Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Vancouver City Council

FROM:

Director, Office of Cultural Affairs

SUBJECT:

1998 Community Public Art

 

RECOMMENDATION

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

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

The Community Public Art program was established by Council in 1994. 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. On July 28, 1998, Council approved $75,000 for the Community Public Art program's 1998-99 cycle.

Approval of grant recommendations requires eight affirmative votes.

PURPOSE

This report recommends grants to 8 Community Public Art projects and identifies program improvements for report back. The grant selection process is discussed, and a description of the recommended projects is appended.

BACKGROUND

Since 1994, funds have gone to 40 projects, including most of the City's neighbourhoods, from Hastings Sunrise to Point Grey, Fraserview, mid-Main, Strathcona, and the Downtown Eastside. Colourful mural and mosaic projects can now be found from Southlands Elementary School on Camosun at the City's western boundary to the Thunderbird Community Centre on Slocan at the eastern boundary. While murals and mosaics are the two most frequent types of works, there have also been more unusual projects involving painted bus shelters and photos in bus shelter ad spaces, street banners, historical markers, and artworks in community gardens.

The program mandate of making the arts available to the public in every-day settings has been welcomed by the many community organizations who have served as sponsors, and by the large number of participants involved in bringing the arts into their neighbourhood. And to make the program more accessible, the public can now find program details and images of past works on the City's web page, with a complete registry and map for walking tours due in 1999.

On July 28, 1998, City Council approved an allocation of $75,000 to the Community Public Art Program. This is the same level as 1997. The deadline for applications was October 30, when 10 applications totalling $162,982 were received. The applications were first reviewed by the staff Public Art Technical Team to identify departmental jurisdictions and requirements (risk management, permit needs, engineering implications, and Park Board approval requirements). Applications were then evaluated by an advisory committee of one Cultural Planner, one Park Board representative and three 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 the committee members.

The advisory committee panellists were:

Sheila Hall Artist, Emily Carr Institute instructor, Public Art Committee member
Kanchan Rakhra Youth representative, community volunteer, Tupper Secondary Council
Diane Thorpe Community/neighbourhood representative, past president Britannia Community Services Centre Association, Surrey Art Gallery staff
City and Park Board staff supported the review process.

Grants were recommended to 8 applicants, with preference given to projects that:
· presented a clear and well-developed plan of action and budget;
· identified lasting art legacies which are technically feasible, new or innovative, and respond to a community issue or concern; and
· demonstrated strong community support and involvement in the design and implementation of the project.

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

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

Community Organization

Requested

Recommended

Riley Park Community Centre Assn.

8,650

5,000

Fraser Elementary School Parent Advisory Committee Society

15,000

15,000

Aunt Leah's Independent Lifeskills Society

17,235

4,000

Vancouver Multicultural Society

20,000

20,000

Urban Native Youth Association

21,925

2,000

Victoria Drive Business Association

12,000

10,000

Templeton Secondary School (VSB)

12,100

12,000

Gallery Gachet Society

17,997

4,000

Total

$162,982

$ 72,000

Approval of the recommendations in Table 1 leaves $ 3,000 in unallocated funds in the 1998 Community Public Art budget.

DISCUSSION

The present report is for the program's fifth year of operation. Staff propose to review a prospective improvement to enhance the neighbourhood's ability to mark important places. This might be achieved by providing an early opportunity for residents to select desirable sites for community public art works in their area. At present, sites are selected by the artist or the community organization sponsoring the project, with the immediately adjacent neighbours being asked if the proposed artwork and location are acceptable. This can be haphazard and may not recognize the opportunities and preferences that exist in a neighbourhood.

One successful model to be considered for involving the neighbourhood in this way is found in San Diego , where the neighbourhood proposes the potential sites first, and then a call to artists is issued based on a known site. The selection of the finalists is then done by a committee of arts professionals and neighbourhood representatives. Staff will investigate this model's applicability to Vancouver in more detail and report back at the time that Council considers the 1999 allocation for the Community Public Art program.

SUMMARY

The Director of the Office of Cultural Affairs recommends 8 grants be approved as detailed in Appendix "A". Appendix B lists the 2 projects not recommended for funding; and Appendix C provides the guidelines and criteria of the Community Public Art program.

Staff will review program improvements which may enhance the neighbourhood's ability mark significant sites and report back in spring 1999.

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Riley Park Community Centre Association
Title: The Walls of Riley Park
Based on the success of a mural placed on the Mid Main Health Clinic, the Riley Park Community Centre Association wishes to invite the same artist to work with residents and users of the Centre. The proposed project would create two murals, a two-storey "welcoming"work at the entrance reflecting the cultural diversity of the neighbourhood; and a children's mural for the new junior playground.

