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APPMIN 02 06 1995ART IN PUBLIC PLACES MEETING MINUTES LA QUINTA CITY HALL -NORTH CONFERENCE ROOM FEBRUARY 6, 1995 The regular meeting of the Art in Public Places Committee was called to order by Chairman Walling at 3:15 P.M. ROLL CALL: Committee Members Hull, Lair, Nazd, Shamis, Wolff, Chairman Walling. Committee Member Smith-Schooley arrived late STAFF PRESENT: Community Development Director Jerry Herman, Department Secretary Betty Sawyer Chairman Walling asked that the agenda be reorganized to move the Business Session before the Consent Calendar. Unanimously approved. I. BUSINESS SESSION A. Presentation of proposed artwork for the La Ouinta Village Shopping Center; Mr. Mike Horton representing The Koenig Companies presented the information. He stated the plan would add mosaic the work to the fountain for color. Mr. Horton introduced Mr. Bill Waze, a local artist who had worked with the City of Palm Desert, as the artist that would be working with the developer to design the artwork. Mr. Waze gave a detailed explanation of the project. Mr. Waze stated the outside of the lower portion (overflow area) of the pool would be in glass tiles in blue shades. The purpose of the colored tiles was to have a cool feeling at the center leading out to the orange/yellow shades representing a sun burst or feeling of heat. From there it would blend in with the stucco. Committee Member Shamis asked if Mr. Waze had any artwork locally where they could see a sample of his work. Mr. Ware explained a project that was located at Trader Joes in Palm Desert. He further stated he was primarily doing relief work in homes. 2. Committee Member Lair asked if the Trader Joes project was his first public art. Mr. Ware stated it was. Mr. Waze stated he would send samples of his work for APP files. Committee Member Lair asked if the object of the artwork was the concentration on the water and coolness. Mr. Ware stated it was, something fairly simple. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 4. Committee Member Wolff inquired if there was to be seating in the area. Mr. Horton stated the rim would accommodate the only seating as it wordd be 14- 16-inches in width.. 5. Committee Member Nazd asked if there were plans to incorporate the design on the seating. Mr. Horton stated they had not planned on it. :Mr. John Koenig, The Koenig Companies stated it would be constructed of the same material that was to be used on the building. Mr. Horton reiterated that the project was somewhat limited with the funds. 6. Committee Member Nard asked if Mr. Reegan had designed the fountain itself. Mr. Horton stated that he and Mr. Reegan had collaborated. together to work on the idea. The idea of the ball suspended by water was Mr. Horton's. When the artwork no longer included stone work, Mr. Reegan no longer worked on the project. 7. Mr. Horton explained the ball would be metallic looking,. There would be no mosaic on the ball itself, but would hopefully tie in with mosaic. 8. Committee Member Lair explained that she understood this was to be a stone ball that appeared to be a trick with the water holding up the ball. Mr. Horton stated the difficulty of using a real stone ball and that the engineering would be impossible. Mr. Horton went on to explain how the ball would be suspended. He further stated that the materials to be used had not been determined as of yet. They would submit the final design for the APP review. Mr. Horton went onto describe the proportion of the fountain to the pool. 9. Committee Member Hull stated she like the concept of the ball being held up by water, but what would it look like when the water was off. Mr. Koenig stated they hadn't really addressed the issue of the fountain being off. They did propose the water to be off only during the night. At night the artwork would have lights and these would be turned off as well. Mr. Horl:on stated their desire was to have the artwork as simplistic mechanically as possible which should keep the fountain running most of the time. 10. Committee Member Lair asked who was responsible for maintaining the pool. Mr. Koenig stated they were. Chairman Walling asked wlho would maintain the the work in the water. Mr. Horton stated it would be maintained in the same manner as a swimming pool. He went on to explain the procedure to be used. Mr. Koenig stated their business was to maintain the project. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 11. Chairman Walling asked the applicant when they would want to bring the final design back to the APP. Mr. Horton stated they should be ready for the APP March meeting. What they would like is a general approval of the concept of the design. Mr. Koenig stated he was planning to start construction on the restaurant and would like to start the fountain at the same time. 12. Committee Member Shamis asked about the location of the seating. Discussion followed as to where the seating would be located. 