ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: December 9, 1997

Author/Local: 6005

CC File No. 2051

TO:	Standing Committee on Planning & Environment
FROM:	Director of Office of Cultural Affairs
SUBJECT:	1997 Community Public Art Grants

CONSIDERATION

A.THAT Council approve grants totalling $ 67,000 to 12 organizations listed in Table 1, source of funds to be the 1997 Community Public Art budget.

B.THAT funds be released on the authority of the Director, Office of Cultural Affairs after appropriate approvals of projects intended for Park and School Board sites, and after civic staff have resolved any outstanding technical or administrative concerns.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services submits the foregoing for Council's CONSIDERATION.

COUNCIL POLICY

On June 24, 1997, Council approved $ 75,000 for the Community Public Art program. Its objectives are to encourage and assist artists and communities to collaborate on public art projects which contribute to community development and create art legacies.

Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

The Office of Cultural Affairs received 16 applications for 1997 Community Public Art grants, totalling $ 199,951. This report outlines the applications, describes the evaluation process, and recommends grants to 12 community projects.

SUMMARY

Table 1 (following) summarizes the 12 grants recommended by the Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs. Appendix A provides details of the recommended projects; Appendix B lists the 4 projects not recommended for funding; and Appendix C provides the guidelines and criteria of the Community Public Art program.

Table 1 - Projects Recommended

Grants are recommended to the following non-profit societies which are the organizational partners in the community public art projects described in Appendix "A".

Community Organization	Requested	Recommended
Mount Pleasant Community Centre Assn.	$6,000.	$6,000.
South Vancouver Neighbourhood House	20,000.	2,000.
Britannia Community School Society	17,285.	5,000.
Vancouver Art Forum Society	18,476.	7,500.
Wondertree Foundation	8,550.	5,000.
Britannia Community Centre Association	8,000.	5,000.
Queen Victoria School Annex (VSB)	6,413.	6,000.
Mid-Main Community Health Ctr.Society	7,175.	6,000.
Sir James Douglas Elementary (VSB)	14,200.	6,000.
Carnegie Community Centre Association	17,500.	7,500.
Trafalgar Elementary School (VSB)	10,000.	6,000.
Sunset Community Centre Association	5,000.	5,000.
Total	$138,599.	$ 67,000.

Approval of the recommendations in Table 1 leaves an unallocated balance of $ 1,600 in the Community Public Art budget.

BACKGROUND

On June 24, 1997, City Council approved an allocation of $ 75,000 to the Civic Public Art Program. This is $25,000 below 1996 levels, reflecting a reduced budget for Public Art in the 1997-99 Capital Plan. Further, the Vancouver Foundation has concluded its two-year commitment to the program ($25,000 in each of the two years). In response, administrative costs were cut, a part-time program facilitator contract was eliminated with the function being added to the OCA staff workplan, and the amount available for grants was reduced.

Council-approved budget $ 75,000

Program expenses $ 6,400

Available for grants $ 68,600

Amount recommended for grants $ 67,000

Unallocated $ 1,600

DISCUSSION

The 16 applications received were first reviewed by the staff Public Art Technical Team to identify departmental issues and requirements (risk management, permit needs, engineering implications, and Park Board approval). Applications were then evaluated by an advisory committee of one Cultural Planner, one Park Board representative and four community representatives familiar with the program goals. The panellists rated the applications for the best fit between applications and the program goals. This Report reflects the consensus of all the committee members.

The panellists were:

John Wertschek Architect, Emily Carr Institute instructor

Sally Gregson Teacher/Artist

Kristina Zalite Youth representative

Peter Royce Community/neighbourhood representative

Lorenz von Fersen Office of Cultural Affairs

Susan Gordon Park Board

Grants were recommended to twelve applicants, with preference given to projects that:

·540·presented a clear and well-developed plan of action and budget;·540

·540·identified lasting art legacies which are technically feasible, new or innovative, and respond to a community issue or concern; and·540

·540·demonstrated strong community support and involvement in the design and implementation of the project. ·540

A detailed description of Program guidelines and criteria is contained in Appendix "C".

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APPENDIX A

1 of 4

DESCRIPTION OF RECOMMENDED PROJECTS

Mount Pleasant Community Centre Association

Title: Banners on Broadway

This project will create neighbourhood street banners extending along East Broadway from Guelph Street to Victoria Drive. The project will be led by an artist/co-ordinator and banners will be created through an extensive series of workshops involving Mount Pleasant residents of all ages.

Requested: $ 6,000

Recommended: 6,000

South Vancouver Neighbourhood House

Title: Beautiful Banners on Victoria Drive

A grant is recommended to assist the Neighbourhood House with a planning process for the future creation and placement of banners on Victoria Drive. The organizers will identify the residents who would be involved, the community partners that are supporting the program ( BIA, Library, School and others) and, in consultation, devise a theme that serves the community.

Requested: $ 20,000

Recommended: 2,000

Britannia Community School Society

Title: Days of Sun

The project will produce a number of art works embedded in sidewalks on Commercial Drive. The theme "Days of Sun" is intended as an icon to link the diverse cultures of the area. This project forms part of an extensive community-building program called "Our Own Back Yard" in which the history, land uses, and future visions of the Grandview-Woodlands neighbourhood are being documented. Location and technical issues to the satisfaction of the Engineering Department.

