AGENDA #4d(1)
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Janet Kagan, Chair, Percent for Art Committee
Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission (CHPAC)
SUBJECT: Recommendation for an Artist Selected for the Town Operations Center Project
DATE: September 7 , 2004
The Public Arts Commission recommends that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract with Larry Kirkland for the creation of public artworks at the new Town Operations Center.
BACKGROUND
On March 4, 2002, the Town Council adopted a Percent for Art Ordinance, which stipulates that 1% of the annual Capital Improvements Program be considered by the Town Council for allocation for public art. The resolution adopted on that date includes guidelines for the selection of artists and artwork.
On May 10, 2004, the Town Council voted to proceed with a Percent for Art project as a part of the new Town Operations Center.
The new Town Operations Center budget of $42,061,600 was approved by the Town Council, with one percent, or $420,616, for public art at the site.
Following the procedures of the Council’s resolution, the Public Arts Commission has completed an artist selection process and is recommending that theTown Council approve Larry Kirkland as the artist for the new Town Operations Center.
An Artist Selection Committee was formed that included two arts professionals; two community members; two representatives from the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission; a representative from the Chapel Hill Town Council; the project architect; a representative from the Manager’s Office; and representatives from Public Works and Chapel Hill Transit. The Artist Selection Committee met initially to determine the scope of the project. The CHPAC distributed a national open Call to Artists and received 157 applications. Several Artist Selection Committee meetings were held to narrow down the applicant pool to five highly qualified artists/artist teams. The finalists were interviewed in Chapel Hill and the Committee ultimately selected Larry Kirkland. This recommendation was approved by the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission and Larry Kirkland is now being recommended to theTown Council for final approval as the public artist to create artworks for the new Town Operations Center.
ARTIST RECOMMENDED FOR SELECTION
Larry Kirkland is a graduate of Oregon State University (BS with honors, 1972) and the University of Kansas (MFA with honors, 1974). He returned to OSU to teach in the Department of Art and moved to Portland to establish a studio in 1976. In 1993, he relocated his studio to Washington, D.C. For almost 30 years, he has concentrated on the creation of public artworks, including commissions for the Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan; New Jersey Transit; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland; the Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon; the lobby of the National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C.; the courtyard between colleges at Texas Tech University; a monumental garden stair at the Oregon Central Library, where he also worked collaboratively with the architects to weave this garden metaphor into carpeting, wallpaper and lighting fixtures; the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles; the Denver Civic Center; and the San Jose Public Library. He is currently designing a garden for the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.
Larry is a past recipient of a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and has served on non-profit boards, art selection panels, and architectural award juries. He has been a member of Peer Review panels for the General Services Administration in Washington, D.C.
Kirkland is noted for his mastery and skill in using wonderful variety of materials: engraved stone, cast bronze, glass, water and light, each suggested by the needs and interests of his clients and their sites. He is exceptionally successful in listening to the stories associated with each project, and then designing artworks that reflect these unique qualities of history, place and aspiration.
NEXT STEPS
Assuming the Council authorizes a contract, the Artist will continue meeting with the architect and Town staff to design artworks for Chapel Hill Transit and the Public Works Department. The new Town Operations Center is scheduled for completion in December 2006.
RECOMMENDATION
The CHPAC recommends that Larry Kirkland, who was selected by the Artist Selection Committee and the CHPAC, be awarded the Percent for Art commission for this project. Minutes of the Artist Selection Committee meetings are attached.
ATTACHMENTS
TOWN OPERATIONS CENTER
ARTIST SELECTION COMMITTEE MEETING
Chapel Hill Town Hall
June 28, 2004, 5:00 p.m.
Meeting Summary
Present: Janet Kagan, Chair; Jeff Cohen; Cam Hill; Dan Gottlieb; Flo Miller; Curtis Brooks; Bill Terry; Emily Cameron; Mary Lou Kuschatka; Bill Stockard; Jeanmarie Curtis; Glenn Parks; Kate Billings; Larry Kirkland.
Welcome
Kagan welcomed the Town Operations Center Artist Selection Committee and thanked everyone for participating. She explained that Larry Kirkland was being interviewed a day ahead of the other finalists because he had a conflict and needed to be in Florida the following morning.
Kagan explained that Brooks had given a site tour to Kirkland earlier in the day and that the following day the other finalists would also be given a site tour by Brooks before their interviews, which were scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m.
Kagan explained that the finalists received the latest site plans and drawings for the TOC. She said that each artist was asked to prepare a brief presentation and that they were informed that they should expect to answer questions about their work and design process for the majority of the meeting.
Kirkland Interview
Kagan introduced Larry Kirkland and asked the members of the committee to introduce themselves.
Kirkland spoke of his ideas about public art in general and then showed slides of previous projects, explaining his client’s goals and the context for the work.
The Selection Committee spent the remainder of the meeting asking Kirkland questions.
Following the interview, the group spent a short time discussing their observations about his work and working style. Kagan read through the comments she received about Kirkland from his professional references.
The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kate Billings
Executive Administrator
TOWN OPERATIONS CENTER
ARTIST SELECTION COMMITTEE MEETING
Chapel Hill Town Hall
June 29, 2004, 1:30 p.m.
