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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-09-27 - AGENDA REPORTS - 16-17 ARTS CMSN WORK PLAN (2)Agenda Item: 14 CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT NEW BUSINESS CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: fill DATE: September 27, 2016 SUBJECT: 2016-17 ARTS COMMISSION WORK PLAN DEPARTMENT: Recreation, Community Services, Arts, and Open Space PRESENTER: Patti Rasmussen RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council: Approve 2016-17 Arts Commission Work Plan. 2. Approve Public Art Planning and Selection Process proposal. BACKGROUND The City of Santa Clarita Arts Master Plan (Plan) was adopted by the City Council in March 2016. Since adoption, the Arts Commission has held several meetings to prioritize the 41 recommendations in the Plan, with the goal to develop their first Annual Work Plan. During the priority setting process, five of the recommendations were identified as 2016-17 goals, and five were identified as 2018 goals. The five recommendations identified as the top priorities for 2016-17 are as follows: 1.1. The City should implement a public art planning and selection process that utilizes peer review and community input to ensure that public art pieces meet the goals of providing enjoyable and attractive public spaces that reflect the character of the community. 1.3. The City should enact a percent -for -art requirement for all new public capital improvement projects. 5.1. Develop a plan for an outdoor amphitheater in a park, addressing its optimal focus, location, size, and operating structure. 5.3. Explore future development of a community arts center, oriented to the needs of community -based arts organizations and lifelong learning in the arts. Page 1 Packet Pg. 109 7.1. The City should assist in the formation of an Arts and Business Leadership Council. The Arts Commission will work with staff and the community to address the above recommendations by the end of the 2017 calendar year. Several of the recommendations can be completed in that time frame, but projects such as the arts center and the amphitheater will require a multi -year approach and will not be completed by the end of 2017. The Work Plan also includes the Public Art Planning and Selection Proposal (Recommendation 1.1) for review and approval by the City Council, as the Arts Commission determined this item as the highest priority during the development of the Work Plan. ALTERNATIVE ACTION Alternative action as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT No direct fiscal impact. ATTACHMENTS 2016-17 Work Plan Document Public Art Planning and Selection Process Page 2 Packet Pg. 110 14.a The City of Santa Clarita Arts Commission 2016-17 Work Plan Draft — September 27, 2016 Packet Pg. 111 14.a 2016-17 Work Plan INTRODUCTION The City of Santa Clarita Arts Master Plan (Plan) was adopted by the City Council in March 2016. Since adoption, the Arts Commission held several meetings to prioritize the 41 recommendations in the Plan, with the goal to develop their first Annual Work Plan. During the priority setting process, five of the recommendations were identified as 2016-17 goals, and five were identified as 2018 goals. The five recommendations identified as the top priorities for 2016-17 are as follows: Plan Recommendation 1.1- The City should implement a public art planning and selection process that utilizes peer review and community input to ensure that public art pieces meet the goals of providing enjoyable and attractive public spaces that reflect the character of the community. 2. Plan Recommendation 1.3 - The City should enact a percent -for -art requirement for all new public capital improvement projects. 3. Plan Recommendation 5.1 - Develop a plan for an outdoor amphitheater in a park, addressing its optimal focus, location, size, and operating structure. 4. Plan Recommendation 5.3 - Explore future development of a community arts center, oriented to the needs of community -based arts organizations and lifelong learning in the arts. 5. Plan Recommendation 7.1-The City should assist in the formation of an Arts and Business Leadership Council. The Arts Commission will work with staff and the community to address the above recommendations by the end of the 2017 calendar year. Several of the recommendations can be completed in that timeframe, but projects such as the arts center and the amphitheater will require a multi -year approach and will not be completed by the end of 2017. This work plan achieves one of the recommendations of the Arts Master Plan: Plan Recommendation 4.2 - The Arts Commission should develop an annual arts work plan as a part of the annual goal -setting process, and submit that plan to the City Council for approval. Packet Pg. 112 14.a The Arts Commission will continue to complete an annual work plan that will be shared with the City Council for their review. The future work plans will include goals that have been accomplished, detailed status updates on prioritized projects, and will identify the priorities for the following year. 2016-17 PRIORITIES 1. Plan Recommendation 1.1- The City should implement a public art planning and selection process that utilizes peer review and community input to ensure that public art pieces meet the goals of providing enjoyable and attractive public spaces that reflect the character of the community. The Arts Commission identified this recommendation as their top priority, as it is essential to relaunch the public art program to have a planning and selection process that is clear and comprehensive. Because this is such a crucial step in moving forward with public art projects, the Commission developed the Public Art Planning and Selection Process proposal, which is attached to this work plan for review and adoption by the City Council. 