TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Mark Leyman, Parks and Recreation Director
Eilen Stewart, Acting Cultural Arts Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Selection and Approval of Artist for the City Hall Lobby Public Art Project and Disbursement of Funds from the Public Art Trust Fund (Parks and Recreation Director Mark Leyman).
a) APPROVE
b) AUTHORIZE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE CONTRACT
c) DISBURSE FUNDS
Line
_________________________________________________________
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council: a) select the artist for the City Hall Lobby Public Art Project; b) authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with the selected artist for an amount not to exceed $301,500; and c) disburse required funds from the Public Art Trust Fund.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
At the November 6, 2018, meeting, City Council approved the City Hall Lobby Public Art Project. The project is supported through the Public Arts Trust Fund with $250,000 allocated to produce, fabricate and install the artwork. A contingency fund of $50,000 has also been allocated for unforeseen conditions and/or changes. An additional $1,500 will be allocated and awarded if the chosen artist incorporates an educational component to the project. The total cost of the project is not to exceed $301,500.
It should be noted, the Public Arts Trust Fund balance is currently $2,106,074, with $1,346,822 of unallocated funds.
BACKGROUND:
In 1975, Manhattan Beach’s Sister City, Culiacan, in the State of Sinaloa, Mexico presented to the City, a mural by artist Miguel Angel Vasquez as part of the dedication of the new City Hall. The artwork titled “The Men of the World Join Together to Create the New Man,” installed in the City Hall lobby, was made up of lacquers and epoxy on 16 plywood panels. In 2003, the mural was covered with a temporary wall and drape system due to public complaints regarding the imagery. In November of 2018, after decommissioning, the mural was removed from the lobby and placed into storage. The family of the artist was contacted for possible transfer of the mural back to Mexico.
On September 19, 2018, City Council directed staff to follow procedures defined in the Cultural Arts Master Plan and requested the Cultural Arts Commission establish an Ad-Hoc Arts in Public Places Committee (APPC). The APPC was charged with developing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), reviewing proposals and selecting top candidates to present to the Cultural Arts Commission. After the APPC’s final review, the Cultural Arts Commission recommended the top four finalists (with two alternates) to the City Council.
In addition to the RFQ, the City Council approved the decommissioning of the Miguel Angel Vasquez mural while following State and Federal guidelines regarding the decommissioning of art. Though not required by the guidelines, due to the installation date of the artwork, the artist’s heirs were notified of the City’s intent to decommission the mural. They requested comprehensive photographic documentation and are investigating the possibility of taking possession of the artwork.
On August 13, 2018, the APPC approved the final version of the RFQ for the Lobby Public Art Project, which was approved by the Cultural Arts Commission for recommendation to the City Council for approval and funding at their August 20, 2018, meeting. At the November 6, 2018, meeting of the City Council, $317,000 was approved for the project. The APPC reviewed more than 90 RFQ submissions and recommended four semifinalists to the Cultural Arts Commission for approval. At their April 15, 2019, meeting, the Cultural Arts Commission approved the four semifinalists for recommendation to the City Council.
Four artists and two alternates were chosen from the initial 100 RFQ submissions to develop a specific proposal for an artwork in the lobby of City Hall. The City Council selected the top two artists at the June 18, 2019, Council meeting.
DISCUSSION:
The finalists selected were Hou de Sousa and Monika Bravo.
Artist Overview:
Hou de Sousa
Hou de Sousa is a New York based design studio whose projects span between architecture and public art. Some of the studio’s recent honors include the winning proposal for the Architectural League of New York’s 2016 Folly/Function competition to design and build an open-air educational space at Socrates Sculpture Park. That same year, the office won the Re-ball! International Design competition, and built an installation titled “Raise/Raze” within Dupont Underground in Washington DC. Hou de Sousa was awarded Second Prize for their first large-scale competition proposal in 2017; the Museum of World Writing in Songdo, South Korea.
Prior to founding Hou de Sousa, Nancy Hou worked at Kohn Pedersen Fox and Slade Architecture. Hou is the Creative Director of HAAUS (Harvard Alumni Architectural and Urban Society) and a professor at Parsons School of Design.
