Title
Staff Report for a Resolution of the City Council for the City of San Leandro to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Non-Professional Services Agreement with Mildred Howard for the Purchase and Installation of a Work of Art in Front of the San Leandro Main Library for an Amount Not-to-Exceed $135,000 Using Existing Prior Fiscal Year Appropriations that are Authorized to be Carried-forward into the Current Fiscal Year (2019-2020)
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends, based on the City of San Leandro Arts Commission’s recommendation, that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager or his designee to negotiate and execute a Non-Professional Services Agreement with Mildred Howard for the purchase and installation of a significant work of public art to be installed in front of the San Leandro Main Library, for an amount not-to-exceed $135,000.
Staff’s recommendation coincides with a competitive artist selection process that was developed and executed by the City of San Leandro Arts Commission, which identified Mildred Howard as the recommended artist. Thus, coincident with staff’s recommendation to approve the contract, the Arts Commission recommends that the City Council award the contract to Mildred Howard.
The Arts Commission is also seeking delegated authority from the City Council to review and authorize the final design of the public work of art.
BACKGROUND
On November 16, 2013, the City of San Leandro hosted an Arts and Culture Town Hall meeting at the direction of the City Council. The event commenced with a welcome from the Mayor and City Manager followed by a detailed overview of the various cultural amenities that already exist in San Leandro. Another major component of the event enabled members of the public to participate in a facilitated interactive group discussion to prioritize ideas to advance artistic and cultural life in San Leandro. A variety of public priorities related to art and culture were identified.
Following further discussions by the City Council in subsequent months, at the July 7, 2014 City Council meeting, Councilmembers directed staff to research the formation of a new City of San Leandro Arts Commission.
Staff then presented its analysis along with a draft resolution and ordinance that was adopted by the City Council at the September 2, 2014 regular City Council meeting. The adopted ordinance formally established the City’s first Arts Commission by amending Sections 1-3-100, 1-3-110 and 1-3-115, and adding Title I, Chapter 3, Article 16 to the San Leandro Municipal Code. The first members of the Commission were appointed by the Mayor and each member of the City Council later that year. The Commission commenced regular meetings in January, 2015.
Analysis
Although the Arts Commission was initially assigned staffing support from the Recreation & Human Services Department, due to staffing limitations, the Commission’s staffing assignment was later transitioned to the City Manager’s office beginning in January, 2018. Since the time of its formation, the Arts Commission has worked on a number of important projects and activities designed to enhance arts and culture in San Leandro. To assist the Commission with its efforts, the City Council appropriated $100,000 in annual funds to the Arts Commission in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 Fiscal Year budgets. In addition, a $75,000 appropriation was included for the Commission’s use in the FY 2019-20 (current fiscal year) budget.
Highlights of the Arts Commission’s accomplishments include:
• The development of a Public Art Master Plan, which was formally presented to the City Council at its September 5, 2017 regular meeting;
• Launch of an Arts & Culture grants program in 2018, which distributed over $33,000 to 12 local San Leandro-based artists and arts-serving organizations for various artistic projects and cultural activities;
• Development of a City website devoted to public art (www.sanleandro.org/about/public_art/ <http://www.sanleandro.org/about/public_art/>);
• Guidance and recommendations to the City’s public utility box mural program, and various other mural projects across the City;
• Development and execution of new designs for street banners for Wicks Boulevard and Bancroft Avenue, per the direction of the City Council; and
• Production of a successful live comedy event at the Main Library, held on June 22, 2019.
In addition to these efforts, during this past year, the Arts Commission held numerous discussions about other ways in which it could allocate its funding to enhance the City’s artistic and cultural life. Following these discussions, the Commission ultimately decided to allocate up to $135,000 of its City Council-appropriated funds from across two fiscal years toward commissioning a significant sculpture or other work of public art that could be installed in a prominent public location.
