HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-11-22 - AGENDA REPORTS - PUBLIC ART PLANNING SELECT UPDATEAgenda Item: 14
1. CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: A,1 A11�44-1)
DATE: November 22, 2022
SUBJECT: PUBLIC ART PLANNING AND SELECTION PROCESS UPDATE
DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
PRESENTER: Phil Lantis
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council approve updates to the Public Art Planning and Selection Process.
BACKGROUND
In 2016, the City Council approved the Arts Master Plan (Plan), which has become the Arts
Commission's guiding document to provide arts, entertainment, and cultural development
throughout the community. Since adoption, the Arts Commission has been working to address
the original 41 recommendations in the Plan and the additional 20 recommendations that were
added when the Plan was updated in 2021.
As recommended in the Plan, the City Council approved the Public Art Planning and Selection
Process (Process), described in Recommendation 1.1, in 2016. The Process has offered a
systematic approach for thoughtful planning to ensure meaningful community engagement.
The Arts Commission offered revisions, which were then approved by the City Council on
September 22, 2020.
Since the last update in 2020, the Arts Commission has identified additional efficiencies and
clarifications that are being proposed in order to enhance the Process. The proposed revisions are
attached, with changes indicated in yellow highlight, and summarized below:
Renaming "Call for Artists" to "Request for Qualifications (RFQ)" or "Request for
Proposals (RFP)" to better align with the City of Santa Clarita's purchasing norms
Creating a draft RFQ/RFP before the formation of the Artist Selection Committee with
potential locations, parameters, mediums, or other key recommendations
Incorporating additional opportunity for the Public Art Consultant to review and provide
input before rating commences
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Reducing City Council review times from 30 days to 15 days to provide for faster project
delivery
Establishing a screening process that allows the Public Art Consultant and member of the
Arts Commission to eliminate ineligible applications, prior to rating
Implementing a survey to be taken by the members of the Artist Selection Committee at
the end of each project, as a means to solicit feedback on ways to improve the Process.
The proposed updates maintain that, at various stages of the Artist Selection Committee level,
the Arts Commission level, or the City Council level, any artist/projectproposal can be rejected
and the process can begin again. With the approval of the attached Public Art Planning and
Selection Process, new projects will be able to go through a clearer and consistent process.
At their Study Session held on May 26, 2022, the Arts Commission reviewed the revised
language and recommended that the City Council approve the updated Process.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Alternative action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this item.
ATTACHMENTS
Public Art Planning and Selection Process 2022 - Changes Highlighted
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Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Public Art Phases 3
1. Project Identification 4
2. Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposals Development 4
3. Ju ryin g 5
4. Proposed Project Selection 5
5. Appeal Period 6
6. Fabrication / Installation 6
7. Promotion 7
Conclusion 7
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INTRODUCTION
In fall 2016, the City of Santa Clarita City Council approved the Arts Master Plan, which has
become the Arts Commission's guiding document to provide arts, entertainment, and cultural
development throughout the community. Since adoption, the Arts Commission prioritized the
development of a public art program as one of the highest priorities expressed by the community
and key stakeholders.
As recommended in the Arts Master Plan, the City Council approved the Public Art Planning and
Selection Process (Recommendation 1.1), which has offered a systematic approach for
thoughtful planning to ensure meaningful community engagement. 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.
The Public Art Planning and Selection Process has seven phases, from the initial project
identifications to the installation and promotion of the final public art -work. The seven phases
are as follows:
1. Project Identification
2. Request for Qualifications/Request for Proposals Development
3. Jurying
4. Proposed Project Selection
5. Appeal Period
6. Fabrication / Installation
7. 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
proj ect.
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Phase 1: PROJECT IDENTIFICATION
Identification of public artprojects are determined through the allocated funding streams, below:
• Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) are determined through the eligibility from the Civic
Art Policy
• Temporary Public Art is a set budget item
• Other projects as determined through funding availability
For identified projects through Civic Art funding, every effort will be made to include planning
for the Public Art as early as possible, preferably prior to/in conjunction with architectural
design. The earlier the Public Art consultant, in particular, can be apprised of the project
parameters and goals, the more effectively they can recommend approaches, and contribute to
proposing locations, medium, etc. for the art project. The following will meet to identify
parameters, goals, etc. for the public art projects for each CIP project. The Public Art Consultant
will provide a summary of findings with examples of relevant public art projects to share with
staff and the Public Art Committee.
• Arts Commission Public Art Committee
• Arts division staff
• CIP consultants
• Engineering division staff
• Public Art Consultant
The Arts Commission will include the identified public art projects with recommendations,
approach, and proposed locations in the annual Public Art Report. City staff and the Public Art
Consultant will review recommendations, approach, and proposed locations with departments
associated with the project. The final step for the first phase is to have City Council review the
annual Work Plan and Public Art Report during the annual joint Study Session.
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Phase 2: REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS/REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
DEVELOPMENT
During phase two, the Arts Commission Public Art Committee, Public Art Consultant and City
staff will create recommendations for a public art piece, including potential locations,
parameters, medium(s) or other key recommendations based on the following:
• Full review of the design, concept, and construction of the project
• Role of public art as it relates to the design, budget, and goals of the project
• Input from project managers, architects, and key stakeholders for the project
These recommendations will be utilized to create a draft Request for Qualifications
(RFQ)/Request for Proposals (RFP). The RFQ/RFP will address the goals and nature of the
project, potential themes, budget allocation, location, approach, potential community
engagement plan, and written to appeal to the artist who would best meet those needs (medium,
experience, local, regional or national, style and process). The RFQ/RFP will address potential
application questions and a specific list of application requirements. These draft documents will
be shared with the Public Art Consultant for review.