2. Plan Recommendation 1.3 - The City should enact a percent -for -art requirement for all new public capital improvement projects. The Arts Master Plan identified creating a percent -for -art program as a crucial way to expand the scope of the public art program in the community. The Arts Commission will work with staff to develop the ordinance required to create the program, and will bring their proposal to the City Council in the summer of 2017. 3. Plan Recommendation 5.1 - Develop a plan for an outdoor amphitheater in a park, addressing its optimal focus, location, size, and operating structure. The Arts Commission will work with staff to research successful amphitheaters, as well as begin to identify potential sites. This information will be needed to guide the creation of a feasibility study, which is the crucial next step in moving forward with the development of an amphitheater in Santa Clarita. The Commission realizes that the Santa Clarita 2020 Plan has already identified numerous capital projects for the next four years, and is recommending investment in a feasibility study to gauge the potential costs, both for the construction and the operations of the amphitheater, to better gauge when the amphitheater project would be practical to pursue. The Arts Commission, therefore, is requesting that the City Council consider a one-time budget request of $50,000 for the 2017-18 Fiscal Year to fund a feasibility study. Packet Pg. 113 14.a 4. Plan Recommendation 5.3 - Explore future development of a community arts center, oriented to the needs of community -based arts organizations and lifelong learning in the arts. The Arts Commission created a subcommittee to work with the arts community on this item. A crucial first step is to identify the needs and potential uses of an arts center, so that potential locations can be identified. The subcommittee will be holding meetings in the fall and winter of 2016-17 to gather information from the community, which will then be developed into a proposal that will also identify potential art center sites and describe the operations and management options for the center. The Community Arts Center Proposal is anticipated to be completed by the fall of 2017. 5. Plan Recommendation 7.1- The City should assist in the formation of an Arts and Business Leadership Council. One of the themes of the Arts Master Plan is to Strengthen Cultural Support Systems, and a key way to achieve this goal is to develop a bridge between the arts and business communities. The Arts Commission will work with the Economic Development Division and other business organizations to develop a committee that will serve as a bridge between these two sectors. The Arts and Business Leadership Council, once it is formed, will be comprised of key stakeholders in the community who will work to highlight Santa Clarita's thriving creative economy, as well as develop the organizational strength of local arts organizations. The formation of the Leadership Council will begin in early 2017. 2018 PRIORITIES The Arts Commission, through their priority setting process, also identified their projected priorities for 2018. The Arts Commission will begin discussions about these recommendations in 2017, so they will be prepared to address them in 2018. The Arts Commission will present their second annual work plan in the fall of 2017, which will describe these priorities in more detail. The five recommendations identified as the top priorities for 2018 are as follows: 1. Plan Recommendation 2.2 - Begin exploration of a museum in Old Town Newhall. 2. Plan Recommendation 2.4 — Begin development of a creative live/work facility in Old Town Newhall in partnership with private and/or nonprofit developers. 3. Plan Recommendation 3.1- Convene a citywide arts education collaborative to assess arts education needs in the schools and identify joint strategies, building on the College of the Canyon's K-12 Consortium. Participants can include the City, school districts, 4 Packet Pg. 114 14.a College of the Canyons, COC's K-12 Consortium, CalArts, Masters College, arts educators, arts organizations, and the SCV Education Foundation. 4. Plan Recommendation 6.4 - Explore development of a leadership training and placement program for business people and other community leaders to serve on boards of directors of arts and cultural organizations; this can perhaps be best accomplished through a partnership with an existing leadership organization in the County (estimated cost $10,000 annually). 