DATE: December 15, 2015
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Library and Community Services
SUBJECT: Authorization for the City Manager to Execute Professional Services
Agreements with Lordy Rodriguez, Rob Ley, Kana Tanaka, and We Are Matik for Structural Art Installations in the 21st Century Library
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council adopts the attached resolution (Attachment I) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute professional services agreements with Lordy Rodriguez, Rob Ley, Kana Tanaka, and We Are Matik to design and implement structural art installations in the 21st Century Library facility.
SUMMARY
This report provides an overview of the overall art program for the 21st Century Library and Heritage Plaza construction project; and seeks Council authorization to implement four structural art installations to be engineered and integrated into the building structure during the project’s construction phase.
BACKGROUND
On May 26, 2015, Council approved the plans and specifications for the 21st Century Library and Heritage Plaza <https://www.hayward-ca.gov/CITY-GOVERNMENT/CITY-COUNCIL-MEETINGS/2015/CCA15PDF/cca052615full.pdf> and called for bids. The approved project plans include four structural art installations to be engineered and integrated into the building architecture during the project’s construction phase.
In addition to the aesthetic beauty of the building’s architectural design, the overall project plan also includes a robust program of locally produced fine artwork throughout the new building’s interior. As reported to Council in a memo dated May 22, 2015 <https://www.hayward-ca.gov/CITY-GOVERNMENT/CITY-COUNCIL-MEETINGS/rp/2015/cca052615-IRAPA01.pdf>, the overall art program places a strong emphasis on featuring the work of local artists, and is divided into four categories:
1. Large-to-small scale artworks. This category forms the largest portion of the overall art program. It includes paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures, assemblages, mosaics, mixed-media, and other large-to-small scale artworks to be placed in numerous opportunity locations throughout the building interior. The vast majority if not all of these artworks will be selected from among the existing and developing work of established and emerging local artists. A process for selecting art pieces in this category is in development and will be brought to Council for review and direction in March 2016. The selection process is expected to take place during the FF&E (Furnishings, Fixtures, and Equipment) phase of the project commencing in May 2016.
2. Community art galleries. This category forms the second largest portion of the overall program, and is potentially the most interesting and engaging of all the categories because it is intended to be continually refreshed with new local artwork. The new library building will feature two dedicated gallery spaces for curated exhibitions of local artwork. These gallery spaces are similar to the Galleria space in the first floor of City Hall. All of the artwork featured in these spaces will be the work of local artists. The responsibility for curating this collection will be entrusted to a community partner agency (for example Hayward Arts Council, or Sun Gallery, etc.) that will be selected through a competitive RFP process. A draft RFP for this category is in development and will be brought to Council for review and direction in March 2016.
3. Design and architectural art. This category includes artistic design features created by the project architects that will be installed by the contractor as part of the building construction. Examples of design and architectural art installations include: the multiform ceiling treatments in the children’s storytelling room; the living wall and sensory garden adjacent to the children’s library; the intricate text designs on the windows of the community meeting room overlooking Mission Boulevard; and the historic timeline and interpretive signage in the Heritage Plaza. Installations in this category require advance engineering and close integration with the construction of the building. All of the installations in this category were developed during the architectural design development process and included in the project plans.
4. Structural art installations. This category includes four structural art installations that will be engineered and integrated into the structure of the building itself. These installations are designed and fabricated by commissioned artists, and installed during the construction phase. Installations in this category require a high level of experience and expertise working with construction contractors and architects on the part of the artists. Examples of structural art installations include: an engineered three-dimensional hard surface artwork applied to the three-story interior concrete shear wall of the atrium; an engineered three-dimensional suspended installation affixed to the building structure from specific load-bearing points above the atrium; and an interactive multimedia installation in the second floor overlook to the technology area that integrates dynamic media content created and curated by local youth.
This report is focused on the four structural art installations, which form only a portion of the overall art program described above.
DISCUSSION
Because of the highly technical requirements of the structural art installations, they were selected through a formally structured Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and review process in conjunction with the construction design. To assist with this specialized form of RFQ and selection, and at the City’s request, the project architect Noll+Tam engaged the services of a well-known and respected professional consultant with expertise in this field. The consultant, Beth Jones Art Consultant, provided professional consulting services to assist with the technical details of developing and releasing the structural art RFQ, evaluation and review of submittals and artist qualifications.
1. Request for Qualifications
The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the four structural art installations was released on March 17, 2015. Ninety responses were received by the deadline of April 27, 2015.
To give the RFQ maximum exposure among qualified artists and arts organizations, and to ensure a strong number and quality of responses, the consultant issued the RFQ directly to over 200 agencies throughout California, Nevada, and Oregon including municipal and non-profit arts commissions, local and regional art organizations, and art departments and affiliated organizations in universities, community colleges, and other institutions of higher learning.
At the direction of staff, the consultant also personally contacted arts organizations in and near Hayward, and local government jurisdictions for referral to interested parties in those jurisdictions, to make sure that Hayward and Bay Area artists were given every opportunity to hear about and respond to the RFQ.
