Title
Recommendation to Provide $50,000 in Public Art Fund Monies to Support Rising Tides: Shaping the Future of Alameda
Body
To: Honorable Chair and Members of the Public Art Commission
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In spring 2023, the City of Alameda, in close collaboration with Radium Presents, the West End Arts District, and Immersive Arts Alliance, pursued a Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge Grant of $1,000,000 for the proposed project: Rising Tides: Shaping the Future of Alameda Point (Rising Tides), which envisioned a series of visual and performing arts commissions taking place on the runway of a former Naval Air Station. While being selected as one of 17 finalists, the City of Alameda ultimately was not awarded the $1,000,000 grant.
However, earlier this year, Bloomberg Philanthropies agreed to sponsor a pared down version of Rising Tides with a $100,000 grant. The Bloomberg grant will support programming from Radium Presents, West End Arts District, and Rhythmix Cultural Works, as well as marketing, PR, and community engagement efforts.
Between fall 2024 and fall 2025, Rising Tides, which is no longer focused solely on Alameda Point, will explore themes related to climate change through different artistic mediums. The initiative will be organized around three (3) anchor arts programs including internationally recognized vertical dance company, BANDALOOP, Rhythmix’s highly anticipated sequel to Island City Waterways, Rising Seas, and In Plain Site, a photographic public art installation curated by Photoville and associated speaker series.
Given the Rising Tides initiative’s alignment with both the Public Art Master Plan and other City of Alameda policy priorities, and the unique opportunity this collaborative effort provides to demonstrate that Alameda is a leader in both climate adaptation and the arts, staff is requesting $50,000 from the Public Art Fund to support community engagement and outreach efforts. These requested funds are not a required match for the Bloomberg grant or another funding source but would demonstrate the City’s commitment to the arts and raising awareness surrounding climate challenges.
BACKGROUND
Beginning in the spring of 2023, at the direction of Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft, the City of Alameda, in close collaboration with Radium Presents, the West End Arts District, and Immersive Arts Alliance, pursued a Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge Grant of $1,000,000 (Challenge Grant). The proposed project, Rising Tides: Shaping the Future of Alameda Point (Rising Tides), envisioned a series of visual and performing arts commissions taking place on the runway of a former Naval Air Station. These commissions would be designed to serve as a catalyst to engage our community in three overlapping concerns: climate adaptability at sea level; inclusive housing and development of the former military base, and effectively engaging the Alameda Point community in furthering these goals. Last summer, the City was notified that the City of Alameda was one of 17 finalists.
While Alameda was not among those selected to receive the Challenge Grant, over the past several months, the Economic Development Division, in close collaboration with Radium Presents, the West End Arts District, and more recently, Rhythmix Cultural Works, has continued to explore ways in which a pared down version of the Rising Tides project submitted to Bloomberg could be realized. In parallel, Bloomberg remained in contact and provided encouragement for pursuing this pared down approach.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg Philanthropies agreed to sponsor the pared down Rising Tides proposal with a $100,000 grant to support programming from Radium Presents, West End Arts District, and Rhythmix Cultural Works, as well as marketing, PR, and community engagement efforts led by these three arts organizations and in collaboration with City staff. Bloomberg recognizes the power of using the arts to both engage the public in complex civic issues and spur action to address global challenges like climate change at the local level. It should be noted that the Bloomberg funds were passed directly to the West End Arts District.
DISCUSSION
As California’s most densely populated island, Alameda rightly stakes its claim today as a Bay Area climate leader, spearheading the effort to understand the multiple threats of climate change and investing heavily in the sustainable future of our island community. Rising Tides is an opportunity for the City to collaborate with Alameda’s dynamic arts and culture sector to engage the community in the progress that has been made and communicate the urgency of the work to be done.
Rising Tides seeks to:
• Increase civic engagement in sustainability and resiliency planning;
• Build understanding of the potential impact of climate change, especially sea level rise, on the Island’s future; and
• Encourage creative thinking and innovative resiliency solutions, especially amongst local youth.
