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, was often shut down due to flooding at the Whitewater River low-water crossing.
Thankfully, the Cathedral Canyon Bridge project (Bridge or Project) has replaced the former low-water crossing. Fourteen years in the planning and processing stage, the Bridge was recently completed and is open to north-bound and south-bound traffic.
In 2019, the City Council voted to name the Cathedral Canyon Bridge after deceased Cathedral City resident Ms. Ofelia 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. The twenty (20) Pilasters are planned to house two (2) bronze plaques, two (2) tile portraits of Ms. Bringas, and sixteen (16) individual Works. 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 were subject to adjustment once more accurate shipping, tile printing, and mounting costs were confirmed.
On April 27, 2022, the City Council authorized the Public Arts Commission to proceed with the Bridge Project at a cost not to exceed $57,776.00. The Council also requested examples of the artwork (Work or Works) to be commissioned be brought back before Council for review and approval prior to commissioning.
Pursuant to Council’s direction, the Public Arts Commission has worked with all five artists to produce the attached mock-ups. These mock-ups are the result of frequent back-and-forth between the PAC and the artists since April 27 th. While additional finetuning will be made, these images substantially represent the final proposed products. These images were reviewed and approved by the Commission during a special PAC meeting on May 31 st. The Commission is recommending the attached Works for Council consideration and approval this evening.
DISCUSSION:
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 and the artists responsible for painting these themes include:
Artist Themes for the Sixteen (16) Pilasters and Assigned Artists
1. Education
(Karen Riley)
9. Ms. Bringas surrounded by community
(Diane Morgan)
2. Cathedral City Boys and Girls Club
(Karen Riley)
10. Fundraising
(Yvonne Gaudet)
3. Love of animals
(Yvonne Gaudet)
11. The legendary avocado green station
wagon transporting children
(Diane Morgan)
4. Overcoming language barriers
(Yvonne Gaudet)
12. Miss Bee
(Diane Morgan)
5. Hispanic American background
(Yvonne Gaudet)
13. Sugar skull/Dia de los Muertos
celebration
(Arianna Gurrola)
6. Food insecurity
(Karen Riley)
14. Instilling hope and opportunity within
her children
(Kellie Pellegrini)
7. Leader and a mentor
(Karen Riley)
15. War on poverty
(Kellie Pellegrini)
8. All children benefited by her
(Diane Morgan)
16. No tolerance for gang activity
(Arianna Gurrola)
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 (acrylic paint on 3’ by 3’ stretched and framed canvas), (ii) only a handful of artists are being engaged to ensure style consistency between the various Works, (iii) each artist will be assigned themes based on their individual strengths and interest, and (iv) each artists’ work will be strategically located on the bridge.
The Bridge dedication ceremony is scheduled to occur on September 30, 2022.
Approval tonight of the attached images will provide the Commission just enough time to ensure the works are painted and installed by September 30 th. Some of the steps which must be taken by the Commission between now and September 30th include:
1) Commission the various Works.
2) Receive, inspect, request any modifications to, and ultimately approve each Work.
3) Ship the individual Works to a Colorado-based ceramic tile manufacturer. This manufacturer must: (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. The tile manufacturer anticipates these steps will require a minimum of six weeks to accomplish.
4) Upon receipt of the completed tiles, professionally install each mural on the Bridge.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total Bringas Bridge artwork, shipping, and tile installation will not exceed $57,776.
This project will be funded through the Art in Public Places fund. The Art in Public Places fund balance is $125,721. The creation and installation of the two bronze plaques is being paid through bridge construction funds and are not a part of this PAC Project.