City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
Proclamation
IN RECOGNITION OF
SHARON WILCHAR’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO
THE EMERYVILLE COMMUNITY AND ONGOING EFFORTS
AS AN ARTIST AND ARTS ADVOCATE FOR OVER 30 YEARS
WHEREAS, Sharon Wilchar served on the City of Emeryville Public Art Committee for over 30 years, initiating the Art in Public Places Ordinance and its eventual expansion to cover residential development, after launching the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts annual exhibition and serving for nearly 40 years as the Community Liaison for the Emeryville Artists’ Cooperative, beginning in 1983; and WHEREAS, Sharon Wilchar was elected Chair of the Public Art Committee for her entire membership, due to her charming, calm leadership and broad and deep relationships in the community; and WHEREAS, the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, an annual month-long exhibition of local artists, first held in 1987 , was initially conceived as an event to recognize the City’s support of the Emeryville artist community through the purchase of the Emeryville Artists’ Cooperative; it quickly expanded to embrace the entire artist population of Emeryville and the broader community, and annually, Ms. Wilchar secured a building owner partner to host the show, exhibiting over 100 artists’ work from throughout the City each year; and WHEREAS, Ms. Wilchar’s advocacy for the City’s investment in public art and artists residing and/or working in Emeryville predates the establishment of the Public Art Committee and the Emeryville Annual Art Exhibition, with Ms. Wilchar working as the Community Liaison for the Emeryville Artists’ Cooperative beginning in 1983, facilitating the Cooperative’s incorporation as the 45th Street Artists’ Cooperative in 1986, and helping increase the 45th Street Artists Cooperative’s impact on the community by participating in the inaugural Artist in the Schools Program beginning in 1983; and WHEREAS, in the decades that Ms. Wilchar has served as the Chair of the Public Art Committee, the City Council has been aided in its efforts to expand public art investments since 1990, when the City commissioned its first public art installation, Peninsula Tell Tail by Anita Margrill, starting a collection that has grown to over 70 permanent artworks placed throughout the City, establishing Emeryville as a leader in supporting public art; and WHEREAS, over this same time span, private developers, through the Art in Public Places Ordinance, have installed over 230 publicly-accessible art pieces on building façades, lobby walls and within landscaped spaces and courtyards throughout Emeryville; and WHEREAS, in 2006, the City began the Purchase Award Program, whereby the City purchases artworks shown in the annual Emeryville Celebration of the Arts Exhibition, initiating an ongoing collection of works by local artists and installed in City facilities; and WHEREAS, in 2009, the City initiated the Bus Shelter Temporary Art Program, now entering its seventh phase, which displays local artists’ work in four bus shelters in Emeryville; and WHEREAS, the Purchase Award and Bus Shelter Temporary Art Programs are nearest and dearest to Ms. Wilchar, as these programs feature the works of Emeryville residents and employees, highlighting the breadth and depth of talents in the community; and WHEREAS, in 2017, on behalf of the 45th Street Artist Co-op and the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Ms. Wilchar partnered with the City and other cultural leaders to form the Rotten City Cultural District, one of just 14 state-designated Cultural Districts; and WHEREAS, under Ms. Wilchar’s leadership, the City commissioned the Public Art Master Plan, launched a smart phone guided audio tour of the art works in City Hall, and installed banners in City Hall featuring the works of 30 local artists; and WHEREAS, the City’s reputation and identity as a center of Art and Innovation is, in large part, a direct result of the work of Ms. Wilchar; and WHEREAS, so many of the buildings and artwork in Emeryville, as well as the community itself, have been touched by the tireless efforts of Ms. Wilchar; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED that I, John Bauters, Mayor of the City of Emeryville, on behalf of the City Council of the City of Emeryville, thank Ms. Sharon Wilchar for over 30 years of dedicated service to the City and the broader community.
PROCLAIMED this 20th day of September 2022, at a regular meeting of the City Council by the Mayor of the City of Emeryville.
John J. Bauters, Mayor
PROCLAMATION
Sharon Wilchar
30+ Years of Service
September 20, 2022