Between fall 2024 and fall 2025, Rising Tides, which is no longer focused solely on Alameda Point, will explore themes related to climate change through different artistic mediums. The initiative will be organized around three (3) anchor arts programs spread over the year. Additionally, the initiative will feature:
• A branded, centralized website providing information about art events and initiative partners. The website would host video footage, images and other resources; and
• A robust community outreach program coordinating with schools, nonprofits, and community partners throughout the year.
The three anchor art programs include internationally recognized vertical dance company, BANDALOOP, Rhythmix’s highly anticipated sequel to Island City Waterways, Rising Seas, and In Plain Site, a photographic public art installation curated by Photoville and associated speaker series.
The Rising Tides initiative will culminate in a community-driven collective art project envisioning the future of Alameda that will showcase artwork by young artists and community groups inspired by themes and learnings from the year.
Rising Tides Funding Request
In addition to the Bloomberg funds, the Rising Tides initiative continues to fundraise in order to support the three major artistic elements: BANDALOOP, Rhythmix Cultural Works’ Island City Waterways: Rising Seas, and In Plain Site, a Radium-led photographic public art installation curated by Photoville and associated speaker series, along with a final collaborative visual art project featuring work from students and citizens to imagine the future of Alameda in 50 years to be on display at Radium Runway and potential satellite sites in Alameda.
Staff is requesting $50,000 from budgeted funds within the Public Art Fund to support this ambitious effort.
The requested funds would be used to support community engagement and outreach efforts enabling initiative events to be tied together into one entity with a stronger, more unified message, and the resources to ensure robust community engagement and participation on a wider scale. The proposed Rising Tides budget is included as Exhibit 1 for reference. The funds would be allocated to the West End Arts District, which would serve as the fiscal sponsor for the Rising Tides initiative.
Rising Tides provides an opportunity to demonstrate that Alameda is a leader in both climate adaptation and the arts. The Public Art Commission’s support would demonstrate to the public, and Bloomberg, the city’s commitment to this initiative. The Public Art Commission would be listed as an equal partner in the project helping to raise awareness and the value of public art in Alameda.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
• The Public Art Master Plan
The Rising Tides initiative aligns with numerous elements of the Public Art Master Plan (Plan), which was adopted by City Council in December 2023. These include:
o Mission, Vision and Goals: the mission of the Plan speaks to the initiative’s ability to bring high-caliber artistic offerings to Alameda as well as catalyze conversations about challenging topics like climate change. Specifically, the mission states: “Present[ing] a high-quality and engaging public art collection that reflects and embraces the cultural diversity of the community, inspires critical thinking among residents and visitors, and presents public art in locations across the city;”
o Recommendations: of the seven (7) recommendations included the Plan, this initiative directly supports 1,2, 3, 5, and 6.
o Action Plan: Given the caliber and profile envisioned for the Rising Tides initiative, in combination with the robust community outreach and engagement efforts planned as part of its rollout, it is clear the initiative closely aligns with an action item included in Year 4 of the Action Plan: “Develop initiatives and/or materials for advocacy, marketing, and visibility of the Public Art Program.”
• Climate Action and Resiliency Plan (CARP)
The Rising Tides initiative creates an opportunity to engage the public, through art, about the challenges posed by climate change. The initiative will encourage participation in civic processes and elevate the work currently being undertaken in support of the CARP, the Oakland Alameda Adaptation Committee, among other City-led climate and resilience-focused efforts.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Accounting for the $60,000 approved by the Public Art Commission in December 2023, to issue cultural arts and arts programming grants, the current available balance of the Public Art Fund is approximately $962,000, of which approximately $164,000 is currently available for cultural arts and arts programming. If the $50,000 funding request for the Rising Tides initiative is approved by the Public Art Commission, the funds would be allocated to the initiative partners (Rhythmix Cultural Works, West End Arts District and Radium Presents) and the available balance of the Public Art Fund would be reduced to approximately $912,000 and approximately $114,000 would remain available for cultural arts and arts programming. CLIMATE IMPACT
The Rising Tides initiative creates an opportunity to inform the community about the impact of climate change through public art performances and temporary physical art.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve allocation of $50,000 in Public Art Fund monies to support Rising Tides: Shaping the Future of Alameda.
Respectfully submitted,
Walker Toma, Community Development Manager
Secretary, Public Art Commission
cc: Lois Butler
Exhibits:
1. Rising Tides Budget