What follows is a list of organizations in Hayward and immediate area that were contacted directly by the consultant and provided information about the RFQ:
Local arts organizations:
• Hayward Arts Council
• Hayward Forum for the Arts/Sun Gallery
• Alameda County Arts Commission
Local university/college art departments:
• CSU East Bay
• Chabot Community College
• UC Berkeley
• Merritt College
• Peralta Community College
• Ohlone College
• Diablo Valley College
Local government jurisdictions:
• Alameda
• Berkeley
• Castro Valley
• Dublin
• Emeryville
• Fremont
• Livermore
• Oakland
• San Leandro
• Union City
The RFQ was also listed in the industry standard online platform for artists and arts commissions. The CaFÉ platform <https://www.callforentry.org/> is the largest call-for-entry platform issuing RFQs and other calls for artists used by the vast majority of major arts commissions and arts organizations in the western United States. Operated by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the CaFÉ platform is the primary platform used by thousands of professional artists seeking RFQs and calls for artists in the western states and nationally.
2. Review and selection process
As reported to Council on May 26, 2015, the 21st Century Library project design team formed a review committee to undertake the challenging task of reviewing all ninety responses to the RFQ. The review committee included: Stacey Bristow, Deputy Director of Development Services; Kevin Briggs; Senior Civil Engineer; Kelly McAdoo, Assistant City Manager; Sean Reinhart, Director of Library and Community Services; Beth Jones, art consultant; Linda Jolley, art consultant; Chris Noll, principal architect; and Abraham Jayson, senior architect with Noll+Tam Architects;
The review committee reviewed all ninety responses to the RFQ. The majority of the responses were from California artists; many responses were from Bay Area artists. Only one response was from a Hayward-based artist. This large pool was first narrowed down by qualifications to the forty-five artists who possessed successful experience in this kind of highly technical structural work. The design team conducted in-depth reviews and evaluations of each submittal in this “long list”, and narrowed it down to the three to four most highly qualified artists for each of the four structural installations. This “short list” of thirteen artists, including the one artist from Hayward, were invited to prepare concept proposals. Each of these thirteen received a modest stipend to offset their costs.
The thirteen finalists presented their concept proposals to the review committee on June 4, 2015. The review committee then identified the four strongest proposals to recommend to Council for implementation.
3. Recommended structural art installations
The following four structural art installations are recommended to Council based on several factors including: the overall quality of the proposals themselves; the expertise and experience of the artists with this kind of structural artwork; the quality of the artists’ past works on projects of this scale; the depth of the artists’ understanding of the 21st Century Library project and how these installations fit with it; the relevance and synergy of the proposals with Hayward; and the demonstrated technical capabilities of the artists to effectively execute and integrate their work with the construction of the building. The four recommended installations are briefly summarized in the following list. More details, including the full proposals and artist information, can be found in Attachment II to this report.
• Lordy Rodriguez. Hayward, California. “Fundamentals.” A custom long-form vinyl application extending around the three walls of the gift shop/book store. This work evokes and pays tribute to the imagery and patterns found in Hayward neighborhoods, while harmonizing with and enhancing the uniquely Hayward-centric retail experience in the new library gift shop.
• Rob Ley. Los Angeles, California. “Untitled.” An engineered three-dimensional hard surface installation applied to the three story interior concrete shear wall of the atrium. This work evokes multiple layers of meaning, color, and tactile experience; and explores the common ground between the historical qualities of pages and books, and emerging new modes of information moving to the future.
• Kana Tanaka. Berkeley, California. “Crystals.” A suspended three-dimensional glass installation in the atrium affixed to the building structure from multiple specified load-bearing points. This work takes inspiration from Hayward’s historic sea salt industry and the transformative power of solar energy in a new century - evoking the salt crystals that once dried in the sun in vast ponds on the Hayward shoreline, and illuminated by solar energy harnessed on the rooftop of the 21st Century Library.
• We Are Matik. Los Angeles, California. “Morphology.” An interactive, motion-activated, multimedia installation in the second floor overlook to the technology area that integrates dynamic media content curated by local youth. People are at the center of this interactive smart tech installation. The viewer is drawn into a participatory experience and direct interaction as they first approach or pass by the installation. As the viewer moves in proximity to the screen, the static visuals begin to shift and form into abstract tree rings in response, evoking the Heritage Plaza Arboretum. The interaction deepens as the rings morph into unique shapes and patterns where movement is sensed, encouraging the viewer to experiment with more movement and gestures. The rings open in response to specific gestures to present customized data and content (phrases, statistics, maps, images). The custom content will be curated by local youth in the new library’s Digital Media Center.
FISCAL IMPACT
The Council-approved budget for the 21st Century Library and Heritage Plaza project includes approximately $4.6 million for furnishings, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E), of which a total amount of $550,000 is designated for the overall art program. Of this amount, $275,000 is designated for the large-to-small scale artworks, and $275,000 is designated for the four structural art installations. The four structural art installations described in this report and recommended to Council for implementation have a total cost of $262,500 combined.
NEXT STEPS
Staff recommends that Council adopts the attached resolution (Attachment I) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute professional services agreements with Lordy Rodriguez, Rob Ley, Kana Tanaka, and We Are Matik to implement structural art installations in the 21st Century Library facility, in a total amount not to exceed $262,500 combined.
This report is focused on the structural art installations, which form only a portion of the project’s overall art program. A subsequent report concerning the other major portions of the art program - community art gallery spaces, and large-to-small scale artworks - is in development and will be brought to Council for additional review and direction in March 2016.
Prepared and Recommended by: Sean Reinhart, Director of Library and Community Services
Morad Fakhrai, Director of Public Works
Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments:
Attachment I: Resolution
Attachment II: Structural Art Installations - Recommended Proposals (4)