Requested: $ 8,650
Recommended: $ 5,000

Fraser Elementary School Parents Advisory Committee Society
Title: Mainly for the Birds
For artists fees to assist the PAC in realizing a neighbourhood-wide project about wild birds. The project's objective is to create a corridor for wild birds in the mid-Main area, including research on the environmental conditions needed by birds, creation of aesthetically pleasing and bird-supportive habitats, and the creation of artworks that contain bird images and text to link these habitats. The artists will lead community participants in a process of creating the bird images and texts which would then be mounted on neighbourhood public buildings ( school, community centre, neighbourhood house, health clinic ) and, where acceptable to the General Manager of Engineering Services, on City infrastructure or other street furnishings.

Requested: $ 15,000
Recommended: $ 15,000

Aunt Leah's Independent Lifeskills Society
Title: Dragonfly
The Society is a community-based social service organization dedicated to working with young people. Through Monah Lea Gallery, its Marpole-area facility, the Society is sponsoring the creation of a number of insect sculptures to "perch" on public buildings, and where permitted, on existing street posts to add some humour and visual interest to the Marpole streetscape. Since this would be the first community arts initiative in the area, staff recommend approval at the "pilot program" level only. A minimum of three sculptures will be produced, with the objective of demonstrating and securing community support, testing the interest in the "insect" theme or some alternative, and allowing for locations and technical specifications to be worked out to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services.

Requested: $ 17,235
Recommended: $ 4,000

Vancouver Multicultural Society
Title: Collective Echoes
This is a youth-driven project to create two works in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood. Through CityPlan's "Neighbourhood Visions" process, area residents have identified some priority areas for improvement, and the project proposes to follow this up by engaging the community in co-creation of public work on sites selected by the residents. In addition, the project will bring together younger artists with artists experienced in community-based public art work as a training/mentoring opportunity.
This is the first phase of a program which proposes to complete up to six projects over two years in various Vancouver locations. Funding for the overall project has been obtained from the Vancouver Foundation and Environment B.C.

Since this is a multi-phase project, funds are recommended in two equal instalments, with the second payment being subject to approval of documentation indicating neighbourhood leadership in deciding the sites for the work, and provision of detailed information about the artworks to be created.

Requested: $ 20,000
Recommended: $ 20,000

Urban Native Youth Association
Title: Street Tapestries - Urban Views
This project proposes the collaboration of two experienced artists with urban native youth to produce a series of painted street banners on East Hastings and in adjacent laneways. While the advisory committee noted that the proposal lacked depth in its community consultation, the committee also noted that the artists are well qualified and that the Urban Native Youth Association is prepared to sponsor the project. A grant is recommended to develop the proposal in more depth, with the applicants to report back in May 1999, at which time the project may be reconsidered in the light of the detailed information provided and the funding available at that time.

Requested: $ 21,925
Recommended: $ 2,000

South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
Title: Beautiful Banners on Victoria Drive.

A coalition of community agencies, schools, and businesses propose to create up to sixty street banners on the theme of "Community Vitality" along Victoria Drive south of 33rd Avenue. The project has generated strong buy-in from the three schools in the area, from anumber of community-serving agencies, and from local business sponsors.

Thanks to Council's approval of a $2,000 grant last year to assist with a planning process, organizers have now developed active community support and presented a project with a workable timeframe and a technically feasible banner.

Requested: $ 12,000
Recommended: $ 10,000

Gallery Gachet Society
Title: The Memorial Project
The Gallery, located on Cordova Street, is active in supporting Downtown Eastside residents through art exhibitions, studio access, and community projects. The Gallery proposes to work with the steering committee currently developing a resource centre for drug users in the Downtown Eastside to add artwork to the public part of the facility.
A "memorial wall" is proposed in the lobby or around the entrance.

Recognizing that the facility is still in the planning stages, a partial grant is recommended to give artists the opportunity to work with the project architects at the design phase. Further, support at this time would enable research on a portfolio of creative options beyond a tile "memorial wall" to be developed. Depending on the construction time frame and the presentation of a fully developed art project, consideration may be given to additional support in 1999, subject to funds being available.

Requested: $ 17,998
Recommended: $ 4,000

Templeton High School (VSB)
Title: Trail Mix
The school proposes an art project to augment a portion of a City Greenway running across the school grounds .The Greenway is an extension of Lakewood Drive between Venables and Adanac, and is also to serve as the local link of the Trans-Canada Trail. The project will allow two experienced mosaic artists to work with Templeton students to create large mosaic panels to animate the Greenway. A grant is recommended toward the artist fees for the project.

Requested: $ 12,100
Recommended: $ 12,000

Projects not recommended

Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House
Title: "Welcome to our Neighbourhood"

Urban Evolution Arts Society
"This is our world"

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