Meeting Summary
Present: Janet Kagan, Chair; Jeff Cohen; Cam Hill; Dan Gottlieb; Jeffrey York; Flo Miller; Curtis Brooks; Bill Terry; Emily Cameron; Mary Lou Kuschatka; Bill Stockard; Jeanmarie Curtis; Glenn Parks; Kate Billings; Bob Murase; Janet Zweig; Mags Harries and Lajos Heder; Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan.
Welcome
Kagan welcomed the Town Operations Center Artist Selection Committee and thanked everyone for their time and effort on behalf of this public art project. She told the group that the artists/artist teams had been given a site tour of the TOC site that morning, however, Mags Harries and Lajos Heder missed the tour due to travel delays, so instead met with Brooks directly before the meeting to go over project drawings.
Murase Interview
Kagan introduced Bob Murase and asked the members of the committee to introduce themselves.
Murase talked about his previous work and his approach to new projects. The Selection Committee then asked questions of Murase. Following the interview, the group spent a short time discussing their observations about his work and working style. Kagan read through the comments made by his professional references.
Zweig Interview
Kagan introduced Janet Zweig and asked the members of the committee to introduce themselves.
Zweig talked about her previous work and general working style. The Selection Committee then asked questions of Zweig. Following the interview, the group spent a short time discussing their observations about her work and working style. Kagan read through the comments made by her professional references.
Harries/Heder Interview
Kagan introduced Mags Harries and Lajos Heder and asked the members of the committee to introduce themselves.
Harries and Heder talked about their previous work. The Selection Committee then asked questions of Harries and Heder. Following the interview, the group spent a short time discussing their observations about their work and working style. Kagan read through the comments made by their professional references.
Haddad/Drugan Interview
Kagan introduced Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan and asked the members of the committee to introduce themselves.
Haddad and Drugan talked about their previous work and about how they would approach the TOC project. The Selection Committee then asked questions of Haddad and Drugan. Following the interviews, the group spent a short time discussing their observations about their work and working style. Kagan read through the comments made by their professional references.
Discussion
The Committee spent the remainder of the meeting discussing the artists, their previous experience, their working styles, and their fit with this project. A series of votes were taken throughout the meeting in order to gauge the group’s preferences.
The committee discussed the advantages and disadvantages of having one or two artists/artist teams commissioned for the Project. The overwhelming number of committee members voted to have one artist/artist team work on the entire project. The reasons given included the desire for cohesion throughout the Project site, the ease of having Redfoot collaborate with only one artist/artist team.
After narrowing down the finalists to Harries/Heder and Kirkland, the Committee determined that it was necessary to have the architect, Ken Redfoot and the Assistant Town Manager, Bruce Heflin more fully participate in the final selection. The Committee also decided that a final decision would not be made until additional references were consulted.
Kagan thanked the committee and informed them that they would be notified concerning the next steps in this process.
The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kate Billings
Executive Administrator
TOWN OPERATIONS CENTER
ARTIST SELECTION COMMITTEE MEETING
Chapel Hill Town Hall
July 19, 2004, 4:00 p.m.
Meeting Summary
Present: Janet Kagan, Chair; Jeff Cohen; Cam Hill; Dan Gottlieb; Jeffrey York; Flo Miller; Ken Redfoot; Curtis Brooks; Bill Terry; Emily Cameron; Mary Lou Kuschatka; Bill Stockard; Jeanmarie Curtis; Glenn Parks; Kate Billings;
Welcome
Kagan welcomed the group and thanked them again for participating in the Town Operations Center Artist Selection Committee.
Background and Discussion
Kagan reminded the committee that the Public Arts Commission originally received 157 submissions of interest and qualifications for the Town Operations Center, which was narrowed to a shortlist of 12 artists/artist teams and that at the following meeting the group invited five artists/artist teams to Chapel Hill for interviews. On June 28 and 29 interviews were held in Chapel Hill Town Hall. At the meeting on June 29 the committee agreed to award the project to one of two finalists: Mags Harries/Lajos Heder or Larry Kirkland. It was decided that references for the artists would be checked and that Ken Redfoot and Bruce Heflin would be consulted on the decision, neither of whom were able to attend the selection committee meeting.
A meeting was held on 7 July 2004 with Bruce Heflin, Flo Miller, Ken Redfoot, Curtis Brooks, Marylou Kuschatka, Bill Terry, and Kate Billings to discuss comments received by the artists’ references. It was determined based on these references and the feedback from staff members that the group’s preference was Larry Kirkland. The point was made that the first rounds to select a shortlist of artists were based on aesthetic judgments, but that when one is considering one artist from among five internationally recognized public artists, it is necessary to review and evaluate the artist’s proposed process and working relationships with project representatives.
Kagan cited that the goal of the meeting was to select a final artist. After great discussion concerning the experience, process, and project schedule as related to the selection of an artist, Brooks made a motion to award the commission to Larry Kirkland. Bill Stockard seconded the motion. A vote was taken and passed to forward the recommendation of Larry Kirkland to the Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission and then the Chapel Hill Town Council for approval.
Kagan and Billings thanked the Committee for their time and effort. The meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Kate Billings
Executive Administrator