Title
Recommendation to Approve the Public Art Commission’s Recommendations for Physical Public Art in Alameda; and
Adoption of Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Tidelands Fund Budget to Appropriate $360,000 for Physical Art. (Community Development 285)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: David L. Rudat, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In September 2017, the City of Alameda released a Request for Proposals for $262,500 in physical public art in Alameda. Tonight’s action requests that the City Council approve the finalists chosen by the Public Art Commission. This includes four awards:
• $150,000 category: Rockspinners, Zachary Coffin
• $50,000 category: Gateway Columns, Norman Moore
• $25,000 category: Love Our Island Art Walk, Rhythmix Cultural Works
• $12,500 category: Astro Mural, Dan Fonte
Although there were two awards available in the $25,000 category, the selection panel recommended only one finalist. Any funds not awarded will be returned to the Public Art Fund, to be re-released for physical public art at a future date.
In addition, City staff has identified an alternate funding source for the other two recommended finalists at the $150,000 level:
• Dragon Dance, Dmitrii Volkov
• Bronze squid, Rossella Scapini and Luke Heimbigner
Staff recommends, and Public Arts Commission (PAC) concurs, to fund the works of the other two recommended finalists out of the Tidelands Fund, which is dedicated to the improvement and restoration of the City’s tidelands. These artworks are eligible for this funding because they will be located in Tideland properties along Alameda’s shoreline.
BACKGROUND
Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-98 Public Art in New Commercial, Industrial, Residential and Municipal Construction (the Ordinance) requires that major development projects include on-site public art. The Ordinance also permits an applicant to pay a fee in lieu of providing the art on-site. Any in-lieu fees collected are deposited in the dedicated Fund. The Fund can then only be used by the City to provide or support public art.
In September 2017, the City of Alameda released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for $262,500 in physical public art in Alameda. Tonight, the finalist proposals are before the City Council for approval. These proposals are the result of a years-long effort undertaken by the PAC and the Alameda arts community to release Public Art Fund (Fund) monies and bring new physical art to the City of Alameda.
A separate RFP was also issued for cultural arts and arts programming. The first round of grants from this RFP was awarded on April 17, 2018.
The Physical Art RFP (Exhibit 1) included five different award levels:
• One $150,000 award
• One $50,000 award
• Two $25,000 awards
• One $12,500 award
DISCUSSION
A total of 48 proposals were received in response to the Physical Art RFP. The evaluation process for these proposals included three steps:
1. Staff pre-screening: All applications were pre-screened by City staff to ensure that they met the minimum qualifications.
2. Selection Panel Review: The Physical Art Selection Panel (the Panel) reviewed applications meeting the minimum requirements, and ranked them according to the selection criteria established in the RFP.
3. PAC Review: The PAC reviewed the top three finalists in each award category, and recommended that the City Council accept its recommendations and allocate the necessary funds.
On January 3, 2018, the PAC appointed five physical art selection panelists, which included two PAC members and three outside panel members. The outside members were selected through a public call for selection panelists.
On January 25, 2018, staff conducted the pre-screening of proposals. Thirty-three proposals were qualified to move on to the next round of evaluation and fifteen were disqualified because they did not meet the minimum proposal requirements. Reasons for disqualification included: not including a proposed location or a letter of support for the proposed location; the proposed artwork was not public art; and the proposed artwork was considered advertising.
On February 27 and March 27, 2018, the Panel met to review and rank qualified proposals for physical art in Alameda, utilizing the evaluation criteria established in the RFP. The Panel recommended three finalists in the $150,000 category, three finalists in the $50,000 category, one finalist in the $25,000 category, and two finalists in the $12,500 category (Exhibit 2). The Panel’s scores are summarized in Table 1 and included in Exhibit 3.
|
Table 1: Summary of Proposals Recommended for Funding |
|
Award Category |
Artwork |
Artist |
Selection Panel Average Score |
|
$150,000 |
Rockspinners |
Zachary Coffin |
83 |
|
|
Dragon Dance |
Dmitrii Volkov |
61 |
|
|
Bronze Squid |
Rossella Scapini & Luke Heimbigner |
56 |
|
$50,000 |
Gateway Columns |
Norman Moore |
82 |
|
|
Seat Wall Mosaic |
Denise Hart |
71 |
|
$25,000 |
Love our Island Art Walk |
Tina Blaine/Rhythmix |
99 |
|
$12,500 |
Astro Mural |
Dan Fontes |
64 |
Finalists in the $150,000 and $50,000 categories were then given 10 weeks to put together a more detailed proposal. These finalists were provided an honorarium ($1,000 for $150,000 finalists, and $500 for $50,000 finalists) to complete the detailed proposal and scale model.
The detailed proposals submitted by the finalists at the $150,000 and $50,000 levels are included in Exhibit 4. These proposals, along with scale models of the proposed works of art, were put on display in the Alameda Main Library from May 21, 2018 through June 4, 2018, and featured (with finalist proposals at the $25,000 and $12,500 levels) on a public webpage. An active campaign was launched to solicit community feedback, including a press release, newsletter, survey and social media advertisements. The survey closed on June 7, 2018, and all survey and email responses are included in Exhibit 5.
The scale models of the proposed artwork at the $150,000 and $50,000 levels will be available for viewing in Room 360 of City Hall, from 6:00 to 7:00pm prior to the City Council meeting on September 18, 2018.