13. Chairman Walling asked if members were satisfied with the drawings as submitted. Committee Member Wolff asked what artists' name would be attributed to the artwork. Mr. Horton stated Mr. Ware was the artist designing the project. Discussion followed regarding what involvement Mr. Reegan had had with the project. 14. Mr. Horton explained the budget for the project vas only $13,000 and they were limited to what they could do. Mr. Ware stated the fountain was the base for his mural. 15. Committee Member Nard asked what was planned for the bottom of the retention basin where the pipe is that sticks out. iVlr. Horton stated their intention was to move the pipe and have it hidden by boulders and shrubs so it would not be seen. 16. Community Development Director Jerry Herman reminded the applicant that whatever recommendation the APP gives, it would still have to l;o to the City Council for their approval. 17. Committee Member Wolff asked if the mural would have a name. 1NIr. Ware stated it would. 18. Committee Member Wolff asked if the part that suspends the ball will also be tit as well as at the base. Mr. Horton stated it would be lit. and no hardware would be visible. 19. Committee Member Lair stated her concern that the seating was not pedestrian oriented and was more visually driven. Mr. Horton stated that was true. 20. Committee Member Wolff stated it would be nice if there could be seating at the base and the public could hear the water. Discussion followed regarding the fountain. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 21. Committee Member Hull stated her concern that there was no pedestrian movement around the front of the fountain. Mr. Koenig stated the only walkway was at the north end of the restaurant where the sidewalk surrounds the restaurant and the pedestrian walkway that goes around the center. 22. Committee Member Lair stated her concern that the art work did not: meet the goals of what the APP was looking for in regards to public art. Shf; realized the problem in starting the artwork so late in the project but, it could have been integrated more into the project and even utilized the retention basin. 23. Committee Member Hull stated it did not meet the philosophy of what APP was trying to achieve. She questioned whether the artwork was a piece of art or just a fountain. Yet it was understood that when a budget is limited it is difficult to meet the objective. 24. Chairman Walling asked what the difference was between this and the water towers at the Fritz Burns Park. Committee Member Lair stated she felt it was because it was not driven by an artist. Mr. Waze explained. it was a contemporary piece because of the limitations. He felt this location called for a contemporary piece. The fountain is one thing and the artwork is done to or added on to a fountain. It is after the effect but, with the budget it would still be the same feature. 25. Mr. Koenig stated he did not want to give up a pazking stall just to place a piece of artwork. He wanted the artwork integrated into the project and still be a distinctive statement of itself. Committee Member Nard stated she liked the abstract idea but, it did need to be integrated with the rest of the shopping center. She suggested that mosaic work be added into the seating area or allow the mosaic work to spill over onto the concrete area in the northwest portion of the fountain so it appears to be integrated with the pazk:ing azea. This would give an appeazance of being a piece of artwork. Mir. Horton stated it could be as little as fourteen inches or as much as 16-18 inches for the seating. Committee Member Nazd stated the mosaic needed to be dropped into the cement walkway and not just on the face of the fountain. Mr. Waze stated he did not know how the tiles would hold up to the pedestrian traffic. Discussion followed as to the location of the the work. 26. Chairman Walling asked Mr. Ware if the the work could be added to the front area. Mr. Ware stated the color would be lost as the area was so small. Chairman Walling asked if some other Type of the could be used to integrate the work. Committee Member Nazd asked if some type of abstract artwork could be applied that would tie the two together. Discussion followed as to possible ideas. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 27. Mr. Horton asked if they could get a basic approval for the design concept so they could get started. Chairman Walling asked if the Committee had any objections. There being no further comment, the Committee approved the idea in concept. Mr. Ware asked if the Committee had a brochure to hand out on what the Committee was doing. Staff stated it was in the process of being developed. 28. Mr. Horton asked what the City Council would want to see in way of their presentation. Staff stated they would need to see a cost breakdown to see that funds aze expended for artwork. 