|
CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Date: |
November 19, 2004 | |
Author: |
Bryan Newson | |
Phone No.: |
604 871 6002 | |
RTS No.: |
04705 | |
CC File No.: |
3130 | |
Meeting Date: |
December 14, 2004 |
TO: |
Vancouver City Council |
FROM: |
Director of Cultural Affairs |
SUBJECT: |
2004 Community Public Art Grant Recommendations |
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve the re-allocation of $35,035 remaining in the 2004 Celebration Grants Budget (funded from Operating Budget) to the Public Art Unallocated Capital Account , and, further, approve grants totalling $125,035 to the seven organizations listed in Table 1, source of funds to be the Public Art Unallocated Capital Account; or
B. THAT Council approve grants totalling $90,000 to the five organizations listed in Table 2, source of funds to be the Public Art Unallocated Capital Account; and,
C. THAT all funds be released on the authority of the Director, Office of Cultural Affairs, after staff resolve any outstanding technical concerns.
Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager RECOMMENDS approval of A and C or B and C.
COUNCIL POLICY
The Community Public Art Program (established in 1994) supports artist/community collaborations on projects that create permanent artworks and contribute to community development. On July 20, 2004, Council allocated $75,000 to the Program for 2004, on the understanding that recommended individual grants would be reported back for Council’s
consideration. Fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000), approved but not granted in 2003, has been carried forward to this year’s budget, making a total of $90,000 available.
SUMMARY
This report recommends the re-allocation of $35,035 in Celebration Grant funds to the 2004 Community Public Art Program. These funds will supplement, in a year when an exceptional number of exceptional projects have applied, the existing budget of $90,000. If Council approves this transfer, the report recommends grants totalling $125,035 ($90,000 plus $35,035) to seven organizations listed in Table 1. If Council does not approve the transfer, grants to five organizations listed in Table 2, totalling $90,000, are recommended.
PURPOSE
This report describes the Community Public Art Program, the projects for which grants are recommended, and the evaluation process on which the recommendations are based.
Re-allocation of Celebration Grant Funds
On November 4, 2004, Council approved $82,215 in Operating funds for the second deadline of the 2004 Celebration Grants program, leaving an unallocated balance of $28,035 for 2004. In addition, three organizations that had received grants for the first deadline of 2004 either cancelled their events or were unable to use them, leaving, in total, an available balance in of $35,035. Operating Funds are not normally spent on Capital projects (public art projects are funded from capital). However, due to the exceptional number and quality of projects applying to the Community Public Art Program this year and noting the similarities in supporting community development in both programs we recommend an one-time transfer of $35,035 in unallocated Celebration Grant funds to the Public Art Unallocated Capital Account.
BACKGROUND
The Community Public Art Program supports artist/community collaborations on projects that address community needs and aspirations. Initiated by artists or by communities or jointly by both, projects generally offer an experience of art in everyday settings and build community through collaborative effort. Since 1994, funds have been granted to 67 projects involving at least as many artists and several thousand community participants. Due to its community focus and general similarity to Park Board’s Artist in Residence and Neighbourhood Matching programs, City and Park staff undertake joint program advertising, community workshops, and technical reviews.
Program Criteria
The Program encourages a balance of artistic excellence and community development, and favours projects that:
· Present a clear and well-developed plan of action and budget
· Propose art legacies that are new, innovative, technically feasible, and respond to a broadly supported community ambition
· Demonstrate strong community support and involvement in project design and/or implementation
Many other factors are considered, including linkages between art projects and other City or community processes (e.g., Greenways; school initiatives; working with street involved youth); and the presence (or lack) of other art projects in the area.
Review Process and Panel
Applications are reviewed by a five-member advisory panel consisting of three community and two staff members. This year’s panellists were Rita Beiks, artist, YVR curator, and 2001 Program participant as an artist; Roy Crowe, community development consultant; Daina Warren, civic youth outreach worker and curator at Grunt gallery; along with Bryan Newson and Karen Hasselfelt from Cultural Affairs. Park Board Arts & Culture coordinator Susan Gordon provided liaison between City and Park projects. The panel discussed program criteria and toured proposed sites before reviewing the applications. After extensive discussion, the panel recommended those projects which, in their collective opinion, most closely matched Program goals and criteria.
The panel made two sets of recommendations. Table 1 contains recommended projects and grants based on a budget of $125,035, should that budget be available; Table 2 contains recommended projects and grants based on a budget of $90,000.
DISCUSSION
This Program responds to initiatives in the community. This year, 14 applications requesting in total $297,502 were received—record numbers—twice as many applications as in 2003, seeking three times as much funding. Applications were first screened for eligibility and technical feasibility by staff from Planning, Engineering, Cultural Affairs, and Parks, and applicants were given an opportunity to resolve preliminary concerns, before the grant allocation meeting.
