HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-01-19 - BLT - 11 Placement of Donated Art in the Central Library Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Board of Library Trustees approve the placement of a Joan Irving Brandt
painting in the Central Library in the same area as the Crain donation.
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
Exhibiting the painting in the Central Library will require secure hanging hardware, and a
commemorative plaque. Account No. 4002-8080 – Professional and Technical Services, from the City
Arts Commission budget, can fund these services.
DISCUSSION:
Caroline Logan, who serves on the City Arts Commission, and her husband, Hugh Logan, who has served
on the City’s Civil Service Board, have donated a watercolor painting, Big Corona, Under the Lifeguard
Stand, by Joan Irving Brandt from their collection to the City of Newport Beach.
Joan Irving Brandt was a painter, sculptor, and muralist. Born in Riverside, CA on March 12, 1916, Irving
began painting while a pupil at the Katharine Branson School in Ross, CA. Upon graduation, she
attended Riverside College and studied at the Los Angeles Art Center School under Edward Kaminski and
Barse Miller. The wife of artist Rex Brandt, she began teaching at his summer school, Blue Sky, in 1948
and in 1973 became co-director. Her teaching experience also included Orange Coast College, Coronado
School of Fine Arts, and Chouinard Art School. She served as chairman of the Newport Beach Fine Arts
Committee, a precursor to the City Arts Commission, from 1950 until 1961. Much of her subject matter
was derived from the area around her home in Corona del Mar where she lived from 1946 until her
demise on Nov. 28, 1995. Her work hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other museums.
From "California Watercolors 1850-1970" By Gordon T. McClelland and Jay T. Last.
At their December 2015 meeting, the City Arts Commission affirmed the recommendation of the Fine
Arts Ad Hoc Subcommittee to recommend acceptance of the donation of the painting to City Council.
Mr. and Mrs. Logan have agreed to all the conditions listed in Council Policy I-11, Donation of Art to the
City of Newport Beach. Mrs. Logan requests that the painting be displayed in the Central Library in a
public area and staff is seeking approval for this proposal.
TO: BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES
FROM: Tim Hetherton, Library Services Director
949-717-3810, thetherton@newportbeachca.gov
PREPARED BY: Tim Hetherton, Library Services Director
TITLE: Placement of donated art in the Central Library
On Monday, November 9, Trustees Grant and Ray walked the Central Library with Chair Greer of the City
Arts Commission and Commissioner Logan and determined that the comfortable reading area on the
second floor adjacent to the utility shaft would be a good site for the Crain donation (see Attachment A)
and the Logan donation is temporarily sited there as well to demonstrate the suitability of the wall. The
site offers exposure to the public as well as a sitting area for the public to consider the art in a more
contemplative manner. The site wall is of an appropriate size to accommodate an additional painting.
Three paintings also offers some symmetry and the paintings are thematically related. Staff has painted
the surface that the art is hung on the same blue shade that is prevalent on the second floor of the
Central Library in order to highlight the paintings and create an accent wall.
Should the Library Board approve the placement of the painting, staff will bring the item to City Council
for final approval and acceptance of the work into the City art inventory.
Attachment A: Big Corona, Under the Lifeguard Stand in situ.
NOTICING:
This agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at
which the Board of Library Trustees considers the item).