DATE:
March 19, 2024
TO:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
FROM:
Chadrick Smalley, Community Development Director
SUBJECT:
Public Art Committee Annual Report On Committee Goals, Principles And Accomplishments For Calendar Year 2023; And Proposed Committee Priorities For Calendar Year 2024 recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council accept this report on the Public Art Committee’s accomplishments in 2023 and proposed priorities for 2024.
Committee Goals and Principles
The Public Art Committee (PAC) provides input and recommendations regarding City policies, priorities and feedback regarding the City’s Percent for Art Ordinance (Ordinance No. 90-20), and related matters.
Accomplishments for Calendar Year 2023
The major goals identified for 2023 were successfully accomplished:
Purchase Award
Installed the 2022 Purchase Award which included four copper sculptures each approximately 2’ by 3’: Ant, Mosquito, Stag Beetle, and Grasshopper, by Ken Kalman were attached to the exterior of City Hall in April 2023 with a reception and celebration.
Acquired four works in 2023:
"Dollar Store" by Mike Farruggia at Emeryville Center of Community Life (ECCL) installed and celebrated in 2023. "Chroma #1, 2, and 4" by Erin Fong at the Senior Center (installed and celebrated in 2024) Bus Shelter Art
The City initiated Phase VII of Sharon Wilchar Bus Shelter Art Program. In 2023, the City commissioned six local artists for this phase of the program: Naomi VanDoren, Lisa Rock, Gregoire Vion, Jess Cook, Erin Fong, and Michelle Theberge Installed the remaining artists selected as part of Phase VI of the Sharon Wilchar Bus Shelter Art Program: Michael Murphy and Courtney Shennish and installed Naomi VanDoren from Phase VII. These posters and all future posters include a QR code, providing convenient access to the City's Art in Public Places Program website.
A new vendor was secured for the installation and maintenance of artworks, ensuring the continuation of the program after pro bono services were abruptly stopped in 2023.
Sign of the Times Maintenance and Restoration:
The timely restoration of the utility box art program allowed for refreshing of this installation prior to the 20th anniversary of the first boxes’ painting in 2004. Originally encompassing seven boxes, the installation has been expanded to 31 with vinyl images being reprinted and applied to freshly painted bright yellow boxes.
The Public Works Department repainted 25 utility boxes from the Sign of the Times collection (45 images) that were previously graffitied and damaged by prior smoke and ash from area wildfires and added new utility boxes with the addition of traffic signals.
The PAC recommended the use of six mothballed images for the new boxes, these will be installed in 2024.
Visual Art Grants
These grants celebrate the creative contributions of local artists and highlight the City’s commitment to promoting visual excellence within our community.
Four visual artists were awarded in 2022, and three awardees’ works were installed in 2023:
Therese Lahaie – installation of a bent disc that casts shadows on an adjacent building that appear as “light birds” Juan Lopez – the fourth mosaic in a series featuring wildlife in their landscapes was installed at ECCL Los Pobres Aristas – a community mural highlighting transition and influences in South Emeryville Top Priorities for Calendar Year 2024
The PAC met in February 2024 to endorse the following priorities for 2024:
First Highlighted Priority - 40th Streetscape Public Art RFQ The PAC’s first priority for 2024 is the initiation of a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Public Art as part of the 40th Street Multimodal Improvements project streetscape. The project’s goals are:
Provide a visual and psychological connection for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers between the 40th and San Pablo Bus Hub and Bay Bridge Pedestrian and Bicycle Plaza through the coordinated placement of public art, landscape/hardscape elements and lighting.
Acknowledge and celebrate the streetscape’s role as the “stage” on which the life of the community plays out.
Create a safe and welcoming environment for pedestrians through the use of both nighttime lighting and artistic elements that are visible during the day.
Create a powerful, iconic image for the City of Emeryville to be incorporated into the wayfinding signage and/or a project element repeated in the project.
Three key subtasks are included in the RFQ, potentially across several different disciplines:
1. Designing an icon for wayfinding signage that aligns with the theme used for sculpted, painted, and/or attached art works. This icon may incorporate a bicycle and then offer natural elements within or on the bicycle –fabrication and installation is expected to be carried out by the City as a pilot for wayfinding Citywide.
2. Creation of a plaza installation series or reproducible sculptures with the aim of providing functional elements to the plazas. This may include, but is not limited to:
o Seating
o Exercise equipment
o Interactive installations
o Living walls, mosaic or mural that incorporate nature.
3. An attachable element to street furniture that incorporates the theme as developed in subtasks one and two in no less than 12 locations along the public right of way.
These elements should:
Create a unified aesthetic for the streetscape;
Provide an integrated approach for the entire project area, consistent with the theme; Invite pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and plaza users to linger and build community with those found in the enlivened spaces of the project; and Create a space that feels safe, delightful, inspiring, and comfortable.
Second Highlighted Priority - Neighborhood Convergence Restoration In addition to repainting and restoring the 11 sculptures originally installed 20 years ago under the I-80 overpass at Powell Street, this project will also include relocating the sculptures outside of the fences currently encapsulating 10 of the 11 works for increased visibility. Efforts will be undertaken for comprehensive restoration of the sculptures, addressing both artistic elements and associated lighting, and special attention to the back side of the works, ensuring a presentation under I-80 visible from not only the vehicle lanes but the improved pathways that will create new viewing opportunities of the sculptures by pedestrians and cyclists.
Other 2024 Identified Priorities
Visual Art Grants: The PAC endorsed biennial implementation of the Visual Art Grants program after the 2022 pilot. The 2024 cycle is currently underway with the following details:
Call for applications opened on January 22, 2024.
Well attended artist assistance workshops were held on February 8 and 13, 2024.
Call for applications concluded on February 28, 2024.
Rotten City Cultural District: Initiation and consultant onboarding for the Rotten City Cultural District (RCCD) programs launched in 2024. The engagement of ABG Art Group for RCCD program implementation signifies a pivotal moment in advancing the City’s cultural initiatives. ABG Art Group will create opportunities for strategic partnerships and collaborative ventures between the City, as guided by the partners within RCCD, in collaboration with the PAC and the Art Center Advisory Group.
Conclusion
The PAC has had a transitional year, with the departure of officers, retirement of long-standing members, and turnover of new members, resulting in new officers and four new members. The committee held retreat on February 25, 2024, to explore new media, new processes for commission of artworks and new and expanded partnerships to leverage additional investment in the arts. This effort will be grounded by the 30-year history of investment in the visual arts while allowing the PAC to discuss other art forms. The PAC remains engaged in new art procurements, maintenance of the existing robust collection and supportive of the development of an Arts Center, with expansion of the city’s investment in the arts to the performing arts.
PREPARED BY: Amber Evans, Community and Economic Development Coordinator Approved and Forwarded to the
City Council of the City of Emeryville:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
Attachments
Exhibit A: Presentation of PAC Accomplishments in 2023 and Goals for 2024 Public Art Committee Annual Report
City Council Meeting | March 19, 2024
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM