AGENDA #4n(a)
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission (CHPAC)
SUBJECT: Recommendation for an Artist Selected for the Streetscape Project
DATE: June 24, 2002
The Public Arts Commission recommends that the Town Council authorize the Town Manager to execute a contract with Arlene Slavin for the creation of artwork for the 2002 segment of Streetscape.
BACKGROUND
On March 4, 2002, the Town Council established the Percent for Art Program, which provides for spending a percent of the budget of selected capital projects on public art. The resolution adopted on that date includes an outline of the process to select artists and art.
On March 25, 2002, the Town Council agreed to proceed with a Percent for Art project as a part of 2002 Streetscape construction.
The budget for the streetscape project was set by the Council at $98,000, with one percent of that, or $980, going toward public art. The budget includes $8,910 for four benches. The Public Arts Commission will provide $1,110, and $980 will come from the Percent for Art, for a total of public art budget of $11,000.
Since the project was established, members of the Public Arts Commission’s artist selection committee met with Public Works staff to review the scope and schedule of the project and discuss the artist selection process developed by the Commission. They concluded that some type of seating would fit very well. Because the work needed to begin right after Commencement, it would not be possible for the art to be installed along with the rest of the project. However, space for benches can be designated and the seating elements installed in October, after the completion of the rest of the work. Following the procedures of the Council’s resolution, the Public Arts Commission has completed an artist selection process and has decided on its recommendation to the Council.
An Artist Selection Committee that included representatives of the community, a member of the CHPAC, art professionals, a representative from the Public Works Department, a Town Council representative, and an Assistant Town Manager reviewed the work of five artists that was solicited through a limited call. Three highly qualified finalists were chosen to be interviewed. After interviewing the three finalists, the Committee discussed the candidates in depth, and selected Arlene Slavin to recommend to the Town Council to receive a commission to create a new public artwork for the 2002 Streetscape project.
ARTIST RECOMMENDED FOR SELECTION
Arlene Slavin is a nationally recognized public artist who has created more than thirty public sculptures. She is based in New York City. She received her BFA at Cooper Union and MFA at Pratt Institute and has exhibited with Alexander Milliken, Brooke Alexander, and the Fischbach Galleries. In the last twenty-five years she has had twenty-one solo exhibitions and eighty group shows, including the Whitney Biennial in 1976. Her work is in permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harvard’s Fogg Art Museum, Chase Manhattan Bank, and Prudential Life Insurance. Four large scale sculptures were commissioned by the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro in 1999 and are now installed at the gateway to the Passage to the Continents section.
At her interview with the Artist Selection Committee, Arlene impressed the Artist Selection Committee with her approach to public art. She stated that she would do research and incorporate something natural into the benches that was native to the area and that would resonate with the community. She also said she would seek input from the community on design options. Slavin emphasized that she would approach this project as a collaborative process between the artist and the community. She added that it was very important to her that the community be happy with the project. Asked about the durability of her artworks, Slavin replied that her public works are displayed outdoors. She uses several different types of finishes, including the type used on the standard benches already installed in previous Streetscape segments. She noted that the Town could be in touch with her fabricator should any questions arise.
NEXT STEPS
Assuming the Council authorizes a contract, the artist will develop a proposal for the site and submit it to the Public Art Review Committee of the Commission, the full Public Arts Commission, and the community. Upon reviews, possible modifications and approvals, the artist will fabricate the work and the Public Works Department will install it on Franklin Street.
RECOMMENDATION
The CHPAC recommends that Arlene Slavin, who was selected by the Artist Selection Committee and reviewed by the CHPAC, be awarded the Percent for Art commission for the 2002 Streetscape project. Minutes of the Artist Selection Committee meetings are attached.
ATTACHMENTS
ATTACHMENT 1
CHAPEL HILL PUBLIC ARTS COMMISSION (CHPAC)
Summary of the Artist Selection Committee Meeting
Streetscape Project
June 3, 2002
Present: Renee Piechocki, Chair; Barbara Barnes; Curtis Brooks; Emily Cameron; Charles House (owner of University Florist on Franklin St., sitting in for Missy Julian); Janet Kagan; Susan Leeb; Sonna Loewenthal; Kimowan McLain; Dan Metz; Susan Simone; Dorothy Verkerk; Kelly Anderson (taking minutes for Karen Slotta)
Piechocki called the meeting to order at 3:05 p.m.
II. Introductions
Piechocki asked that everyone introduce themselves and indicate in what capacity he or she was present, i.e., as a commission member, professional artist, community representative, etc.
Piechocki directed committee members’ attention to the handout listing five questions she had prepared for the interviews and asked for volunteers to ask one of the five questions during each interview. They questions included: Please describe your approach to public art. Please describe your experience working with communities, architects and other people in the public art process. Do you feel you will be able to work within the project budget? What is your schedule like over the next year? Do you have any outstanding commitments we should be aware of - residencies, teaching jobs, etc.? She added that committee members were free to ask their own questions during the interviews.
Piechocki told the committee that the candidates had not been asked to prepare specific proposals for the Streetscape project. She added that the committee’s task should be to choose the candidate whose aesthetic, personality, and artistic approach fits best with Chapel Hill.
Craige was called into the meeting at 3:20 p.m. She said she grew up in Chapel Hill; she used to bike to Franklin Street, her “old stomping ground.” She provided committee members with her resume and then presented slides of her work. Many of her pieces are in homes and private collections, or on display at locations in the Chapel Hill area. Her slides depicted wall murals and paintings on brick, tile, and pieces of furniture. Her work, as represented in the slides that the committee saw, consisted of still lifes, flowers, animals, and other scenes in nature. Craige directed committee members’ attention to her use of bright colors and the detail of her painting on brick. She also noted various influences that had shaped her approach to individual pieces, citing such inspirations as Hungarian art, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Henri Matisse. She described her experience creating murals honoring sick children for the NC Children’s Hospital. Next, Craige presented a proposal for the Streetscape project and provided a sketch to illustrate her concept, which consisted of four benches made of orange brick. The top of each bench would be painted some shade of Carolina blue, which, she noted, is a beautiful color that everyone associates with Chapel Hill. Each bench would depict a tree branch to represent Chapel Hill in all four seasons, and the blue tops would represent the sky in that season. The seat of each bench would be covered in extremely durable glaze to protect it against weather and heavy use, and the rest of each bench would be protected by glaze, too. She proposed that each bench would be 1.5 feet wide by 1.5 feet deep.
Piechocki called Frega into the meeting at 4:10 p.m. He said he did not prepare a presentation because he preferred interaction. He invited the committee to ask questions at any time. Frega then presented slides of his work. His sculptures and installation pieces commonly used recycled metal parts and industrial material, and materials such as lumber or paper that he got from old tobacco warehouses or mills. One of his completed projects that he showed the committee was a large, white column that he sandblasted together out of recycled metal parts and industrial material after a group in Chapel Hill asked him to make something to commemorate the Olympic Festival in 1987. The column stood on Franklin Street in front of the post office for a few weeks, but later underwent a reincarnation when Frega attached a Carolina blue basketball goal to the top of it. Another slide depicted lecterns he created for the chapel room at C.A. Dillon Youth Development Center, a rehabilitation center for male juvenile delinquents located in Butner, under the auspices of North Carolina’s percent-for-art program. He told the committee his working style was very process-oriented and interactive; he had collaborated a great deal with the school’s chaplain on that project. He also showed slides of several park benches he had made using railroad rail as part of a rails-to-trails project. Frega also showed slides of his most recently completed project, which was meant to brighten up the dark side of a building in Durham.
Piechocki called Slavin into the meeting at 4:55 p.m. Slavin, who lives in New York City, began her presentation by passing out a number of postcards that displayed her work. She asked the committee to ask questions at any time. She then began her slide presentation. Some of her pieces, such as an osprey that she made for a school in New Jersey, were made using poured concrete. Other slides depicted pieces she constructed using laser-cut steel, including several pieces on display at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro. Slavin explained she worked with a fabricator who used precision-cutting methods to cut the steel according to her designs. She also showed the committee slides of details of a fence that she had decorated with early American designs. She pointed out the silhouettes of the steel cutouts and the shadows they cast. Simone asked Slavin if the budgets for the pieces in her slides were comparable to Chapel Hill’s $9,900 budget. Slavin said Chapel Hill’s budget was much lower than what she was used to working with, but said she would be able to produce four benches for that amount of money. Simone then asked if all four benches would be alike. Slavin responded that it was possible that each bench could have its own unique cutout patterns but all four benches would have the same basic design. Slavin said she would do research and incorporate something natural into the pieces that was native to the area and that would resonate with the community. She added it was also very important to her that the community be happy with the project. Asked about the durability of her work, Slavin said most of her work is displayed “unprotected from the public,” but that she would put the Town in touch with her fabricator, should any questions arise.
After interviewing the finalists, each committee member discussed their reactions to each artist. They were impressed with each of the candidates and felt that they all could provide high quality and professional work for the Streetscape project. Piechocki then asked the committee members to vote. The first voting round eliminated Sarah Craige. The committee continued to discuss Slavin and Frega’s work. The results of the second vote were:
Arlene Slavin 6
Al Frega 2
Arlene Slavin received a majority of the votes and was declared the selected artist for the Streetscape project.
V. Closing and Next Steps
Piechocki thanked the Panel for attending the meetings and for selecting an artist for the Streetscape project. She explained that the artist will be presented to the full Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission and the Town Council. After their review, the town will enter into a contract with the artist. The artist will work with the community and develop a proposal for the site. The proposal will be presented to the Public Art Review Committee, the full Public Arts Commission, the Town Council and the community. Upon reviews and approvals, the artist will fabricate and the town will install the benches.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Slotta, Staff member
Chapel Hill Public Arts Commission