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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.1 Dublin Transit Ctr Public Art Project 3 G~ n 82 AGENDA STATEMENT HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION >ro MEETING DATE: July 9, 2009 SUBJECT: Dublin Transit Center Public Art Project Report by John Hartnett, Heritage & Cultural Arts Manager ATTACHMENTS: 1) Correspondence (with attachments) from Project Consultant Chandra Cerrito. RECOMMENDATION: Recommend approval of artist Cliff Garten to the City Council. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: $250,000 is available in the City's Public Art Fund from the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority for public art at the Dublin Transit Center. DESCRIPTION: In May 2003, the Alameda County Surplus Property Authority (ACSPA) entered into a Development Agreement with the City of Dublin for the Dublin Transit Center Project. As part of the agreement, the Developer agreed to contribute Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($ 250,000.00) for construction of public art which has since been deposited into the City's Public Art Fund. The focused area for the artwork was to include the Village Green and the BART plaza. In Fiscal Year 2004-2005,the City Council rated as a high priority goal: work with the developer to locate significant works of art in two key places of the Dublin Transit Center, the Village Green (now called Campbell Green) and the Iron Horse Plaza. In January 2005, the City Council considered art proposals for the first phase of the project, and decided to defer the process to a later date, when 25% occupancy of site B had been accomplished. The 25% occupancy goal was reached in Fiscal Year 2008-2009 and a new artist selection process commenced with the formation of a new Art Selection Committee and the hiring of Art Consultant, Chandra Cerrito in August, 2008 to coordinate the process of selecting an artist or artist teams to commission public art in the two identified locations. In December 2008, the Consultant and Staff met with the Art Selection Committee to discuss details associated with the Transit Center site, types of artwork that might be appropriate, possible artwork themes, and scheduling and budget issues related to the project. Based on the Committee feedback, a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was created to recruit artists throughout California. In order to best reach a wide range of artists throughout the State, the Consultant recommended using the new CAFE Artist Recruitment service which is being used by numerous agencies in California to facilitate and COPIES TO: ITEM NO.: 8.1 GAHERITAGE COMMISSION\AGENDA STMTS\2009\7-9 Transit Center Public Art.doc x coordinate the process of obtaining qualified artists based on project requirements. The RFQ was posted on the Cafe System in March 2009 with 112 artists applying for the Transit Center Public Art Project by the deadline of May 1, 2009. The Consultant and Staff selected the 20 most qualified and appropriate candidates and the Art Selection Committee then reviewed and rated all 20 artists. From the list, five finalists were selected for interviews with the Committee, which took place on June 2"a and 9t'. The Committee met again on June 20' to discuss the Transit Center Project, artwork locations, information and perceptions gleaned from the artists' interviews and what the recommendation should be to the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission and City Council. The Art Selection Committee unanimously agreed that it would be beneficial to hire one artist to create works for the two sites at the Dublin Transit Center. This decision was based on four primary factors: 1) having one artist would enable a cohesiveness and dialogue between the artworks on the two sites; 2) it would be more cost effective for one artist to create and fabricate both artworks; 3) it would allow for flexibility in allocating portions of the overall budget to each site; and 4) working with one artist would be more efficient for the City and the Art Selection Committee than working with two artists. After much discussion, the Art Selection Committee recommends artist Cliff Garten for the project. Mr. Garten received his Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island and his Master of Landscape Architecture with distinction from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Garten is founder of Cliff Garten Studio in Venice, California. His practice integrates architecture, landscape and engineering as a means of positioning his sculpture in the public realm. His studio pursues public infrastructure as something that can perform in engaging and expressive ways, providing for our basic needs as well as elevating itself to the status of sculpture. By connecting people to places and infrastructure through social history, ecology and material, Mr. Garten's work locates the latent potential in every public place and situation to become more than the specific functions it appears to perform. Sculpture and landscape, function and form, like public and private experiences are never distinct, but exchange places throughout the day. Cliff Garten is the recipient of two Individual Artist Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bush Foundation Fellowship for Individual Artists, the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship and the Jerome Foundation Travelling Artist Grant. The American Society of Landscape Architects has cited many of his works for design excellence. He has served as a visiting critic at Harvard Graduate School, UCLA School of Architecture, Otis Art Institute and the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Mr. Garten lives and works in Los Angeles, where he continues his studio work. Some of his numerous public art project installations include artwork at: • Moffet Towers in Sunnyvale • California, Avenue of Light in Ft. Worth, Texas • Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco • Central Phoenix/East Valley Light Rail Transit in Phoenix, Arizona • Euclid Corridor Transportation Project in Cleveland, Ohio • Walnut Creek Veterans Memorial, Walnut Creek, California • San Jose Public Library-Tully Road Branch in San Jose, California • Main Street Light Rail, 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. If Cliff Garten is the selected artist for the Transit Center Project, and upon City Council approval, the City will then enter into a contract with the artist to provide designs for both site locations at a cost of 2 of 3 $10,000. Once the designs are complete, they will be presented to the Commission and City Council for final approval, at which time the artist will then enter into a contract for fabrication and installation of the artworks. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission receive the presentation from Consultant Chandra Cerrito. Following the presentation, it is recommended that the Commission recommend approval of artist Cliff Garten to the City Council. 3 of 3