Requested: $ 17,285

Recommended: 5,000

APPENDIX A

2 of 4

Vancouver Art Forum Society

Title: December 6th Discussion II

The Society has successfully completed a photography project by clients of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, resulting in over 500 photos of their community. Taken with disposable cameras, the photos have become the source for a series of posters, a larger transit shelter image, and an exhibition at Festival Cinemas. The participants chose the title "She Counts" to express the feeling that despite where they live, their lives are important. Building on the trust already achieved, the society proposes to work with the downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, Battered Women’s Support Services and other women’s support organizations to follow up on another, more celebratory, theme also identified by this year’s participants: "we feel positive about our lives." Images will be created by the participants and several turned into street banners for next December. Locations for the banners are to be determined, and project approval is subject to demonstrating financial and community support to complete the project.

Requested: $ 18,476

Recommended: 7,500

Wondertree Foundation

Title:Ecocafe Sustainability Centre

This is a youth-driven project to create temporary environment-oriented artworks and thereby raise awareness of environmental options to the South East False Creek. The project will seek out qualified artists who can engage participants in a collaboration, and the project will establish an advisory committee including representation from City Gate, Science World, live-work studio residents, and people currently working in the area. The project is subject to Park Board approval process.

Requested: $ 8,550

Recommended: 5,000

Britannia Community Services Centre

Title: Children’s Animal Gateway

Creation of a gateway and animal checkerboard for the children's play area of Victoria Park. Area residents have done planning for the project and have completed a series of stepping-stones made by children. In this final phase, children and adults will create pieces of the gateway in workshop settings and install the results in the park. Installation of the work is subject to Park Board approval.

Requested: $ 8,000

Recommended 5,000

APPENDIX A

3 of 4

Queen Victoria School Annex (VSB)

Title: Linked by the games we play

The artist will work with images provided by the students of this elementary school to create a tile mural depicting the history of children’s games from a variety of cultures. Students will interview their parents about the games that they played and use this as a basis for creating images for the tile mural.

Requested: $ 6,413

Recommended: 6,000

Mid-Main Community Health Centre

Title: Mid-Main Mural Project

The project will see the creation of a mural around the entrance door of this much-used community facility. The artist will involve centre staff and clients, as well as high-school students who pass along the 24th Avenue frontage on their way to and from school.

Requested: $ 7,175

Recommended 6,000

Sir James Douglas School (VSB)

Title: Sandwiches and Secrets around the Table

In conjunction with the Evergreen Foundation and the school administration, the artist will work with students, parents and local service organizations to create two outdoors artworks -a "table" sculpture and a tile "rug". Theses would become permanent features and serve as places for students to eat their lunches and meet.

Requested: $ 14,200

Recommended: 6,000

Carnegie Community Centre Association

Title: Street Visions

A team of artists will work with clients of up to 12 service organizations in the Downtown Eastside to create murals for their facilities. The murals will be on canvas and hung on the exterior of the buildings, but can be taken down and carried as parade banners. In addition, and as funds permit, the project will paint murals on hoardings along Hastings Street (eg. Portland Hotel) and may undertake temporary (water soluble) work in one laneway.

Requested: $ 17,500

Recommended: 7,500

APPENDIX A

4 of 4

Trafalgar Elementary School (VSB)

Title: Trafalgar Tile Wall

In collaboration with an experienced artist, parents and students will create a tile mural on the front of Trafalgar Elementary School. The mural will reflect the cultural diversity of the community and trace the school’s fifty-year history of changing demographics.

Requested: $ 10,000

Recommended: 6,000

Sunset Community Centre Association

Title: Welcoming Walkway

The project will create a walkway to the refurbished Moberly Community Hall, signalling its new function as centre for community-based arts activity. A call will go out for professional artist, to be selected by a committee of artists, Sunset Community Centre and members and residents. The project includes outreach to the cultural diverse neighbourhood to ensure broad participation. the artist and sponsors will be responsible for creating the work in collaboration with area residents and in keeping with Park Board requirements.

Requested: $ 5,000

Recommended: 5,000

APPENDIX B

PROJECTS NOT RECOMMENDED

Little Mountain Neighbourhood House

Title: Riley Park Bus Stop Project

For creation of a bus-stop at 25th and Main marking the entrance to the community.

This project is in its planning stages and may apply in future once the location and artwork are identified.

Requested: $ 15,350

Vancouver Area Survivors of Torture (VAST)

Title: Mixcoatl, the symbol of our time.

For a mural inside the Native Education Centre at 7th and Scotia.

Requested: $ 8,200

Hey-way noqui Healing Circle for Addiction Society

Title:Urban Dialogues/Urban Expressions

For engaging artists and street-involved youth to make paintings on street lighting standards, Granville Street from Smythe to Hastings.

Requested: $ 27,292

Farmfolk/Cityfolk Society

Title: Feeding the Dumpsters

A youth-oriented project to embellish dumpsters

Requested: $ 9,510 (Application withdrawn)

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(c) 1997 City of Vancouver