Before selecting the location for the art, members of the Commission conducted site visits at various locations throughout the City, including all of the potential sites identified in the Public Art Master Plan. That list of sites for this project was then winnowed and presented to the whole Arts Commission for its consideration in 2018. A number of variables were considered in the site selection process. First and foremost, because the art work would be paid for using City funds, the underlying property would need to be owned and maintained by the City. In addition, the Commission felt that the location should be one that is centrally located and frequently visited by a broad cross-section of the public, enabling residents from across the whole City to benefit.
Ultimately, the Arts Commission selected the grassy courtyard area in front of the Main Library as its preferred location for installation, following consultation with Library staff. This location was recommended by the Commission because it most closely met the criteria above. The Arts Commission has also discussed commissioning additional public art in other locations throughout San Leandro neighborhoods in the future, consistent with recommendations outlined in the Public Art Master Plan.
Concurrent with its process to identify a location for the art work, the Commission also launched a competitive process to identify an artist with whom a contract could be established for the development and installation of the artwork. With the assistance of an arts consultant, artworks from 16 artists from across the United States with experience developing public art for government entities were presented to a committee of the Arts Commission. From that list, a sub-set of finalists was identified and presented to the entire Arts Commission at a publicly-noticed meeting for its review and consideration using a numerical evaluation and points-allocation based on various objective scoring criteria. Mildred Howard scored the highest number of points. A summary of Ms. Howard’s qualifications and experience is provided below.
Although the specific details of the art are yet to be finalized, it is currently envisioned to be a bronze sculpture, which is a type of art that Ms. Howard specializes in and has significant experience developing. If the City Council approves the contract, Ms. Howard would be tasked by contract to present draft designs to the Arts Commission for its review and feedback at future publicly-noticed Arts Commission meetings.
The Arts Commission is also seeking delegated authority from the City Council to select and authorize the final design that is developed by the artist.
About Mildred Howard
Mildred Howard is a local Bay Area artist who grew up in Berkeley. She has a strong track record of developing significant works of art in prominent locations across the country. Known for her sculptural installations and mixed-media assemblage work, Howard received her MFA from John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, CA. In 2015 she received the Lee Krasner Award, in recognition of a lifetime of artistic achievement. She has also been the recipient of the Nancy Graves Grant for Visual Artists (2017), the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award (2004/05), a fellowship from the California Arts Council (2003), the Adeline Kent Award from San Francisco Art Institute (1991), and, most recently, the Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts and the Douglas G. MacAgy Distinguished Achievement Award from the San Francisco Art Institute. Large-scale installations she designed have been mounted at Creative Time in New York, InSITE in San Diego, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the New Museum in New York. Public commissions and installations were also executed for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, the City of Oakland, and for the San Francisco Arts Commission and San Francisco International Airport. Mildred Howard’s works are represented in the collections of SFMOMA, the de Young Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Museum of Glass and Contemporary Art, Tacoma, the Oakland Museum, and the San Jose Museum of Art. The Anglim Gilbert Gallery in San Francisco has also shown Ms. Howard’s work since 1990.
Summary
The Arts Commission recommends that the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to execute, subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney, the proposed agreement with Mildred Howard to design, fabricate and install a public work of art for installation in front of the San Leandro Main Library. The proposed agreement would not exceed $135,000 in total cost, which would be paid using existing appropriations from the 2018-19 Fiscal Year.
The Arts Commission is also seeking delegated authority from the City Council to review and authorize the final design of the public work of art. A copy of the proposed agreement is included as an attachment to the associated City Council Resolution.
Fiscal Impacts
Sufficient funding for this project was already appropriated in the FY 2017-18 and 2018-19 Arts Commission budgets. No additional appropriations are requested.
Budget Authority
Funding for the proposed agreement is currently programmed in the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget, in the following account: 010-14-010-8516. Adoption of the attached resolution would also authorize the funds to be carried-forward in to the current fiscal year 2019-20 budget, if necessary to finalize the proposed agreement.
ATTACHMENT(S)
Attachment(s) to Related Legislative File
• Non-Professional Services Agreement between the City of San Leandro and Mildred Howard
PREPARED BY: Eric Engelbart, Deputy City Manager, City Manager’s Office