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HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 8780f INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 8780 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 13, 2006 atp lwr R* � Page 1 of 3 SUBJECT: PARK DESIGN ENHANCMENTS TAX s X873 On March 31, 2006, Steve Relyea, Chair of the Parks and Community Services ( PACSD) Advisory Board issued a memo to the Mayor and Council requesting a change in the Public Art Ordinance to consider mass produced reproductions as art and as such qualified for public art funding. The request was due in part to discussions surrounding the Park Design Enhancements presented to the PACSD Advisory Board at the March 21St meeting. The majority of the PACSD Advisory Board wanted the neighborhoods to have the choice within the framework of the public art program to purchase reproductions that are not currently authorized under the Public Art Ordinance. There was much debate on the issue and the underlying concern was that neighborhoods have more choice than is proposed in the Park Design Enhancements proposal that was also endorsed by the PACSD Advisory Board. It is not the recommendation of staff that City Council pursue this course of action as it: 1) Does not conform to the spirit and intent of the Public Art Policy as prescribed in Ordinance 14794 that serves not only to "create an enhanced visual environment for Fort Worth Residents" but also ".....to integrate the work of artists into the City's Capital Infrastructure." Mass produced reproductions do not conform to the definition of art or artwork as prescribed in the ordinance. In Section 2 -61 the Public Art Ordinance states that "funds shall not be used for professional graphics, mass produced work or work not produced by an approved artist." The current Public Art Policy is clear, concise and working well. Neighborhoods are not precluded from using other funds to purchase mass produced products if that is the desire of the neighborhood. The neighborhood could apply for Neighborhood Park Grant Funding or use other private donations for park development if it thought that the purchase of a mass produced product best served the neighborhood park. In response to the memo issued by Mr. Relyea, the Arts Commission at their April 13, 2006 meeting voted unanimously to support the definition of public art as outlined in Ordinance 14794. They understood the desire of some neighborhoods to purchase mass produced pieces for neighborhood parks and would not oppose such purchases as long as Public Art Funds were not used. Staff and the community have undertaken a year long process to come to the recommendations for the design enhancements for the park system. The following provides a brief history of the process the PACSD followed to develop the catalog of Design Enhancements and artist designed themes for the park system. On January 18, 2005, the PACSD entered into a contract with Benito Huerta, an artist registered vith the Fort Worth Public Art Program, to develop a catalog of design enhancements for the lik�arks system. Per the contract, Mr. Huerta was to select two additional artists to create an Artist- ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS NO. 8780 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 13, 2006 emll") —I R�! Page 2 of 3 o SUBJECT: PARK DESIGN ENHANCMENTS Y973 in- Residence Design Team to work with PACS staff to develop a catalog of enhancements for typical park amenities including picnic tables, benches, trash receptacles, concrete flat work, and other park amenities. The two additional artists that were selected had limited public art experience and this collaboration provided them with valuable experience working in the public art realm. Beginning in January 2005 through October 2005, numerous meetings were held between the Artist -In- Residence Design Team, Martha Peters, Public Art Director and PACS staff to formulate four universal design themes that could be easily replicated and included in the regular construction process. The four themes selected included, Nature, Free Form, Geometric and Western. Upon substantial completion of the themes and specific amenity enhancements, a public presentation was held at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center (FWCAC) on November 16, 2005. While favorable responses were received at this presentation, it was determined to place the Public Arts Enhancement presentation on exhibit at the FWCAC and posted on the Arts Council website through January 2006 to allow additional public review and comment. Comments received were positive and very supportive of themes selected. Following the exhibition at the FWCAC, staff presented the Design Enhancement Catalog to the PACSD Advisory Board at their January 17, 2006 meeting. The Fort Worth Arts Commission endorsed the Park Design Enhancements at their February 13, 2006 meeting. The PACSD Advisory Board delayed taking action until March 21St. At that time, they endorsed the use of the four design themes for 4 pilot projects to be selected from the 36 playground renovation projects and 13 reserve park sites. The PACSD chose the thematic approach in order to maximize the available funding and incorporate public art in a significant way in as many parks as possible. The focus for implementation will be on the 36 playground renovation and 13 reserve park site projects since they generally occur in neighborhood parks and are equally distributed throughout the city. The PACSD currently has $308,380 in public art funds from Proposition 1 and Proposition 2 of the 2004 Capital Improvement Program. The proposed strategy is to use these funds to add features to these 49 sites based on the theme selected by the community. Excluded from this process are the new Community Centers and Trinity River Vision. Each of these projects generates sufficient public art funding to be contracted separately. A separate artist will be selected to work as part of the team designing these facilities. The process for a neighborhood choosing a theme will be similar to the way neighborhoods currently choose playground prototypes. In that process the community will be presented with thematic options and they will select from the available four themes in much the same way as they currently select preferred playground prototypes. Public meetings will be held with the neighborhoods to review the Design Enhancement Catalog and the available themes. Should ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS s P INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS NO- 8780 To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 13, 2006 pFTE4 Page 3 of 3 SUBJECT: PARK DESIGN ENHANCMENTS rrY„ 10 73 the community desire a particular theme and color, those features will be integrated into the park as part of the construction. We anticipate, based on our experience with the playground prototypes, that public process for theme selection will be accelerated by using this approach. In addition to the 49 playground renovation and reserve park sites, the Department will be able to incorporate these features into other park sites through normal in -house design and construction practices. As components are repaired and replaced, these design enhancements can be added even though the construction may be funded from a source other than the 2004 Capital Improvement Program or the Public Art Program. This can be done because all of the catalog items are items we use everyday in the park system and they have merely been enhanced by the involvement of an artist. Staff will be bringing forth a Mayor and Council Communication for the June 20, 2006 City Council recommending endorsement of the Park Design Enhancements catalog and authorization to proceed with implementation at four pilot sites. W IN Charles R. Boswell City Manager ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS