DATE: January 26, 2016
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Director of Library and Community Services
SUBJECT:
Authorization for the City Manager to Execute Professional Services Agreements for Structural Art Installations in the 21st Century Library; and Proposed Next Steps in the 21st Century Library Public Art Process Including Selection of Display Artworks and the Identification of a Local Partner or Partners to Operate the Community Galleries
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; and reviews and comments on the proposed next steps in the project’s public art process including selection of display artworks and identification of a local partner or partners to operate the community gallery spaces in the new facility.
SUMMARY
This report provides an overview and proposes next steps for the public 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 December 15, 2015, Council considered four structural art installations, but deferred approval pending additional follow up with local arts agencies who expressed concerns that they did not receive notification of the public Call for Artists that was issued.
Council directed staff to meet with local arts groups to resolve the notification concerns, and to develop an inclusive process for selecting the next round of public art for the project. Council suggested that staff use the opportunity of meeting with local arts groups to also review the community gallery spaces and the proposed process for selecting a partner agency to curate them.
Links to the December 15, 2015 staff report, supporting documents, and video of the proceedings are provided here:
• Staff report and documents: <http://bitly.com/Report_Structural-Art_2015-12-15>
• Video of proceedings: <http://bitly.com/Video_Structural-Art_2015-12-15>
DISCUSSION
I. Follow up with local arts groups
On January 12, 2016, staff met with representatives from the Hayward Arts Council, Sun Gallery, and Arts Inc., to discuss their concerns about not receiving the public Call for Artist notifications that were issued and to review the next round of public art selection focused on display artworks.
The meeting was attended by Gail Lundholm and Michael Wallace from Hayward Arts Council, Dorsi Diaz from the Sun Gallery, Winda Shimizu from Arts, Inc. and Hayward Arts Council; and Marlene Teel-Heim formerly of the Sun Gallery and Hayward Arts Council. The meeting was coordinated and also attended by Kelly McAdoo, Assistant City Manager; Sean Reinhart, Director of Library and Community Services; and Beth Jones and Lynda Jolley from the professional public art firm Beth Jones Art Consultant.
Call for Artists - Notifications
As reported to Council on December 15, 2015, a public Call for Artists was posted on the industry standard public art commissioning platform, Café (www.callforentry.org <http://www.callforentry.org>). The Call for Artists was released on March 17, 2015, and had a deadline of April 27, 2015. The Call for Artists was also sent by the consultant directly to every public and academic arts organization in California, Oregon, and Washington.
Hayward-area arts groups were at the top of the local contact list to also receive direct notifications by phone or email, including Hayward Arts Council, Sun Gallery, Alameda County Arts Commission, Cal State East Bay, and Chabot College.
A complete list of the notifications that were issued for the structural art Call for Artists can be found in the staff report of December 15, 2015 <http://bitly.com/Report_Structural-Art_2015-12-15>.
Over ninety proposals were received in response to the Call for Artists, including one from a Hayward artist, Lordy Rodriguez, whose work is recommended for installation later in this report. Of all the proposals received, thirty-five were submitted by local Bay Area artists who had heard about the Call for Artists through local arts groups like the Alameda County Arts Commission.
Unfortunately, it was later reported by Hayward Arts Council, Sun Gallery, and Arts Inc. that they did not receive direct notifications at the time the Call for Artists was issued. It appears that attempts by the art consultant to contact these groups by telephone had failed to connect, unknown to staff or the consultant at the time.
At the January 12 meeting with local arts representatives, the representatives confirmed that they did not receive direct notifications about the Call for Artists at the time it was issued, and expressed frustration that more effort was not made to confirm that they had received word.
Staff and the local arts representatives agreed that future outreach efforts involving public art would continue to involve the local arts groups, and that staff will take greater care when sending direct notifications to the local arts groups including double-checking and confirming with the local groups that the notifications have been received.
The meeting then turned to a discussion of the next phase of public art selection for the 21st Century Library project: display artworks and the community gallery spaces.
2. Proposed selection process for display artworks and community gallery spaces
What follows is an overview of the proposed process for selecting the permanent display artworks and identifying a local partner or partners to curate the community gallery spaces in the 21st Century Library facility. These proposed processes were discussed and agreed upon with representatives from Hayward Arts Council, Sun Gallery, and Arts Inc. at the meeting held January 12, 2016.