29. Committee Member Lair informed the members what the City of Pallm Desert requires of their developers. La Quinta should be sending a formal letter to the developers as soon as they submit an application. Discussion followed regarding when the letter should be sent. Staff stated it should be a1: the time of contact not when the application is submitted. B. Pro rg ess report from the Engineering_Denartment City Engineer Dave Cosper updated the Committee on the projects in City. The Fritz Burns Pazk was scheduled for three public meetings to educate the public on the costs and operation of the project and allow the pub;~ic a time for questions and answers. The intent following the public meetings was to turn the comments over to the Parks and Recreation Commission. They would then get a prospective from the public and make a recommendation to the City Council as to what the public wants. Council should then act on those recommendations. Nothing has changed on the project, it was the same Phase I of the Master Plan. Staff was able to reduce the cost by $1 million from the original costs. Two bids were received under the engineers estimates. Council had awarded the contract but, question arose regarding the legality of the vote. Then due to the controversy, Council decided to have staff get public input. 2. Committee Member Lair asked for the cost breakdown on the construction and maintenance. City Engineer Cosper went over the costs andl the bids submitted. Discussion followed regarding the pool size and what was desirable. He further stated they had eliminate the slide. 3. Committee Member Wolff asked if the misconception was in tYte annual maintenance costs. City Engineer Cosper explained the originall costs of operating the pool, what programs were expected to be running, and the structure of the pool program. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 4. Community Development Director Jerry Herman asked if the pool was not built, would the park still go forward. City Engineer Cosper stated it was up to the City Council. He-went on to state that if the Park was left as it was designed, construction could start by summer. If any changes were: made to the design it would add a month or more to the time. 5. Committee Member Smith-Schooley asked if the pool were used in summer months only and drained the remainder of the year, would that cut the maintenance costs. City Engineer Cosper explained that since the water table was so high, draining the pool could cause it to float. In addition, the pool surface would be affected by the sun. It wasn't practical to drain tlhe pool. 6. Committee Member Wolff asked if solar heating had been considered. City Engineer Cosper explained there was not enough roof space. Discussion followed as to options that were available. City Engineer Cosper explained that since gas was so cheap it didn't make sense to use solar. Committee Member Lair asked if the two could be combined. City Engineer Cosper stated this may cut operating but would not cut construction costs. Committee Member Smith-Schooley asked if staff had considered maintaining the pool without chemicals. City Engineer Cosper expL~ined that the technology was not sufficient for large pools. He went on to explain that the design of the pool was for the most cost effective maintenance possible. 8. Committee Member Wolff asked about the heating costs. City Engineer Cosper went over the costs with the Committee. Discussion followed regarding the maintenance costs of the pool. 9. City Engineer Cosper discussed projects that the Engineering Department was working on. In addition, he explained the construction of the Adams Street crossing. Committee Member Lair asked why all public projects were exempt from the Art in Public Places program. She stated this'. was the opposite of what most other cities required. She felt the City needed to reconsider the purpose of public art and have Council understand that public art refers to City public projects as well. C. Discussion relative to relocating the Civic Center Artwork -Louis DeMartino. Community Development Director Jeny Herman explained to the Committee that the Louis DeMartino sculpture needed to be installed and the City had two choices: 1) construct a pad in the dirt to the west of City Hall and locate the sculpttrre; or 2) find an alternative location. He stated that staff had been looking at the l;rass azea to the south of City Hall but, after speaking with Mr. DeMartino and the process of installing and relocating the sculpture due to the amount of engineering in the APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 footings, the cost of relocating would be prohibitive. He stated that if the Committee wants the sculpture installed permanently, then bids would need to be taken for the planting and irrigation installation for the water and grass. Community Development Jerry Herman stated that staff would take the initiative and get the cost estimates to install the artwork at the; original location. Discussion followed regarding what was to be designed to go around the sculpture. 