Title
Recommendation of Call for Art for the Martin Way/Pacific Avenue Art Crossings Public Art Project
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Arts Commission recommends the Call for Art for the Martin Way/Pacific Avenue Art Crossing.
City Manager Recommendation:
Recommend the Call for Art for the Martin Way/Pacific Avenue Art Crossing and forward to full Council for consideration.
Report
Issue:
Whether to move forward to Council the third of eight public art projects in the Olympia Art Crossing Project. Staff will also provide a report of the project to date.
Staff Contact:
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager, Parks, Arts & Recreation, 360.709.2678
Presenter(s):
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Commission Liaison
Jim Burlingame, Chair, Olympia Arts Commission
Background and Analysis:
On October 24, 2017, City Council approved the public art plan Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways. On August 21, 2018, Council approved the first Art Crossings Call for Art for West Bay Drive.
The second Art Crossing, on Eastside St. was dedicated in December 2021.
The third location identified in the Master Plan is the “bowtie” at the intersection of Martin Way and Pacific Avenue. Staff has worked closely with the Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA) and Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Alliance (ONNA, the sub-area group consisting of the Northeast, Bigelow, Bigelow Highlands, Upper Eastside and East Bay Drive Neighborhood Associations) to develop this third Call for Art (or RFQ) using the same the process and format used since the West Bay project. Some of the key elements include:
• Initial conversation with interested Neighborhood Associations to develop the Call for Art for the Martin Way/Pacific Avenue Art location
• Participation by Neighborhood Association representatives on the juries
• A two-part application process with an RFQ followed by finalist interviews
• Focus on artists with a connection to Olympia, with support provided by a pre-submission workshop.
If this Call for Art is approved, the process for selecting an artist follows:
Artist Selection Schedule
• Call for Art open
• Workshop for interested applicants
• Deadline for Entry
• Jury Process
• Arts Commission review
• Finalist interviews
• Arts Commission review
• City Council approval
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
To prepare the Call for Art for the Martin Way/Pacific Avenue project, staff met with leadership from the Eastside Neighborhood Association (ENA) and the Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Alliance (ONNA) leadership on several occasions to inform the neighborhood description in the Call for Art, and neighborhood representatives were solicited for the project jury.
Options:
1. Recommend the Olympia Art Crossings Call for Art and forward to Council.
2. Recommend the Call for Art with modifications to the City Council.
3. Do not recommend the Call for Art.
Financial Impact:
$50,000 for artwork design and fabrication and up to $25,000 for installation frm the Municipal Art Fund.
Attachments:
Call for Art Proposal - Martin Way/Pacific Avenue Art Crossing
Olympia Crossings: An Art Plan for City Gateways (Master Plan)
2021 Municipal Art Plan