Staff Report
City Council
Item No. {{section.number}}.B
Meeting Date: August 14, 2024
From: Anne V. Ambrose, Assistant City Manager
Title: To Approve the Public Arts Commission's Recommendation of Artists to Paint the Ocotillo Park Benches.
RECOMMENDATION:
To approve the Public Arts Commission’s recommendation of artists to pain the Ocotillo Park Benches.
BACKGROUND:
The Public Arts Commission has been working on a public art project proposal to have the twenty-three concrete benches at Ocotillo Park painted by artists. Each artist would be compensated $500 if selected for their original artistic concept to be applied to one of the park’s benches. Ocotillo Park is a vibrant park, centrally located in the city that provides a range of recreational activities including ball fields, a basketball court, skateboard park, tennis court, tot lot, splash pad, and shade structures and barbecue stands to encourage group gatherings. The Commission desires to enhance the park by adding a new artistic element throughout the park facility. It also furthers the Commission’s goal of making art publicly accessible throughout the city, not only in the downtown area.
At the April 24, 2024 City Council meeting, staff presented the Public Arts Commission’s recommendation to approve a $16,500 budget from the Art in Public Places Fund for the Ocotillo Bench Project, which included:
•$11,500 for artist stipends (23 @ $500 each)
•$4,150 for priming and top-coat of benches
•$500 for incidental expenditures related to the project.
The City Council approved the item and a call for artists went out soliciting artists to paint the benches
DISCUSSION:
As a result of the call for artists, fifty-two submittals were received representing artists from around the city and region. On June 25, 2024, the Public Arts Commission held a special meeting in which they reviewed all of the artist submittals and selected twenty-three artists to paint the benches. Two alternates were also chosen in case any of the other artists dropped out. The Commissioners had a daunting task to narrow the field due to the high quality of the submissions received and were diligent in reviewing the art, considering its relevance to the park and the community, its composition, and the overall curation of how all of the painted benches will fit in the park.
The Public Arts Commission selected the following artists twenty-three artists (and two alternates) and are recommending them to the City Council for approval tonight. The bench number corresponds to the location of the bench in the park that they have been selected to paint. The recommended artists are:
• Tekeyah Whitworth, Bench 1
• Tyler Ontiveros, Bench 2
• Chris Ganillo, Bench 3
• Sydney Oliff, Bench 4
• Adriana Lopez-Ospina, Bench 5
• Jay Gaskill, Bench 6
• Barbara Eberhart, Bench 7
• Jesus Vega, Bench 8
• Raphaele Cohen-Bacry, Bench 9
• Emeline Tate, Bench 10
• Taunyo Jones Hidalgo, Bench 11
• Ravi Wilkie, Bench 12
• Mia Martinez, Bench 13
• Allie Hebb, Bench 14
• Jeremy Novy, Bench 15
• Diane Morgan, Bench 16
• John Burkland, Bench 17
• Kellie Pellegrini, Bench 18
• Kat Travino, Bench 19
• Kristina Nyberg, Bench 20
• Patrick Sheehan, Bench 21
• Sarah Soward, Bench 22
• Jacquelyn Isais, Bench 23
• Cathy Brown/Preston Sparks – Alternate 1
• Carlos Cardoza – Alternate 2
FISCAL IMPACT:
DESCRIPTION GENERAL
LEDGER
ACCOUNT
CODES
PROJECT
CODE
AMOUNT ONE TIME or
ONGOING
2024-2025 Ocotillo Bench
Project
231-500-510-
513-8800-8802 N/A $16,500 ONE-TIME
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal B – Community Investment
Objective: Cathedral City roads, gateways, public spaces and other infrastructure are well planned, designed, constructed and maintained.
B-6 Maximize the use of existing resources to include underutilized parks and the library to support goals with the budget we have.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Ocotillo Park Map
2. Artist Proposals