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Cultural Arts Commission outlines permanent-collection policies, $100,000 call for Bob Crane installation
Summary
The Cultural Arts Commission and arts manager Jody Hartfield updated council on newly finalized policies for acquiring, maintaining and managing public art, a condition survey and an appraisal. The commission issued a national call for a $100,000 permanent installation at the Bob Crane Community Center and described a deaccessioning process for some existing works.
Council heard a detailed cultural-arts update on April 13 from Cultural Arts Commissioner Cheryl (speaker 8) and Jody Hartfield (speaker 9), the city's arts manager.
Hartfield said the city finalized three policies in 2022 on acquisition, maintenance and collection management and completed an appraisal and condition survey. "We are currently in the process of acquiring a new work of art for the Bob Crane Community Center," Hartfield said, adding that the commission issued a national call with a $100,000 budget and hopes for installation in 2027.
Hartfield described two categories in the permanent collection (art and workspaces; art in community spaces), noted there are more than 120 pieces in the art-and-workspaces inventory, and said the commission is reviewing the collection for possible deaccessioning. She explained the deaccession process includes a work-group review, inviting living artists to meetings when appropriate, public notification and options such as sale or respectful destruction if a work is beyond repair. "There is a process, where we would want to invite the artist if the artist is still living… get the word out that we are considering deaccession so the community and the artists can voice their opinions," Hartfield said.
Commissioner Cheryl and council members asked about site selection (indoor lobby versus outdoor visibility) and budgets for larger exterior installations. Hartfield said interior lobby siting was chosen for public access and visibility through windows, but outdoor installations remain possible with larger budgets; she advised that larger, more expensive exterior works (often $500,000 or more) provide longer durability and visibility.
Hartfield also noted the commission's recent temporary-installation process and identified Marsha Armstrong as the selected temporary-installation artist for a recent project. The commission plans to use an artist-selection panel (including art professionals and project architects) to review proposals and recommend an artist to the commission.
Next steps: The call for artists will close in the coming weeks; the selection panel will select finalists and recommend an artist and staff will return to council with contract and installation timelines as the selection proceeds.
