Title
Approval of the 2023 Plinth Project Sculptures for Exhibition
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Arts Commission recommends approval of the recommended sculptures for the 2023 Percival Plinth Project Exhibition.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the Arts Commission recommended sculptures for the 2023 Percival Plinth Project Exhibition
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve the Arts Commission recommendation of 16 sculptures for the upcoming exhibition on Percival Landing. Following a month of public voting, one sculpture will be purchased for the City of Olympia public art collection.
Staff Contact:
Angel Nava, Arts Program Specialist, Parks, Arts & Recreation, 360.753.8384
Presenter(s):
Angel Nava, Arts Program Specialist, Parks, Arts & Recreation
Jim Burlingame, Chair, Olympia Arts Commission
Background and Analysis:
The Percival Plinth Project hosts loaned sculpture for an exhibition of one year along Percival Landing. During the month of July, the public is invited to vote for the sculpture they with the City to purchase.
For the 2023 exhibit, the jury met on Thursday, February 6 to review 22 submitted sculptures. The jury was comprised of Arts Commissioner Joe Batt, and artists Eileen Lagasse and Andrea Wilbur Sigo. In addition to jury review, all submitted sculptures were reviewed by City staff for a visual structure assessment. Jurors reviewed the work based on a number of criteria including quality of work and attention to craft, safety requirements and community engagement.
Climate Analysis:
While the project does not directly impact climate strategies, having sculptures displayed on Percival Landing encourages use of active forms of travel such as walking along the waterfront. Artwork in public spaces promotes safe and welcoming public spaces and a walkable city.
Equity Analysis:
Multiple strategies of the project are intended to shift traditional power dynamics of how art is accessed and selected at its core an outdoor public art exhibit is designed to be accessible to the whole community year-round. When identifying jurors those with diverse backgrounds are prioritized to help ensure diverse community perspectives are represented on the panel. The People’s Choice Award is designed to share decision-making power by including a community vote as a key determining factor of the final purchase award.
Since the public vote shifted to Engage Olympia in 2020, we have been able to capture key demographic data including racial makeup of the hundreds of people who participate in the public vote each year. In the three years of gathering information, 2021 was the only year that population was reflective of the diverse racial makeup of the Olympia community with 15.3% of voters that year identifying as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color, both 2020 and 2023 skewed white dominant disproportionate to our community makeup. With only 7.1% and 10.1% respectively identifying as representing a BIPOC community. This is likely due to the representation of works of art by BIPOC artists shifting from year to year. This signals an opportunity to more intentionally engage artists from BIPOC communities as a key strategy in engaging more diverse community members.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
The Percival Plinth Project received 522 votes in 2022 via the City’s Engage page, a 33% increase since 2021.
Options:
1. Approve the Arts Commission’s recommendation of 16 sculptures of the 2023 Percival Plinth Project.
2. Approve the Arts Commission’s recommendation of sculptures for the 2023 Percival Plinth Project, as modified.
3. Do not approve any sculptures recommended for the 2023 Percival Plinth Project.
Financial Impact:
$33,000 from the Municipal Art Fund includes artist honoraria ($1,000 per sculpture) for loan of their artwork, purchase of the winning sculpture (up to $10,000) by vote, installation support and community event in summer 2023.
Attachments:
Percival Plinth Project Jury Recommendation Snapshot 2023