DATE:
May 21, 2024
TO:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
FROM:
Chadrick Smalley, Community Development Director
SUBJECT:
Resolution Of The City Council Of The City Of Emeryville Adopting The Public Art Committee’s Recommendations To Select Five Artists And Teams Of Artists: 1) Jeanine Centuori And Russell Rock Of UrbanRock Design; 2) Sijia Chen Of Sijia Chen Studio; 3) Scott Donahue, Lesley Gasparetti, And John Roberts; 4) Addie Boswell And Matt Cartwright; 5) Pete Goldlust and Melanie Germond of “The Germlusts” As Finalists For The 40th Streetscape Public Art Project; Authorizing The City Manager To Execute Contracts With The Artist Teams For The Design Of Conceptual Proposals For The 40th Streetscape Public Art Project In The Amount Of $4,000 Plus Travel Expenses For Each Team To Be Funded From The Public Art Fund (Fund 243) / CIP Project # COF-03
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution selecting the finalists for the 40th Streetscape Public Art Project and authorizing the City Manager to execute Conceptual Design Contracts with the following:
Jeanine Centuori and Russell Rock of UrbanRock Design
Sijia Chen of Sijia Chen Studio
Scott Donahue, Lesley Gasparetti, and John Roberts
Addie Boswell and Matt Cartwright
Pete Goldlust and Melanie Germond of “The Germlusts”
BACKGROUND
The Emeryville Municipal Code establishes the Contributions for the Art in Public Places Program and the Emeryville Public Art Fund to implement the program. In 2016, the City Council approved the Emeryville Public Art Master Plan, which included the 40th Streetscape Public Art Project. Additionally, the City Council allocated $500,000 in Art in Public Places funds for new public art investments, including the 40th Streetscape Public Art Project, in the 2023-2024 to 2027-2028 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) project number COF-03.
Between February 1, 2024, and March 15, 2024, the City accepted submittals of qualifications via a Call for Entry for the 40th Streetscape Public Art Project. Forty-five responses were received. A Selection Panel made up of Chandra Cerrito and Sorrell Tsui (Outside Arts Professionals) Donna Briskin (Community Member), Michael Roberts (City Of Emeryville) and Vickie Jo Sowell (Public Art Committee Representative) met on March 28, 2024 to select finalists. Prior to meeting, each panelist ranked each of the 45 applications which represented geographic distribution across the western United States, a variety of media types, and racial and gender diversity of applicants. The Selection Panel’s collective scoring resulted in twelve artist teams ranked as semifinalists, scoring 2.6 or higher on a scoring system where 3.0 was a perfect score. Following discussion and consideration of the teams’ ability to address all aspects of the project, the Selection Panel recommended five finalists for Conceptual Design Proposal Contracts.
DISCUSSION
The Selection Panel recommended the following finalists for Conceptual Design Proposal Contracts:
1. Jeanine Centuori and Russell Rock of UrbanRock Design
2. Sijia Chen of Sijia Chen Studio
3. Scott Donahue, Lesley Gasparetti, and John Roberts
4. Addie Boswell and Matt Cartwright
5. Pete Goldlust and Melanie Germond “The Germlusts”
A compilation of the recommended finalists’ artist statements and artwork examples is attached to this report.
On April 25, 2024, the Public Art Committee subsequently recommended the City Council award Conceptual Design Contracts to these finalists. Each finalist will receive a $4,000 stipend, with additional travel expenses provided for those traveling over 100 miles to Emeryville, of which four teams will be eligible. Pursuant to the terms of the Conceptual Design Contract, travel expenses are limited to actual, preapproved expenses subject to Federal Government limits and limited to no more than $4,000 per team.
FISCAL IMPACT
As outlined above, the total amount of funds recommended for Conceptual Design Contracts are $20,000 for stipends and an estimated $5,000 for travel, for a total fiscal cost of approximately $25,000. The existing CIP budget allocation for the 40th Streetscape Public Art Project is sufficient to fund the proposed Conceptual Design Contracts.
STAFF COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC
The Public Art Committee discussed prospective awardees for Conceptual Design Proposals on April 25, 2024, at a public meeting and made the recommendation as described above. The finalists’ work will be displayed at City Hall and the public invited to respond to surveys on preferences for the concept designs. The public will also be afforded opportunities to comment on the project through the selected artist’s engagement process.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Public Art Committee's (PAC) recommendation for the selection of
1. Jeanine Centuori and Russell Rock of UrbanRock Design
2. Sijia Chen of Sijia Chen Studio
3. Scott Donahue, Lesley Gasparetti, and John Roberts
4. Addie Boswell and Matt Cartwright
5. Pete Goldlust and Melanie Germond of “The Germlusts” for the preparation of Conceptual Design proposals for the 40th Streetscape Public Art Project.
PREPARED BY: Amber Evans, Community and Economic Development Coordinator II Approved and Forwarded to the
City Council of the City of Emeryville:
Paul Buddenhagen, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Draft Resolution
Proposed Finalist Artist Statements and Work Examples
40th Streetscape Public Art Conceptual Design Proposals City Council Meeting | May 21, 2024
City of Emeryville
CALIFORNIA
MEMORANDUM