Title
Approval of Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Arts Commission recommends approval of the Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways.
City Manager Recommendation:
Move to approve the Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways.
Report
Issue:
Whether to approve the vision for public art in eight locations around the city as envisioned in the master plan Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways.
Staff Contact:
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager, Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation, 360.709.2678
Presenter(s):
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Commission Staff Liaison
Lesley Bain, Principal, Framework Cultural Placemaking
Background and Analysis:
The Gateways concept is envisioned in the City’s 2015 Comprehensive Plan. The intent is to signal transition moving into and out of Olympia’s city center by means of eight gateways and landscaped boulevards at major transition points.
Following six months of site visits, community meetings, and draft documents organized and prepared by Framework Cultural Placemaking, the first draft of the master plan was presented to the Arts Commission at their September 14 meeting. In response to the Arts Commission’s initial feedback, the title of the plan is Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways, which addresses the gateways as a public art project. The boulevards will be deferred to a later project.
Since then, the roll-out schedule has been approved by the Land Use Committee, and the draft document has been made available to the public for feedback on the City website (a two week comment period ending October 9) and at a community meeting held at City Hall on Wednesday, October 4. The Planning Commission staff liaison presented their committee a project update (including final title) and invitation to comment on the document.
Collected comments were reviewed by the Arts Commission at their October 12 meeting, and final edits were made to the document based on that response.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
• A community kick-off meeting was held at The Olympia Center on March
30, 2017, with a presentation of potential direction for art and a summary
of each location.
• Public meetings were held for each of the eight sites, with notice provided
from the City through emails, website presence, a Facebook video and “Imagine Public Art” signs at each location. E-invites were sent directly to neighborhood presidents and the Coalition of Neighborhood Associations was asked to forward the press release to their members. In addition, the neighborhood meeting schedule was posted on Nextdoor.
• The design team attended two neighborhood meetings-the annual meeting of the Indian Creek neighborhood (near Eastside) and Northwest Olympia Neighborhood Association’s May 2017 meeting.
• The design team attended the April Art Walk and was available at Sylvester Park before the Procession of the Species, with boards and a coloring activity centered on possible themes.
• A web survey was open to the public between March 27 and May 12, 2017. A total of 235 responses were received.
• Meetings were held with stakeholders including leaders from the Westside Central Park, the State Department of Enterprise Services, Olympia’s Public Works Department, Intercity Transit and a representative of the Capitol Campus Design Advisory Committee.
Options:
1. Move to approve Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways.
2. Move to approve Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways with changes.
3. Do not move to approve Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways.
Financial Impact:
Budget was approved with the 2017 Municipal Art Plan.
Attachments:
Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways
Initial Gateways Public Comment
Community Comments on Draft Art Plan