5. Plan Recommendation 9.1 - Develop a comprehensive, communitywide arts and cultural marketing program, in consultation with and building on the existing arts marketing resources in the community ($25,000 annual marketing costs plus potential half-time staff or contract program). COMPLETED AND IN PROGRESS RECOMMENDATIONS The Arts Commission has completed two of the 41 recommendations in the Arts Master Plan during the months since the plan was adopted. They are as follows: • Plan Recommendation 10.1- Create a Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee of the Arts Commission to promote relevant programming, awareness, and opportunities. [Completed March 10, 2016] Plan Recommendation 4.2 - The Arts Commission should develop an annual arts work plan as a part of the annual goal -setting process, and submit that plan to the City Council for approval. [Completed September 27, 2016] The Arts Commission, staff, and the community are also working on several of the other recommendations in the Arts Master Plan. These include the following: Plan Recommendation 1.4 - The City should explore extension of the percent -for -art requirement to new private development including commercial, industrial and multi -unit residential projects. During the research phase of the civic percent -for -art program, the Commission and staff will also research how the program can be expanded to private development in the future. Plan Recommendation 1.5 - The City should consider issuing a Request for Qualifications for an "on call" artist to work with various City departments and the Arts Commission to suggest aesthetic enhancement for small-scale public improvements. Packet Pg. 115 14.a The "on call" artist is identified as a key player in the Public Art Planning and Selection process, and a Request for Qualifications will be issued once the process has been reviewed by the City Council. • Plan Recommendation 5.5 - Include one or more cultural spaces and uses in the planned Saugus Library. The Saugus Library is currently in the planning process and discussions are being held on how best to include cultural spaces in the project. • Plan Recommendation 6.1 - Increase the total Arts Grants budget (incremental increases to a benchmark of $144,000 or approximately 9% of total annual arts organization revenues). City Council approved a budget increase of $30,000, to a total of $90,000, for the 2016-17 Fiscal Year. • Plan Recommendation 6.2 - Create a new capacity building category of grants for arts and cultural organizations, including assistance for unincorporated and culturally specific groups (estimated cost $10,000 annually). With the additional $30,000 dollars being added to the Arts Grants program for Fiscal Year 2016-17, staff is developing a new funding category for organizational capacity building, which will be presented to the Grants Selection Committee in late summer of 2017. • Plan Recommendation 8.1 - Create periodic convening's for Santa Clarita's creative industries based on shared needs, beginning with a high profile conference or event. The SCV Alliance for the Arts held a meeting on June 1, 2016, which served as the first convening of the creative industries stakeholders. The group will be working towards producing a large creative economy convergence in the fall of 2017. • Plan Recommendation 10.3 - Increase culturally diverse programming produced or supported by the City, such as community festivals celebrating cultural diversity and/or a citywide multicultural festival. The City produced the Fiesta Mexicana at the Newhall Community Center on April 3, 2016, which was the first new cultural event for the community since the Arts Master Plan adoption. Packet Pg. 116 14.a CONCLUSION Once this Work Plan has been reviewed and approved by the City Council, the Arts Commission will create a Special Ad Hoc Committee, following the model described in the attached Public Art Planning and Selection Process proposal, to review all of the public art projects that were put on hold before the development of the Arts Master Plan. The Ad Hoc Committee will then make recommendations to the Arts Commission, and these recommendations will then be shared with the City Council. This review process is anticipated to take a few months, with a goal to have the committee make their recommendations to the Arts Commission in early 2017. The recently completed Arts Master Plan was intended to serve as a guiding document for the future of the arts and culture in Santa Clarita. This Work Plan is the first step in beginning to systematically address the recommendations in the Master Plan, with the goal to achieve as many recommendations as possible in the next ten years. The Arts Commission is very appreciative that the City Council funded and supported the Arts Master Plan, and looks forward to continuing to partner on the implementation of the plan to achieve the vision identified in the Master Plan: The City of Santa Clarita will be recognized as a "city of the arts," where the lives of residents, artists, and visitors are enriched through artistic and cultural experiences. Packet Pg. 117 14.b Public Art Planning and Selection Process INTRODUCTION During the development process for the Arts Commission's first Annual Work Plan, which is based on the recommendations from the recently adopted Arts Master Plan (Plan), the Commission identified the recommendation to implement a public art planning and selection process as their highest priority. This result is in part due to the public art process being a crucial factor in the City Council approving the funding for the development of the Master Plan and the goal of the Commission to relaunch the public art program for the community. The recommendation is as follows: • Plan Recommendation 1.1- The City should implement a public art planning and selection process that utilizes peer review and community input to ensure that public art pieces meet the goals of providing enjoyable and attractive public spaces that reflect the character of the community. PUBLIC ART