On June 18, 2018, the PAC heard presentations from finalist artists, reviewed their detailed proposals, and considered the community’s feedback on the finalist proposals. At that meeting, the PAC recommended that the top-ranked proposals in each category move forward to City Council for approval.
The top-ranked finalist proposals are described below:
$150,000 Award Category
Rockspinners
Artist: Zachary Coffin
A Rockspinner is a multi-ton boulder, which can be spun easily and silently with a single push, compelling viewers to interact and explore while creating a sense of place and an opportunity for fun.
Location: The artist submitted two proposals for Rockspinners in Alameda. Each proposal includes two Rockspinners:
• Alternative #1: One Rockspinner on each side of the Bay Farm Bridge
• Alternative #2: Two Rockspinners at the natural playground at Jean Sweeney Park
The PAC chose Jean Sweeney Park as its preferred location for the Rockspinners.
$50,000 Category
Gateway Columns
Artist: Norman Moore
Two mosaic columns form a gateway symbolizing the island of Alameda as the gateway for prospectors and the railroad heading east. The sculpture would celebrate Alameda as a biological gateway as well as an historic one.
Location: Western medallion plaza at Jean Sweeney Park.
$25,000 Category
Although there are two awards available in this category, the Panel recommended only one of the nine qualified proposals as a finalist. Any funds not awarded will be returned to the Fund, to be re-released for physical public art at a future date.
Love Our Island Art Walk
Artist: Rhythmix Cultural Works
The "Love Our Island Art Walk" is an art-centric creative placemaking project. Central to the project are physical public art installations designed to activate the City's historic downtown district. This two-year project will create 24 visual art installations in empty storefront windows.
Note that this proposal is eligible for a physical public art grant because the storefront installations qualify as temporary physical public art. As defined in the RFP, temporary physical public art has a minimum installation period of one week. Funds from this grant, therefore, can only be used for physical art installation, which must remain visible to the public for at least one week.
Location: The locations will vary based on availability of vacant storefronts. The proposal does include letters of support from several property owners expressing an interest in hosting an installation on their property.
$12,500 Category
Astro Mural
Artist: Dan Fontes
The Astro Mural is a faithful version of the 1971 Gottlieb game entitled "Astro", which will be the artist’s slightly enhanced version of the pinball industries beautiful silk screened art. The mural would be painted on a 12’x12’ large crezon wood panel. It would depict a vibrant large-scale pinball back glass.
Location: The mural would be positioned on the back of 1512 Webster Street, facing the Webster Street public parking lot.
In order to ensure that the selected artwork is durable and will be properly maintained, the staff retained a professional art conservator, Katherine Untch of Conservation Strategies, to review all finalist proposals and consult during the fabrication and installation process. Ms. Untch’s comments and recommendations for the finalist proposals are included in Exhibit 6.
Tidelands Funding of Additional Public Art
At the June 2018 meeting, the PAC expressed a desire to fund more of the artwork recommended by the Panel. In response to this request, and in an effort to increase the presence of public art in Alameda, City staff identified an alternate funding source for the other two recommended finalists at the $150,000 level: Dmitrii Volkov’s Dragon Dance, and Rossella Scapini and Luke Heimbigner’s Bronze Squid.
Staff proposes to fund these works out of the Tidelands Fund, which is dedicated to the improvement and restoration of the City’s tidelands. These artworks are eligible for this funding because they will be located in Tideland properties along Alameda’s shoreline. The total estimate for the Tidelands art is $360,000. This includes the estimated cost of the artwork, and a 20% contingency for any unexpected costs associated with fabrication and installation.
On August 16, 2018, the PAC reviewed this proposal (Exhibit 7), and recommended to City Council that the additional artwork be funded and installed within the City of Alameda Tidelands. It is proposed that Dragon Dance would be located at Alameda Point: adjacent to the Main Street Ferry Terminal. In this location, the sculpture would greet ferry passengers as they arrive in Alameda, and directly face the Oakland cranes across the estuary at the Port of Oakland. The Bronze Squid was originally proposed for the Alameda Point Shoreline, west of the Hornet Soccer field, facing the water, oriented towards the Bay Trail. However, the PAC requested that staff explore alternative locations within the Tidelands that were less remote. If an alternative location cannot be identified, it is proposed that the Bronze Squid will be located in its current proposed location west of the Hornet Soccer Field.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Budget for the physical art is included in the Community Development Department Public Art Fund (Fund 285). The funding for this artwork has been allocated.
The total estimate to be funded by the Tidelands art is $360,000. This includes the estimated cost of the artwork, and a 20% contingency for any unexpected costs associated with fabrication and installation. There are sufficient funds available in the Tidelands Fund (Fund 216) accumulated fund balance to cover these estimated costs. A resolution amending the City’s Fiscal Year 2018-19 Budget has been prepared for City Council’s consideration.
There is no impact to the General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The selection and funding of the public art proposals is consistent with the Public Art Ordinance (Alameda Municipal Code Chapter XXX, Article VIII Section 30-98) and Tidelands Trust requirements.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The proposed public art installations are Categorically Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15303, New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the Public Art Commission’s recommendations for physical public art in Alameda and adopt a Resolution to amend the Fiscal Year 2018-19 Tidelands Fund budget to allocate $360,000 for physical art.
Respectfully Submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By,
Amanda Gehrke, Management Analyst
Exhibits:
1. Request for Proposals
2. Finalist Proposals
3. Selection Panel Scores
4. Detailed Finalist Proposals
5. Survey and Email Responses
6. Conservation Review
7. Public Art Commission Staff Report
8. Art Concepts