Title
Staff Report for City Council Direction on the Utility Box Art Program
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This report provides a proposed approach to carry out the next phase of the Utility Box Art Program and fulfills a City Council request for additional detail on the differences between painting and wrapping the utility boxes with art. Staff requests Council direction on the proposed approach.
BACKGROUND
The Utility Box Art Demonstration Project presented by staff at the November 16, 2013 Arts and Culture Town Hall meeting received enthusiastic support from meeting participants. Based on this feedback, the Office of Business Development in partnership with Streets Alive initiated the Utility Box Art Demonstration Project. The demonstration project consisted of seven locations in and around Downtown San Leandro and one in the industrial area (Next Generation Workplace District). Because most locations were comprised of two adjacent utility boxes, a total of fifteen boxes were wrapped with murals to the theme of Innovation, Sustainability & Technology. On the evening of March 24, 2015, Business Development staff and Streets Alive led a public walking tour to celebrate the new murals and interact with the artists and interested community members.
Analysis
With successful completion of the utility box demonstration project, the next phase of the Utility Box Art Program will be a new grouping of City-funded boxes to be placed throughout the City. Business Development staff will identify eligible boxes with particular attention given to areas where the artwork could make a positive impact, such as high visibility corners. Staff anticipates that the City Council's appropriation of $25,000 will be sufficient for 7-10 utility box locations.
In addition to City-funded box art, the program will also be open to businesses or individuals to sponsor boxes of their choosing. The City may administer the call-for-artists, development, prepa...
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