An Artist Selection Committee (Committee) will be formed for each public art project identified
in the Arts Commission Public Art Report. The Arts Commission Chair will approve the
Committee, 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 or Representative of key stakeholder group
Once the Committee members are appointed, the Committee will meet with staff, the Public Art
Consultant, and a member of the Arts Commission Public Art Committee to receive an overview
of the project, a description of the artist selection process, and to review the draft RFQ/RFP.
After the Committee provides input, the documents will be updated and shared with the Public
Art Consultant for review, and then shared with the Committee for final review. The RFQ/RFP
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will be placed on the next Arts Commission agenda for approval. If approved, the Arts
Commission will ask for staff to draft a memo to be sent to City Council for review.
Phase 3: JURYING
Once the memo to City Council has been reviewed for 15 days, the RFQ/RFP will be released
through a website for entry submissions and online jurying. The RFQ/RFP will also be promoted
locally and regionally through various email lists and media outlets. The RFQ/RFP will be open
for 30 days unless specified by the Committee.
The Public Art Consultant, the Public Art Committee and City staff will review the number of
submittals to determine if there are a sufficient number of candidates, or if the deadline should be
extended. If the number of submittals is determined to be an unreasonable amount, then the
applications will be reviewed by the Public Art Consultant and a member of the Arts
Commission Public Art Committee or a member of the Artist Selection Committee to go through
a process to eliminate ineligible applications based on the RFQ/RFP.
The Committee will individually rate the submitted artists based on past work, application
questions, and application requirements. The website will compile the individual votes of the
Committee members and identify the top potential semi-finalists. The Committee will then
identify the top three to five semi-finalists to develop a project proposal. The reason for this
range is that it is recommended for larger projects to have additional artists develop a project
proposal, to allow for more options in the next steps.
Once the semi-finalists have been identified, staff will contact the semi-finalists and contract
with them to provide a Community Engagement Plan and/or develop their project proposal. This
will depend on the requirements stated in the RFQ/RFP.
Phase 4: PROPOSED PROJECT SELECTION
Semi-finalists will be given 30 calendar days to develop and submit a project proposal, including
but not limited to; project description, site specific requests, materials, proposed budgets,
detailed concept drawings and exhibits, and a maintenance and conservation plan. The semi-
finalists will present their project proposal to the Committee, staff, Public Art Committee
member, and Public Art Consultant. These presentations will be made by video conference.
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By consensus, the Committee will select the project proposal to be recommended to the Arts
Commission. The Committee may jointly give revisions to the semi-finalists to refine and revise
the proposal for either a second -round interview or final project proposal.
If the Committee does not reach consensus regarding the semi-finalists they may revisit phase
three or begin again, at phase two. Revisiting phase three, the Committee could pull the next
highest rated submissions to interview. Beginning at phase two, the Committee would review the
RFQ/RFP to determine the clarity and define the expectations of the project.
The Arts Commissioner on the Committee presents the recommended project proposal to the
Arts Commission for approval. If the Arts Commission does not approve the recommended
project proposal, then the process begins again at phase two, with a review of the RFQ/RFP and
the opportunity to change the members of the Committee for that project.
The final step of this phase is for a memo to be drafted to City Council to inform them of the
approved project proposal.
After each project a survey will be shared with the Committee to provide feedback on the
selection process and for any recommendations or comments based on their experience. The
survey should be created by staff, the Public Art Consultant, and at least one member of the Arts
Commission Public Art Committee.
Phase 5: APPEAL PERIOD
A 15-day appeal period will begin once the City Council receives the memo for review of the
approved project proposal. The appeal can be made by a City Council member or a member of
the community. If a project proposal is appealed by a City Council member, no fee will be
charged. If a project proposal is appealed by a community member there will be a fee charged to
the community member of $750. This fee is to cover the staff time required to prepare the
appeal.
If a project proposal 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 City Council to make their determination. A City
staff will present to the City Council all of the details on the selection process and reasons for
why the project proposal was selected. If there is no appeal within the 15-day appeal period,
then staff will execute the contract with the artist.
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Phase 6: FABRICATIONANSTALLATION
When the artist for each project is selected and a contract has been executed, then the artist will
be paid dependent of the terms of the contract. 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 public art piece,
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 public art piece. This can vary greatly due to the nature of the piece, the size and scale
needed, and the location the public art piece will be installed in. Several public art projects are
part of CIP's, which will require flexibility and communication between the Arts and Events
division staff and the Engineering division staff. During the fabrication stage, the artist will keep
staff up to date on their progress, and staff will give updates to the Committee and the Arts
Commission.
The artist will work with staff to install their completed public art piece once it has been
fabricated. 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 public art piece is installed, the artist will receive their
final payment.
Phase 7: PROMOTION
When an installation date has been determined between the artist and staff, the Communications
division will be contacted to promote the public art piece and dedication ceremony.
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 Committee, the artist, and the public.
Finally, public art piece will be added to various websites for information and promotional
purposes. These sites will include the SantaClaritaArts.com 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 and its maintenance plan.
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CONCLUSION
During the development of the public art program the Arts Commission found it prudent to
refine the Public Art Planning and Selection Process to best reflect the ongoing public art
program.
The Arts Commission is pleased to present the public art program to continue to enliven the
community. With the approval of this Public Art Planning and Selection Process, new projects
will be able to go through a clear and consistent process. It is crucial to emphasize that at
various stages in the process, at the Committee level, the Arts Commission level, or the City
Council level, if appealed, any project proposal 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 public art pieces that will engage and hopefully encourage appreciation for the
role public art can play in place -making and community identity.
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