works. The Artists’ backgrounds range from a current high school student to a local Scrap Gallery hero, to a nationally recognized artist. Artist bios and sample submissions are attached to this staff report.
The Commission is recommending selecting Arianna Gurrola, Diane Morgan, Karen Riley, and Yvonne Gaudet. The Commission would like to award two pilaster themes to each artist. Depending on the respective artists’ performance and timeliness of delivering completed Works, the Commission would like the ability to award additional themes. While the Commission has extended the deadline to April 22, 2022, for new artists to submit, if no sufficiently skilled artist(s) submit, the Commission supports utilizing the four selected artists to paint all sixteen (16) themes.
5.)A Summary of Next Steps
a) Artists are notified of selection,
b) The Commission Chair and Vice Chair meet with the respective artists and assign appropriate themes,
c) Artists paint their assigned Works,
d) PAC Chair and Vice Chair inspect the Works as the Works are completed, instruct the artists to make any required changes, and accept the Works, e) Photograph each Work and email the photograph to the tile manufacturer, f) Ship the accepted Work(s) as completed to the tile manufacturer, g) Tile manufacturer creates, inspects, and ships completed ceramic tiles and the original works of art back to the Commission,
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h) The Commission has the finished ceramic tiles professionally installed as the completed tiles are received.
6)Bringas Portrait Back-up Plan
Henry and Michele Bringas informed staff they are having trouble finding a suitable photo of Ms. Bringas for the tile-based portraits. Apparently, small older photos have pixel counts too low to meet the standards required for a 3’ x 3’ tile portrait. While Henry and Michele are optimistic an acceptably detailed photo of Ms. Bringas can be found, Staff is requesting Council authorize PAC the ability to commission up to eighteen (18) individual works, if necessary. Commissioning eighteen (18) works verses the originally planned sixteen (16) works would result in $4,000.00 of additional expense. 7)Summary of Known Project Costs
Cost Elements Original Scenario (Scenario 1)
16 Works & 2 Photo Portraits
Scenario 2:
18 Works
Artist’s Paintings
($2,000 per Work)
$32,000 $36,000
Ship painting to tile
company
To be determined* To be determined*
Print onto tiles
($432 per mural)
$7,776
(18 total images to be printed)
$7,776
(18 total images to be printed)
Return shipping of painting
& finished tiles back to City
To be determined* To be determined*
Install tiles onto Pilasters
($500.00 per mural)
$9,000
(18 total tile mural installations)
$9,000
(18 total tile mural
installations)
Total costs within shipping $48,776 $52,776
Shipping is difficult to quantify given (i) the number of products (size) and weight of the products being shipped will vary, and (ii) the actual costs to ship are fluctuating given changing supply chain and fuel prices. Staff is recommending a not-to-exceed number of $5,000 to cover all packaging and shipping costs.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Based on the above, the total Bringas Bridge artwork, shipping, and tile installation is expected to cost:
(i) $53,776 if 16 works are commissioned and a photo is used for Ms. Bringas’ portraits, or
(ii) $57,776 if no photos are used and 18 Works must be commissioned.
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These costs will be funded through the Art in Public Places fund. The Art in Public Places fund balance is $125,721. As previously mentioned, creating, and installing the bronze plaques is being paid through bridge construction funds and will not require Art in Public Places funding.
ATTACHMENTS:
2021-12-20 Bringas Bridge Full Pilaster
Pilaster Detail_jac_approved
Bringas Bridge 1
Bringas Bridge 2
2022-04-15 Artwork Location Map by Pilaster
Ofelia Bringas Bronze Plaque-30x34-V3 2022-04-16
Ariana Gurrola Bio (1)
Arianna Gurrola Artwork 1
Arianna Gurrola Artwork 2
Arianna Gurrola Artwork 3
Arianna Gurrola Artwork 4
Diane Morgan Resume 2022
Diane Morgan Palm Desert signal boxes Desert in Bloom 2018 Acrylic Diane Morgan Happiness Dome and Two Benches 2021 Acrylic Diane Morgan Blooming Desert 12 x 12 oil on canvas
Karen Riley Bio
Karen Riley Recent Work
Karen Riley Vuelasoarsample
Yvonne Gaudet Resume
Yvonne Gaudet Artwork 1
Yvonne Gaudet Artwork 2
Yvonne Gaudet Artwork 3