PHASES The public art planning and selection process has seven phases, from the initial project identifications to the installation and promotion of the final art work. The seven phases are as follows: 1. Project Identification 2. Call for Artists Development 3. Finalists Selection 4. Artist / Concept Selection 5. Appeal Period 6. Art Fabrication / Installation 7. Art Work Promotion The initial five phases are intended to be addressed annually as part of the annual budget cycle, with the last two phases having various different timelines based on the scope and scale of the project. Generally, the first five phases would occur as follows each year: 1 Packet Pg. 118 14.b • Spring/Summer — Phase 1, Project Identification • Fall/Winter — Phase 2, Call for Artists Development • Winter/Spring— Phase 3, Finalists Selection • Spring — Phase 4, Artist / Concept Selection • Summer —Phase S, Appeal Period The ideal timing for each step of these phases is identified in the description below. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION (Phase 11 The first step of this phase is to identify the public art projects and allocate funding. Currently, projects are identified by City Management, who usually determine a location and a budget during the development of the annual budget. This identification process will change with the adoption of the proposed Percent -for -Art Ordinance. Once the projects have been identified, then the recently formed Arts Commission Public Art Ad Hoc Committee, in conjunction with staff and the on -call artist, will determine the themes, approaches, and final locations for the projects. This step will be completed in May and June of each year. The Arts Commission Public Art Ad Hoc Committee will share their recommendations about the identified projects with the full Arts Commission for approval. The Arts Commission will include the identified projects with recommendations for themes, approaches, and final locations in their Annual Work Plan. This step will be completed by July of each year. The final step for the first phase is to have City Council approve the Annual Work Plan. It is recommended that an Annual Study Session be held with the City Council and Arts Commission to discuss the Commission's Annual Work Plan, including the public art projects for the coming year. The Arts Commission would then present their Work Plan for City Council approval at a regular Council meeting. This step would take place in September and October of each year. CALL FOR ARTISTS DEVELOPMENT (Phase 2) The first step for phase two will be to form Artist Selection Committees for each public art project identified in the Arts Commission Work Plan. The Arts Commission Chair will create these Ad Hoc Committees, which will be comprised of the following members: • Arts Commissioner • Professional Public Artist or Art Expert • Professional Arts Administrator or Art Expert • Local Professional Artist • Community Member Packet Pg. 119 14.b The Artist Selection Committees will be formed in November of each year. Once they are appointed, the committees will meet with staff and the on call artist to refine the themes, approaches, locations, and budget allocations of the projects. This information will then be utilized to develop the Call for Artists, which is essentially a Request for Qualifications. The on - call artist will review each Call for Artists and offer his/her insight, which will then be shared with the Artist Selection Committee for final review. The Call for Artists will then be shared with the Arts Commission for approval. This step will take from December to February to complete. FINALIST SELECTION (Phase 3 Once the Arts Commission has approved the Call for Artists, each one will be released through Cafe, which is a website that is the national standard for connecting public artists with opportunities. The Call for Artists will also be promoted locally and regionally through various email lists and media outlets. This step will take place from December to February, concurrent with the approval of the Call for Artists, and generally the Calls are open for 30 days. The members of the Artist Selection Committees then individually rate the artists based on past work, letters of interest, and resumes, on the Cafe website. Cafe compiles the individual votes of the committee members and the top three to five artists are identified. The reason for this range is that it is recommended that larger projects have one or two additional artists develop their concepts, allowing for more options in the next steps. Once the finalists have been identified, staff will contact the artists and contract with them to develop their concepts. This step will be completed one week after the close of the Call for Artists, so will be from January to March of each year. ARTIST/CONCEPT SELECTION (Phase 4 The finalists are given approximately one month to develop their concepts for the project. The finalists will then present their concepts to the Artist Selection Committee. Ideally these presentations will be made in person, but if this is not feasible, then it can be done by Skype or on a conference call. The Artist Selection Committee chooses the artist/concept they would like to recommend to the Arts Commission. If the Artist Selection Committee does not feel that any of the finalists meet the requirements of the Call for Artists, than the process begins again, starting at the second phase, with a review of the Call for Artists