Sandpoint commission recommends three Silver Box artworks for council review

The Sandpoint Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Commission on June 10 recommended three submissions for the Spring 2025 Silver Box public-art program and will forward the selection packet to Sandpoint City Council for final review at its June 18 meeting.

The recommendation includes Lee Harris’s Kingfisher and Dennis (Denny) Benson’s Skyward Grace; the meeting transcript identifies a third top selection in discussion as "April's ahead, Perween". Commission chairwoman Ellie Suskis said the commission will present the recommendations at the council meeting and that Jason Wilker will be part of the presentation: "Those will go those are our recommendations counsel. That will go to council meeting on the eighteenth. I will help Jason Wilker present."

Commissioners and staff described the selection process: Amber Williams, who assisted the group, reviewed packets and scoring sheets, and led the commissioners through a group scoring process laid out in the Silver Box RFP. Williams told the commission, "you've got 4 artists that you've scored at full points at a 100 and the 1 artist that you've scored, 94." Commissioners said they used that tally to pick three works for display and one alternate.

The commission used a consensus scoring procedure rather than independent numeric scores. Commissioners discussed applicants’ resumes, prior work images and videos, proposed dimensions and maintenance plans. The scoring rubric shown to the commission allocates up to 15 points for resume, up to 30 for related past work/images, and points for description, dimensions, maintenance, and other criteria required by the RFP. Box size constraints and placement informed the final choices: the commission noted the program’s size limits (maximum height 48 inches for the Silver Box sites) and the footprint of individual boxes downtown.

Amber Williams said the panel had four top-scoring submissions and one at 94 points, and that the group would pick which three to display and which to keep as an alternate. Commissioners discussed where to site each selected piece, considering visibility to pedestrians and drivers; suggestions included the post office box (2-by-2) and a taller box on Fifth and Oak (3 feet high by 2 feet).

Next steps: the commission will forward the full application packet and its recommendation to City Council on June 18. The council will see the entire packet and may accept or decline the commission’s recommendation; commissioners noted that an alternate was kept in case council changes the selection.