Sunnyvale Arts Commission picks sun collage for Hands on the Arts 2025

The Sunnyvale Arts Commission on Wednesday chose a paper collage project as the single Hands on the Arts activity for 2025, approving the selection after discussion of several options and a roll-call vote the record shows as 3–1 in favor.

Public arts manager Kristen Dance presented a slate of proposed hands-on projects and told commissioners the festival will be held indoors this year because of construction at the community center. “We are going to be making a vote in regards to the Hands on the Arts project,” Dance said while outlining choices that included a collaborative mural, bead wind chimes, window-mandala clings, coin banks made from recycled containers, big paper hats and a “silly snakes” project made from donated ties.

The commission’s decision prioritized a project that staff said is easier to stage indoors and suitable for a wide range of ages and abilities. Dance told commissioners the collage can be adapted — for example by precutting shapes or pre-lining the sun motif — so very young children can participate and so the finished pieces can be taken home by participants.

Commissioners debated the options. Several members said they liked the bead wind chimes and the silly snakes but raised practical concerns: wind chimes may not be useful for residents without an outdoor area, and the snakes require more adult assistance and use of hot glue, which raises staffing and safety considerations. One commissioner asked whether certain projects might disadvantage children from lower-income households; another proposed selecting two projects to accommodate different skill levels, but staff said running two separate booths would complicate the brochure and logistics.

After discussion, a motion was made and seconded to select the paper collage as the 2025 Hands on the Arts project. The recorded outcome in the provided transcript is a 3–1 vote in favor; one commissioner opposed and the record in the excerpt does not list all individual votes. Dance said she will prepare prototypes and supply lists and return samples at the next meeting; staff are already preparing supply orders and run “prep parties” with volunteers to assemble materials ahead of the event.

Dance said staff will pre-cut and preline options to lower the required fine-motor skill for younger children, and that volunteers will be available at the event to help booths manage queues and safety for materials and tools. She also said the mural option would be a collaborative piece left behind in the community, while the collage pieces would be designed for participants to take home.

Commissioners asked practical questions about materials and durability, such as whether adhesive-backed “jewel” stickers would adhere to fabric pieces and how to source recycled materials; Dance said she would experiment and report back. She also noted the festival typically prepares roughly 300 project kits per booth and can scale preps to 500 if a project proves popular.

The commission’s selection concludes the item for this year’s Hands on the Arts application; Dance said she will submit the application and continue preparing supply lists and prototypes for the collage project.