to make sure that the document was clear in defining the expectations of the project. The Artist Selection Committee presents their recommended artist/concept to the Arts Commission for approval. If the Arts Commission does not approve the recommended Packet Pg. 120 14.b artist/concept, than the process begins again at Phase 2, with a review of the Call for Artists and the opportunity to change the members of the Artist Selection Committee for that project. The final step of this phase is for a memo to be drafted to the City Council to inform them of the approved artist/concept for each project. Each project will be presented in a separate memo. The presentations by the artists of their concepts, the selection of the artists/concepts by the Artist Selection Committees, and the approval of those artists/concepts by the Arts Commission will take place from March to June of each year. APPEAL PERIOD (Phase 5) A thirty day appeal period will begin once the Arts Commission approves an artist/concept. The appeal can be made by a City Council member or a member of the community. If a project is appealed by a City Council member, no fee will be charged. If a public art project is appealed by a community member there will be a fee charged of $750. This fee is to cover the staff time required to prepare the appeal. If a project is appealed by a City Council member or the community the project will be added to the next available City Council meeting agenda. The agenda report will include all of the background information required for the Council to make their determination. The Arts Commission Chair, or designee, will present to the Council all of the details on the selection process and reasons for why the artist/concept was selected. If there is no appeal within the 30 day appeal period, then staff will execute the contract with the artist, and the fabrication of the art piece will commence. This phase will occur after the approval of the project by the Arts Commission, which means appeals could occur as early as March and as late as July of each year. ART FABRICATION/INSTALLATION (Phase 6) When the artist for each project is selected and a contract has been executed, then the artist will be paid two-thirds of the budgeted amount for the art work. This is done to assist the artist in purchasing the materials needed to create the art work. If the artist does not deliver their final art work, action will be taken to recoup the costs that had been paid. The artist has a pre -determined and agreed upon amount of time to complete the fabrication of the art work. This can vary greatly due to the nature of the piece, the size and scale needed, and the location the art work will be installed in. Several public art projects are part of Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), which will require flexibility and communication between the public art team and the CIP team. During the fabrication stage, the artist will keep staff up to date on their progress, and staff will give updates to the Artist Selection Committee and the Arts Commission. 4 Packet Pg. 121 14.b The artist will work with staff to install their completed art work once it has been completed. Often the installation step involves input from staff of various divisions within the City of Santa Clarita, including Building and Safety, Capital Improvement Projects, Traffic, Parks, and Special Districts. Once the art work is installed, the artist will receive their final payment. This phase can take from a month to much longer depending on the project. Ideally, most of the projects will be completed within four to six months, but the timeline for this phase has to remain flexible. ART WORK PROMOTION (Phase 7) When an installation date has been determined between the artist and staff, the Communications Division will be contacted to promote the art work and dedication ceremony through the following methods: • Press Releases • Media Invitations to Cover the Ceremony • eNewsletters • Websites • Social Media • Short Video Pieces The Dedication Ceremony should be held as soon after the installation of the piece as possible, and should be held on the weekend to increase attendance. Invitations for the ceremony will go to City leadership, the Artist Selection Committee, the artist, and the public. Finally, the art work will be added to various websites for information and promotional purposes. These sites will include the City of Santa Clarita site, SantaClaritaArts.com, which is a new site that highlights arts and culture in Santa Clarita, and the Public Art Archive, which is the national registry for public art projects. Much like the phase above, the timing of this phase will vary greatly depending on the timeline of the public art project. CONCLUSION The Arts Commission is pleased to present the public art program to the community, and with the approval of this planning and selection process, any new projects will be able to go through a clear and consistent process. It is crucial to emphasis that at various stages in the process, at the Artists Selection Committee level, the Arts Commission level, or the City Council level, if appealed, any artist/concept can be rejected and the process can begin again. This is important to remember as the goal of the public art program is to expose the community to high quality art that will engage them and hopefully encourage appreciation for the role art can play in place -making and community identity. Packet Pg. 122