Title
Gateways Project Proposal Briefing
Recommended Action
Move to receive the report and provide feedback to Arts Commission staff liaison.
Report
Issue:
The Arts Commission staff liaison will provide an overview of the Gateways Project Proposal to date. This staff report takes the form of a bulleted list of points that will be used for presentation to General Government and Council.
Staff Contact:
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager, Parks, Arts & Recreation (OPARD), 360.709.2678.
Presenter(s):
Stephanie Johnson, Arts Program Manager, Parks, Arts & Recreation (OPARD), Staff Liaison to the Arts Commission
Background and Analysis:
Background/Purpose
* 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.
* Although the Gateways were identified by location in the Comprehensive Plan, there was no guiding description about what the Gateways themselves were meant to be (size, shape, composition, etc.)
* Implementation of the Gateways concept is not in the current work plan of any City commission or department, seen as a long-term strategy to happen in future years.
* $180,000 for public art generated by the construction of City Hall (1% for Art) has not been utilized.
* The Arts Commission sees these Gateways as an opportunity to use the City Hall funds in a "placemaking" project in which public art is sited throughout our community. Art selection and placement would occur through an inclusive, coordinated process of public involvement.
* There had originally been a thought to incorporate this project with a signage program, specifically to update the Plum Street entrance sign. That addition would have added or changed locations of some Gateways identified in the Comprehensive Plan and compromised the concept of Gateways as markers of entry into Olym...
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