HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/12/2014 - City Arts Commission - 04 Staff Report Art Site Suitability Agenda Item B.1.
RECOMMENDATION:
Because the purpose of the Art Site Suitability Ad Hoc Subcommittee is encompassed by the Arts Master
Plan, Staff recommends that the City Arts Commission sunset the Art Site Suitability Ad Hoc
Subcommittee. The Art Site Suitability Ad Hoc Subcommittee’s conclusions will be memorialized and
submitted to the Arts Master Plan Steering Committee to help inform their ongoing work.
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
No funding requirement.
DISCUSSION:
The City Arts Commission tasked the Art Site Suitability Ad Hoc Subcommittee (Commissioners
Magrutsche (chair), Ware, and Logan) to identify and assess potential sites for public art placement.
However, the newly formed Arts Master Plan Steering Committee’s work will encompass much of what
the Art Site Suitability Subcommittee has focused upon. Therefore, the City Arts Commission should
sunset the Art Site Suitability Ad Hoc Subcommittee and provide the team’s resulting work to the Arts
Master Plan Steering Committee.
BACKGROUND:
In March 2014, the Subcommittee commenced to prepare a study to evaluate public places within the
City for appropriateness to host public art within the context of an overall vision for public art in the
City. The Subcommittee established the following methodology for completing a site suitability study:
1. Stakeholder information gathering (What People Think) – the Subcommittee planned to solicit
input from key stakeholder groups (Recreation and Senior Services, Public Works, Library
Services) on how to facilitate implementation of a Council-sanctioned vision.
2. Nurture vision, aligned with Key Organizing Principles (the Big Idea) – The Subcommittee would
evaluate resident and guest demographics and inclinations; analyze neighborhood and district
development; study the relationship between venues, ventures, and promotions, i.e.,
performing arts, film, visual art, etc.
3. Determine suitability criteria (What We Need) – The Subcommittee established the following
criteria for suitable art sites:
A.) Visibility, civic presence, and public exposure;
B.) Active or passive site;
C.) Public Use Level;
D.) Security;
E.) Scale and Contrast;
TO: CITY ARTS COMMISSION
FROM: Library Services Department
Tim Hetherton, Library Services Director
949-717-3810, thetherton@newportbeachca.gov
PREPARED BY: Tim Hetherton
TITLE: Art Site Suitability
Agenda Item B.1.
F.) Exposure to weather;
G.) Susceptibility to vandalism.
4. Inventory potential locations and assign attributes (What We Have) – Determine space or
building type, designate area size, describe locations, and impose suitability criteria. Evaluate,
categorize, and rank locations per criteria.
5. Identify process for actual art site selection and design review (How to Implement) – test the
process with a trial application.
6. Document and package report (The Suitability Analysis) – The report was to include an online
database of sites and their suitability for specific types of art.
After establishing this methodology, the Art Site Suitability Subcommittee met in April 2014. This
group requested the assistance of Fong Tse of Public Works, and Janet Cates of the Recreation and
Senior Services Department Dept. Initial discussions revealed that there are a limited number of
sites that provide the required exposure for public art. In addition, these sites lack the required
infrastructure to display art appropriately and in a manner that would make artwork the most
enjoyable. The Committee is wary that placing art in spaces without considering their suitability
amounts to “plop art”, the pejorative term for public art that connotes that the work is
inappropriate to its surroundings and thoughtlessly "plopped" where it lies. Therefore, the biggest
challenge for the City is to add art to public locations that were initially planned without art. The
team also suggested pursuing interns with either an urban planning or public art background to
assist with the project.
CONCLUSION:
Upon dissolution, the Art Site Suitability Ad Hoc Subcommittee believes their work on the project
should serve to inform the consultant and Master Arts Plan Steering Committee. Commissioners
Ware, Magrutsche, and Logan urge Arts OC and the Master Plan Steering Committee to review and
integrate their Committee work so as to maximize the effectiveness of the City Arts Master Plan.
NOTICING:
This agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting
at which the City Arts Commission considers the item).