Permanent display artworks
Description: This component 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 individual artworks to be permanently installed in numerous opportunity locations throughout the building interior. The vast majority of these artworks (between 25-50 pieces in all) will be selected from among the existing and developing work of established and emerging local artists.
Proposed selection process: Call for Artists is issued to local arts organizations. Local arts organizations and artists are invited and encouraged to submit proposals and are given local preference during selection. To avoid potential conflicts of interest per City procurement policies, local arts organizations and/or artists themselves do not participate in the selection process. Submittals would be reviewed by a team that includes community representatives from the Hayward Library Commission, Friends of Hayward Library, Chabot College and/or Cal State East Bay, project architects and staff.
Proposed timeframe: Issuance of the Call for Artists in April-May 2016. Final selections completed and presented to Council in September-October 2016.
Community art galleries
Description: The new library building will feature two dedicated gallery spaces for curated exhibitions of local artwork. These gallery spaces are similar in function 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. This component is potentially the most interesting and engaging because it is intended to be continually refreshed with new local artwork over the years.
Proposed selection process: The responsibility for curating this collection will be entrusted to one or more community partner agencies that will be selected through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process. The responsibility could potentially be rotated among multiple arts groups, for example by switching to a different arts group each year.
Proposed timeframe: Issuance of the RFP in April-May 2016. Final selections completed and presented to City Council in September-October 2016.
3. Recommended Implementation of Four Structural Art Installations
As previously reported to Council, a Call for Artists for the four structural art installations was released on March 17, 2015. Over ninety responses were received by the deadline of April 27, 2015, including thirty-five from Bay Area artists who had heard about the call through local arts groups like the Alameda County Arts Commission, and one from a Hayward artist. This section provides a brief review of the selection process used and is followed by a summary of the four structural artworks recommended for implementation.
Review and selection process
As reported to Council on May 26, 2015, and again on December 15, 2015, the 21st Century Library project design team formed a review panel to undertake the challenging task of reviewing over ninety responses to the Call for Artists.
The panel included professionals with experience in relevant fields including public art selection, architectural design, public library services, civil engineering, and public project administration: Stacey Bristow, Deputy Director of Development Services; Kevin Briggs; Senior Civil Engineer; Sean Reinhart, Director of Library and Community Services; Beth Jones, public art consultant; Linda Jolley, public 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. 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.
The four structural art installations recommended to Council were selected through a rigorous evaluation process based on several criteria including:
• Expertise and experience of the artists with this kind of structural artwork;
• Quality of the artists’ past works on projects of this scale;
• Overall artistic quality of the proposals themselves;
• Depth of the artists’ understanding of the 21st Century Library project and how the proposed installations fit with it;
• Relevance and synergy of the proposals with Hayward; and
• Demonstrated technical capabilities of the artists to effectively execute and integrate their work with the construction of the building.
Recommended structural art installations
The four structural art installations being recommended to Council for implementation are briefly summarized in the following list.
• 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.
• We Are Matik. Los Angeles, California. “Rings.”
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.
• Rob Ley. Los Angeles, California. “Untitled (Layers).”
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.
The full proposals and artist information can be found in Attachment II to this report. In addition to the written proposals, brief videos of the artists’ presentations are available on the project website at: www.haywardlibrary.org/tagged/structural-art <http://www.haywardlibrary.org/tagged/structural-art>
FISCAL IMPACT
The Council-authorized budget for the 21st Century Library and Heritage Plaza project includes approximately $4.6 million for furnishings, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E). The project’s FF&E budget is sourced from the Calpine Library Construction Fund. In the FF&E budget, a total of $550,000 is designated for the public art program. Of this total, $275,000 is designated for the four structural art installations. Another $275,000 is designated for the permanent display artworks and community art gallery spaces. 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, We Are Matik, Rob Ley, and Kana Tanaka to implement structural art installations in the 21st Century Library facility, in a total amount not to exceed $262,500 combined. If Council approves the resolution in Attachment I, staff will execute agreements with the above named artists and they will begin their work in coordination with the new library construction.
Prepared and Recommended by: Sean Reinhart, Director of Library and Community Services
Approved by:
Fran David, City Manager
Attachments:
Attachment I: Resolution
Attachment II: Structural Art Installations - Recommended Proposals (4)