Staff Report
Public Arts Commission
Item No. 3.D
Meeting Date: May 13, 2025
From: Anne V. Ambrose, Assistant City Manager
Sponsors: Chair Craig Liebelt and Commissioner Cristal Mojica Title: To Determine a Budget and Submit a Call for Artists for the Esperanza Entrance Sculpture
RECOMMENDATION:
To receive input from the Public Arts Commission and submit a call for artists to design a sculpture for the entrance way to Esperanza Park and establish a recommended budget for submission to the City Council for approval.
BACKGROUND:
The Public Arts Commission and Parks and Community Events Commission have established a subcommittee from each commission (Chair Liebelt and Commissioner Mojica from PAC and Commissioners Jimenez and Herrera from PACE) to conduct engagement with the Dream Homes community gathering their thoughts on a planned art piece for the new Esperanza Park. The first meeting with the neighborhood residents to solicit input on the proposed public art piece occurred on Tuesday, March 18 from 5:30 – 7:30pm at Agua Caliente Elementary School Multipurpose Room. In advance of the meeting, flyers were distributed through the schools in both English and Spanish and postcards were mailed to each home in the Dream Homes neighborhood to solicit input. An art exercise was distributed to the students at Agua Caliente Elementary School asking them to draw their ideas for an art piece for the park and one-hundred ninety-two drawings were received.
During the meeting, a presentation was made by Assistant City Manager Ambrose on the importance of public art in communities which began a discussion soliciting ideas from the residents on themes or images for the sculpture. Michelle Molina from the Public Works Department continued the discussion in Spanish to ensure all the residents had the opportunity to participate equally in the discussion.
There were some very clear themes shared by the residents who attended the meeting. The following words were said by the community to describe what they felt the entranceway sculpture at Esperanza Park should represent:
•Resilience
•Rising from the ashes
•Transformation
•Metamorphosis
•Growth
•Regeneration
•Rebirth
•Inviting for all children
During the discussion, the participants were also asked if they had any specific images that aligned with the themes above. Below are the ideas received during the meeting.
•Boy and girl with flowers
•Police officer with boy and girl
•Butterfly with rainbow colors
•Rainbow after the rain
•Big butterfly with children underneath it/looking at it •Butterfly coming out of a cocoon
Interestingly, the student drawings were done before the meeting and images of butterflies and rainbows were present in many of the drawings. Some samples of the student artwork is included in this packet.
The next step is to identify the not to exceed budget for the total project, to include artist fees, materials, shipping, installation, and other costs. While the Commission had previously generally discussed a budget of around $70,000, after hearing the community input, it is likely this budget will need to increase. The total funds currently available in the Art in Public Places fund is $373,066.
The procurement process that staff is suggesting is to do a call for artists with experience in executing public art pieces of the size and scope of this project. When received, the Commission will select three artists who will be provided a stipend to develop a concept for the park. The three designs will be presented back to the community for input. The final design will be recommended to the City Council for final approval.
It would be desirable for the RFP process to begin this spring/summer with construction planned for this fall.
FUNDING SOURCE:
Funding for this project will be through the Art in Public Places Fund.
ATTACHMENTS:
Dream Homes Public Art Presentation
Samples of Student Artwork