Hou de Sousa has been featured as a “Firm to Watch” in Architectural Record and has been published domestically and internationally in media outlets such as Architectural Review, Domus, Dwell, Interior Design, Metropolis, NBC, and The Washington Post.
Monika Bravo
Monika Bravo is a multi-disciplinary artist born in Bogotá, Colombia, who lives and works in New York City, New York. Her work has been internationally exhibited, including at Stenersen Museum in Oslo; Seoul's International Biennial of New Media Art; Bank of the Republic in Bogotá; New Museum and El Museo del Barrio in New York City and Site Santa Fe. Her work has received acclaim including a 1999 New York Times review, which called her piece “Synchronicity” (from a group exhibition at El Museo del Barrio) a "standout...small, beautifully blurry video images of boats plowing through New York Harbor.” In 1982, Bravo left Bogotá, moving to Rome to study fashion design, which she continued in Paris at Esmod, before traveling to London to study photography. In 1994 she moved to New York where she is currently still based.
In 2010, Bravo was one of four winning artists in New York City's "urban canvas" design competition with her work "Breathing Wall UC."
Most recently, Bravo represented the Vatican City in the Pavilion of the Holy See at the 56th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennial with her work "ARCHE-TYPES: The sound of the word is beyond sense." With this new work, she continues with her interest in coding and decoding information, the interest in the language of abstraction and an ongoing pursuit to decipher reality by means of perception. She created a parallel between the prologue of the Gospel of John, “In the Beginning,” Malevich’s ideas behind Suprematism, and the definition of Zaum by the avant garde Poet Aleksei Kruchenykh.
Commission and APPC Recommendations:
The Cultural Arts Commission strongly favored Hou de Sousa’s design and the APPC was split with several members strongly favoring Hou de Sousa, while others favored Monika Bravo.
Several members of the APPC strongly favored Monika Bravo’s vibrant interpretation of a vertical garden that integrates images of people, places, flora, and fauna of Manhattan Beach and the South Bay. Suggestions were made to reach out to the public to collect important images of Manhattan Beach to incorporate in this design. Proponents of this design loved the immersive feel of colorful mosaic and Monika Bravo’s standing as an independent artist. Concerns brought up included that the design may feel overpowering in a small stairwell and that the design only addressed one wall and not the entire lobby. The artist was given an opportunity to address these concerns and submitted a revised proposal with additional options. Additional tile panels proposed by the artist in the revised proposal, may require increased funds.
Some members of the APPC and the CAC favored the Hou de Sousa design for its simple elegance, integration into the newly adopted City Branding, and a holistic overhaul of the City Hall lobbies. They felt the design would lend a clean and calm aesthetic to City Hall and could be continued throughout other areas when time for renovation came. They enjoyed the simple elegance of abstracted shapes alongside colorful edges. A concern was voiced that this design does not relate to Manhattan Beach and that renovations to the ceiling and reception desk pictured in the proposal were not included in the final cost. The artist was given an opportunity to respond to these concerns and provided an amended proposal with an additional quote for renovation of the additional space as well as incorporating images of Manhattan Beach and the City Logo into the design. It was also mentioned that the ceiling/reception renovations could be done in house for cost savings.
Considerations and Challenges:
• Shipping constraints/delays/challenges from abroad
• Future repairs/replacement of elements if damage occurs
• Artwork integration with other City Lobby elements such as furniture, signage, color palette, other artwork placement
• Artwork feel and impact on City Hall visitors
• Additional costs for some of the proposed options
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
The RFQ was developed by the APPC, consisting of community members and arts professionals. It was presented and approved for recommendation to the City Council at a public meeting of the Cultural Arts Commission on August 20, 2018. The APPC selected the four semifinalists at the April 10, 2019, meeting. The Cultural Arts Commission approved to recommend the semifinalists to the City Council for consideration at the April 15, 2019, meeting. Public input was considered at both meetings. The RFQ was published with the Americans for Arts, Public Art.org, California Arts Council, Sculpture Magazine, CODA/WORX, Los Angeles County Commission of the Arts, Artist List for Manhattan Beach Centennial Art work competition, and the Public Art Coalition of Southern California. The RFQ was available for review and download on the City website.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and approved the Artist Agreement as to legal form.
ATTACHMENT:
1. Power Point Presentation