Title
Recommendation to Accept the Public Art Commission’s Cultural Arts Funding Recommendations; and
Adoption of Resolution Amending the Public Art Fund Budget to Appropriate Up to $67,500 for Cultural Arts and Arts Programming in Alameda. (Community Development 0285)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Elizabeth D. Warmerdam, Acting City Manager
Re: Acceptance of the Public Art Commission Recommendations and Adoption of Resolution to Amend the Public Art Fund Budget to Appropriate Up to $67,500 for Cultural Arts and Arts Programming in Alameda
BACKGROUND
In September of 2017, the City of Alameda released its first Requests for Proposals (“RFPs”) for public art, and tonight the top-ranked proposals for cultural arts and arts programming are before the City Council for acceptance and appropriation of award funding. These selections are the result of a years-long effort undertaken by the Public Art Commission (PAC) and the Alameda arts community to release Public Art Fund (“Fund”) monies and provide opportunities for the broader Alameda community to experience a variety of cultural arts and arts programming at no cost. These would be the first awards for public art in Alameda since the establishment of the Fund in 2003.
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 August of 2017, the PAC approved an RFP to provide $87,500 of Fund monies for cultural arts and arts programming in Alameda. The RFP was released on September 21, 2017, with all proposals due on December 19, 2017. A separate RFP was also issued for Physical Arts at the same time; proposals in response to this RFP are still in the evaluation process, and will be presented to Council at a separate meeting.
The Cultural Arts and Arts Programming RFP (Exhibit 1) included five different award levels at the following amounts:
• One $35,000 award
• One $25,000 award
• One $15,000 award
• One $7,500 award
• One $5,000 award
Staff is requesting that the City Council approve the Cultural Arts and Arts Programming finalists chosen by the PAC, and appropriate funding for the awardees.
DISCUSSION
A total of 14 proposals were received in response to the Cultural Arts and Arts Programming RFP. The evaluation process for these proposals, established with community input and approved by the PAC, included three steps:
1. Staff pre-screening: All applications were pre-screened by City staff to ensure that they met the minimum qualifications:
a. Submittal included all of the elements listed in the “Proposal Requirement” section.
b. Proposing organization was a non-profit or public agency.
c. Proposed cultural arts event would be free to the general public, and located within the City of Alameda.
2. Selection Panel Review: The Cultural Arts and Arts Programming Selection 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 made a recommendation to City Council for the approval and appropriation of funds.
On July 19, 2017, the PAC established an ad hoc committee to act as a selection panel for the cultural arts and arts programming evaluation process. On January 3, 2018, the PAC appointed five cultural arts and arts programming selection panelists, which included two PAC members and three outside panel members. The outside members were selected through a public Call for Selection Panelists. A list of the Cultural Arts Selection Panel members is included in Exhibit 2.
On January 9, 2018, staff conducted the pre-screening of proposals. Ten proposals were qualified to move on to the next round of evaluation and four were disqualified because they did not meet the minimum proposal requirements. Reasons for disqualification included: the proposed event was not located in the City of Alameda; the proposed artwork was physical, not cultural art; and the proposing organization was not a non-profit or public agency. Qualified proposals can be downloaded at the following link: <http://alameda.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=e2d9ccfb-ddb7-49d4-bddd-a97e621d7144.pdf>.
On January 25, 2018, the Cultural Arts and Arts Programming Selection Panel met to review and rank the qualifying proposals for cultural arts and arts programming, utilizing the evaluation criteria established in the RFP. The Selection Panel identified the top-ranked proposals in the $35,000, $25,000 and $7,500 categories, and recommended that no funding be awarded in the $15,000 and $5,000 award categories due to concerns with the quality of applications in those categories.
On February 28, 2018, the PAC recommended that the Selection Panel’s top-ranked proposals in the $35,000, $25,000 and $7,500 categories move forward to the City Council for approval and appropriation of funds. Consistent with the Selection Panel’s recommendation, the PAC recommended that no funding be awarded in the $15,000 and $5,000 award categories. The unused funding will remain in the Fund, and will be re-released as part of a new RFP for Cultural Arts and Arts Programming later this year. The top-ranked proposals in the $35,000, $25,000 and $7,500 are described below.
$35,000 Award Category
Island City Waterways 2018
Rhythmix Cultural Works
Island City Waterways 2018 is a free multidisciplinary public art event that combines theatre, dance and music. On May 18 -20 2018, the Island City Waterways team, along with 45 artists and 50 volunteers, will present 10 performances (2 specifically for Alameda Unified School District school groups) for a projected audience of over 1,500. The audience will be guided on a historic journey through a site-specific performance that tells the story of Crab Cove. This event will provide intergenerational audiences the opportunity to experience a free interactive public art event that enlivens the history of the land in their own backyard, and reveals how it was shaped by the water that surrounds it.
$25,000 Award Category
Animate Dance Festival
West End Arts and Entertainment District
The Animate Dance Festival will be a celebration of dance in all its forms, bringing together free performances by professional dance companies and local youth groups, trial classes in a variety of dance/ circus and martial art techniques, as well as a children’s play area and food trucks located at the festival hub. The festival will allow Alamedans to experience world-class dance on their doorstep, and will also bring dance enthusiasts from around the Bay Area to Alameda. Animate Dance Festival is a collaboration between the West End Arts and Entertainment District and Tara Pilbrow, who has over 20 years of experience as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. This event will be held in October of 2018.
$7,500 Award Category
The American Landscape
Sacred and Profane
"The American Landscape" will be a free, multidisciplinary choral event bringing together both visual and performing arts on the theme of the American Landscape. The choral concert will feature music by American composers such as Paul Chihara, Shawn Kirchner, Stacey Gibbs, and Moses Hogan among others that encompasses a wide variety of American Folk styles and traditions. These explorations of Americana will be accompanied by visual art celebrating the diverse traditions, landscapes, and points-of-view of American culture, history, and geography through the lens of local artists, including members of the Alameda art community. These new works will embody the American experience through diverse methods, creating an immersive and collaborative event for a broad range of audiences. The event will be held in March 2019.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The total estimate for the three award levels is approximately $67,500 and will require an amendment to the FY2017-18 budget. There are sufficient funds available in the Public Art Fund (Fund 286) accumulated fund balance. The appropriations will be allocated as follows:
• $35,000 for Island City Waterways, by Rhythmix Cultural Works
• $25,000 for the Animate Dance Festival, by the West End Arts and Entertainment District
• $7,500 for The American Landscape, by Sacred & Profane
A resolution amending the City’s FY2017-18 Budget has been prepared for City Council adoption.
There is no impact to the General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the Public Art Ordinance (Alameda Municipal Code Chapter XXX, Article VIII Section 30-98).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The approval and appropriation of funds for cultural arts and arts programming is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4) (other government fiscal activities) and Public Resources Code section 21065, and no further environmental review is required.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the Public Art Commission recommendations for Cultural Arts and Arts Programming and adopt a resolution to amend the Public Art Fund budget to appropriate up to $67,500 for Cultural Arts and Arts Programming in Alameda
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By,
Amanda Gehrke, Management Analyst
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Edwin Gato, Acting Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Cultural Arts and Arts Programming Request for Proposals
2. Cultural Arts and Arts Programming Selection Panelists