Table 1 Projects: Recommendation A ($125,035)
Community Organization |
Project |
Requested |
Recommended |
Downtown South Gathering Place |
Watch Your Step |
30,000 |
24,885 |
Firehall Theatre Society |
Mosaic Project |
25,000 |
20,000 |
Kiwassa Neighbourhood House |
Our Community Story |
20,000 |
20,000 |
St. James Community Square |
K100 |
20,000 |
20,000 |
Sir Charles Tupper PAC |
Hope Into Action |
25,000 |
3,500* |
Still Moon Arts Society |
Renfrew Ravine |
20,000 |
15,000 |
Sunset Community Centre |
Solar Patterns |
21,650 |
21,650 |
Totals |
161,650 |
125,035 |
Table 2 Projects: Recommendation B ($90,000)
Community Organization |
Project |
Requested |
Recommended |
Downtown South Gathering Place |
Watch Your Step |
30,000 |
20,000 |
Firehall Theatre Society |
Mosaic Project |
25,000 |
15,000 |
Kiwassa Neighbourhood House |
Our Community Story |
20,000 |
20,000 |
St. James Community Square |
K100 |
20,000 |
15,000 |
Sunset Community Centre |
Solar Patterns |
21,650 |
20,000 |
Totals |
161,650 |
90,000 |
Recommended Project Descriptions:
Watch Your Step
Artist Leah Decter previously worked with at risk youth to create highly personalized mosaics in downtown parks and public spaces. The colour and authenticity of these mosaics give vibrant, exuberant voice to street youth and downtown public places. This year’s project would focus on Cathedral Square and the youth who inhabit it.
Firehall Theatre Entrance Mosaic
Firehall Theatre will work with professional artists and the community to replace an existing hodge-podge of concrete and asphalt patterns at its entrance with a mosaic expressing the Theatre’s artistic connection to its community and its pride in its downtown east side location.
Our Community Story
A young artist team with demonstrated success in other projects will engage the Hastings community from Nanaimo to Boundary in the creation and placement of photo-etched ceramics, depicting local history and events.
Kitsilano 100 (K100)
The project aims to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kitsilano by placing artist-designed markers and plaques containing memories, poems, and images of important historic facts and events in the community’s history. The project is well researched, well planned and supported, and the first community art initiative from this neighbourhood to seek funding.
*Hope Into Action
The administration and parent advisory committee (PAC) of Sir Charles Tupper School seek substantial funds over two years to create a mural and undertake other community-focused projects. The immediate aim of the mural is to improve public perceptions of the school by changing the physical appearance it offers to King Edward Avenue. The subtext is to reinforce the School’s commitment to social responsibility and address the safety and social conditions underlying, in popular perception if not in fact, the playground murder of a student last year.
Staff and the panel discussed this application in depth, and noted the School’s imaginative outreach efforts. However, it was agreed that a more developed artistic plan is needed before a substantial investment can be recommended. Therefore, a grant sufficient to undertake a planning process is recommended, with the results of that planning process brought forward for consideration to next year’s Program.
Still Moon Arts Society
Building on the work of earlier community activists, artist Carmen Rosen has worked tirelessly on community celebrations and artworks that have greatly improved the physical aspect and public appreciation for this valuable natural asset. This project would re-create, at the north end of the park, the planting, pathways, carvings, pebble mosaics and other artworks that have added appreciably to the community’s enjoyment of the south end of the Park.
Solar Patterns
Artist Shirley Wiebe’s brilliant-coloured metal “banners”, which draw imagery and inspiration from diverse community and astronomical sources, now run from 41st the 54th avenue. This second phase would run from 54th to South East Marine Drive, complementing the blooming boulevards and water-wise gardens that indicate this community’s activism and pride.
Projects Not Recommended
The following projects all qualified for Program funds but did not, for various reasons, rank as highly in the review process as those recommended in Table 1. An exceptional number of strong proposals was submitted this year, and staff will encourage most projects listed below to apply again next year.
Table 3 Projects Not Recommended
Community Organization |
Project |
Requested |
|
Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House |
Heart Like a Wheel |
14,800 |
Dr. Peter Centre |
Nelson Park Public Art |
25,000 |
Killarney Community Centre |
Casting Shadows |
25,672 |
Mt. Pleasant neighbourhood House |
Rosehill History |
20,000 |
Pacific Community Resources Soc. |
Van. Community mural |
10,000 |
Windermere Parent Advisory Ctte |
Mural @ Windermere |
20,000 |
Van. Talmud Torah Association |
A Portrait Gallery |
20,380 |
Total |
135,852 |
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The Community Public Art Capital has $90,000 approved funding available for allocation ($75,000 in 2004 Capital budget and $15,000 remaining from 2003 Capital budget).
The Celebration Grants Program was established in 2002 for community-based festivals, celebrations and parades. The total funding approved for 2004 was $100,000. As funding available exceeds the grants requested, there is a balance of $35,035 remaining in the Celebration Grants budget. Operating funds are not normally spent on Capital projects. However, staff make this one-time recommendation to re-allocate $35,035 to the Public Art program to address an exception number of quality Community Public Art Projects.
Accordingly, Projects in Table 1 are recommended if Council approves the transfer of the $35,035 from the Community Grants budget to Public Art Unallocated Capital. If Council does not approve the funding re-allocation, projects in Table 2 are recommended from the approved Public Art Unallocated Capital budget of $90,000.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
Two recommended projects directly raise awareness of environmental issues. All projects speak to community pride in the public realm, a key consideration in anti-graffiti measures.
SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Community public art projects have very successfully brought communities together and built bridges between cultures and generations.
CONCLUSION
This report recommends that Council approve re-allocation of $35,035 unallocated funds in the Celebration Grants Budget to the 2004 Community Public Art Program. This transfer will enable grants to the organizations and projects listed in Table 1. If the transfer is not approved, staff recommend that Council approve five grants to organizations and projects listed in Table 2. All grants would be released on the authority of the Director, Office of Cultural Affairs, when any outstanding technical matters are resolved.
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