2. Mr. Herman further stated that Mr. DeMartino had the contract for the One Eleven La Quinta Center artwork. Community Development Director Jerry Herman explained the site work that needed to be done and that they planned construction to begin in March. Committee members stated that when a contract is issued, a date specific for completion of the artwork should be determined. D. Discussion regarding a joint meeting with the Art in Public: Places Commissions/Committees in the Valley Following discussion regarding possible dates for the meeting, the Committee appointed Committee Member Nard to meet with other cities and determine a date and time for the joint meeting. Dates suggested were April 5, 6, 7 or April 19, 20, 21. Members suggested that some topics to be discussed at the meeting might include the percentages dedicated to art, staff appointed to work exclusively with art, and the inclusion of Civic; projects in the program. 2. Committee Member Lair Suggested that the Committee should make a recommendation to the City Council about including Civic projects in the art program and the possibility of increasing the percentage charged. Members felt that the joint meeting might offer suggestions as to how the Committee would approach Council regarding these issues. E. Discussion regarding promotional material. Members discussed ideas regarding the brochure for developers. Committee Member Lair shared what the City of Palm Desert had. done for a brochure. She suggested that staff draft up a sample for the Committee. Discussion followed regarding the comparison of the City of Palm Desert's philosophy and La Quinta. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 2. Committee Member Wolff explained the proposal she had received :regarding having a video made for a presentation to developers. Discussion followed regarding the length of time for the video and what the Committee would provide in the way of slides. It was decided that a 12-minute tape was the average length of time. 3. Committee Member Lair asked if Committee Member Wolff could obtain a copy of his work to compare the quality. Members suggested that one other bid be obtained and have Mr. Scott rebid the same proposal but for 15 minutes and compare them. Committee Member Wolff was appointed to obtain a bid from two additional companies (Thane Productions and Oliphant Productions). Two hundred slides would be provided for the final tape. F. Continued discussion regarding the Master Art Plan. 1. Members discussed changes with staff. 2. Committee Member Lair to elaborate on Section 5.0 for the next rneeting. II. CONSENT CALENDAR: A. Committee Members asked that the Minutes of January 6, 1995 be amended as follows: Page 1, Item C, reword the sentence to state that "Committee Member Lair informed the Committee about a recent conference and asked if the Committee...." Page 2, Item 3, complete the sentence ending with but. Page 2, Item 4, delete the first sentence. Page 3 Item 7, delete "or three dimension shape" from the first sentence. Page 3, Item 10, change the word "stating" to "starting". Page 4, Item 11, reword "Committee Member Wolff stated of same problems" to "some of the same problems". Page 6, Item 10, Committee Member Wolff stated she would be on call. Page 7 D, delete "to discuss". B. There being no further corrections to the minutes, it was moved and seconded by Committee Members Wolff/Shamis to approve the minutes as corrected. Unanimously approved. C. There being no corrections to the financial statement, Committee Members Nard/Hull moved to approve the statement as submitted. Unanimously approved. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 III. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 1. Conference attendance. 2. La Quinta Village Shopping Center artwork. IV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Committee Members Na,•d/Lair to adjourn to a regular meeting of the Art in Public Places Committee on Mazch 6, 1995, at 3:00 P.M. in the North Conference Room. This meeting of the Art in Public Places Committee was adjourned at 5:41 P.M., February 6, 1995. APP2-6 Art in Public Places Minutes February 6, 1995 Page 4 -guidelines fora . Call guidelines only Page 5 developing a master plan delete. 2.1.2 and 2.1.3 should say public art program. 2.1.3 eliminate involving the public and helping to determine the visual environment Page 6 2.3 bottom of page, third line should be shall. Page 7 middle of page 2.4 "open process shall - so that no surprises shall occur. Page 8 -fourth bullet -the arrangement for participation 3.2 does the APP do this? should the APP make the determination. Possibly so leave in. Page 12 -Displays of urban archaeological objects -take out the word urban. Page 13 - a list of other successful public art to understand the process and goals. spell out the APP Page 14.0 -three members from the LQ Arts Foundation not of the Foundation. 5.0 funding is brief and vague and should be added to. discussion as to what to add. Carolyn to elaborate on funding. Take out conclusion APP2-6