REPORT TO ARTS COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Recommend Council Approve Art in Private Development Project - Hunter Properties/Cityline, titled Dropping the Ball (Phase 2, Artwork 2 of 4)
Report
BACKGROUND
Under the City’s Art in Private Development Ordinance (Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC) Chapter 19.52), the Cityline project in downtown Sunnyvale is required to provide public art. This project was permitted prior to the adoption of the Master Plan for Public Art in 2020 and is therefore subject to a minimum requirement of 1% of the project’s construction valuation, which is equal to $1,378,090 (Attachment 2).
The artwork for Cityline will be commissioned and installed in two phases. Phase 1 artworks, 1000 Suns (Attachment 3) by Future Forms and Fountain (Attachment 4) by Woody de Othello, were approved by Council on February 25, 2020 (RTC No. 20-0064) and July 14, 2020 (RTC No. 20-0053) respectively. Both sculptures were installed in September 2022. The combined minimum artwork expenditure for Phase 1 of the project is $451,381 and the combined actual expenditure for the artwork is $799,103 or 1.7% of the project valuation.
Phase 2 includes four planned artworks, with a combined minimum expenditure of $926,709. The first artwork, Heads (Attachment 5) by Olaf Breuning, was approved by Council on April 19, 2022 (RTC No. 22-0372), installed in a temporary location, and is valued at $200,000. The permanent location for Heads will be reviewed at a future date once the design for Redwood Square is complete.
The second proposed artwork for Phase 2 is Dropping the Ball (Attachment 6), by Camille Henrot, and is valued at $392,000. This report provides information regarding Dropping the Ball for the Arts Commission’s review and recommendation to City Council for final approval.
The procedure established for reviewing artwork is:
1. Review the artist’s background, including their experience and ability to design, fabricate and install large-scale artwork; and
2. Review the proposed artwork to determine whether the nature and style of the artwork is appropriate to the site; and
3. Determine whether the proposed artwork is appropriate in scale for the overall development; and
4. Review the location of the proposed artwork for accessibility to the public.
The Arts Commission usually has final approval for Art in Private Development projects; however, due to the high visibility of the Cityline project, the conditions of approval state: “Upon approval (recommendation) by the Arts Commission the plan shall be forwarded for review and approval by the City Council.” The Arts Commission’s recommendation will be considered by the City Council for final approval at the October 24, 2023 Council meeting.
The remaining artworks for Phase 2 will be reviewed by the Arts Commission and approved by City Council at future meetings.
EXISTING POLICY
Sunnyvale Municipal Code Chapter 19.52 (Art in Private Development)
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
In 2016 (RTC No. 16-0458), the Planning Commission approved a Special Development Permit to amend the Final Conditions of Approval for the Cityline project. Required public art was included in those amended conditions of approval. The approved amendments to the Special Development Permit Final Conditions of Approval, including the public art requirement, were determined to be within the scope of the previous environmental analysis for the Downtown Program Improvement Update in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15168(c)(2). Subsequent environmental review is not required as none of the exceptions to the exemptions specified in CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 have occurred, the amended conditions were deemed categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15304 and 15305, and the specific art proposal consists of moderately sized metal sculptures that do not present any new environmental impacts.
DISCUSSION
Project Location: In 2007, City Council approved a master land use and site development plan for the Cityline site. The site covers six blocks located between South Mathilda, South Sunnyvale, West Washington, and West Iowa avenues (Attachment 7).
Project Description: Phase 1 of the 36-acre development is complete and includes office buildings, apartments (including affordable units) and retail spaces. Phase 1 also incorporated re-opening the area surrounding the large redwood trees near Murphy and McKinley Avenues (future home of Redwood Square), the extension of Murphy Avenue, demolition of the former Macy’s building, new construction of the AMC theaters, Whole Foods Market, and a parking garage (built by prior property owner). Additionally, new Cityline tenants include AT&T, Comcast, Kids Care Dental, Salon Republic, Ulta Beauty, Urban Plates, Road Runner Shoes, Pacific Catch, and Flatstick Pub.
Phase 2 construction, currently underway, includes apartments, offices, retail spaces and a landscaped open space (Redwood Square).
Artwork Location: Hunter Properties (one of the partner owners) is curating a “dynamic installation of public art that invigorates communal spaces and provides a link between the past, present and future of Downtown Sunnyvale...by engaging avant-garde contemporary artists whose work addresses methodologies and ideas of our time.” Hunter Properties is creating an outdoor art walk that visitors and residents can experience throughout the downtown.
The art will help activate pedestrian spaces throughout the urban environment by inviting community members to experience the public artwork and many small businesses, restaurants, and shops along the way.
The art walk is being developed, approved, and installed in two phases. Two artworks previously approved for Phase 1 have been installed along the McKinley Avenue corridor and one artwork for Phase 2 has been temporarily installed along McKinley Avenue, until its permanent home in Redwood Square is complete (Attachment 8).
The second artwork for Phase 2 will be installed at the corner of Washington Avenue and Murphy Avenue. The location is in a planter box adjacent to the main entrance of a seven-story office building currently under construction (Attachment 9). The planter box provides bench seating and grounds the artwork in the streetscape, bringing greenery to the sidewalk environment.
Selected Artist: The artist selected for this project is Camille Henrot (Attachment 10). Ms. Henrot is a French born film maker, painter, sculptor, and installation artist who works in Berlin and New York City. Her works have appeared in national and international solo exhibits, including Hauser & Wirth, Southampton, NY; Kunstverein Salzburg, Austria; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; Metro Pictures, New York; and Tate Modern, London.
Public art installations include Baur au Lac, ‘Art in the Park XX’, Zurich, Switzerland; Middelheim Museum, Antwerp, Belgium; Frieze at Rockefeller Center, New York, NY; and Fondazione Memmo, Rome, Italy.
Artwork Proposal: For the Cityline project, Hunter Properties has selected Dropping the Ball, a large bronze sculpture from a series of allegorical characters that embody the emotional and intellectual states of the first day of the work week - Monday. The artist sees the dichotomy of this day as full of the challenges that face us, but also a day of great conception and initiation. It is a day dedicated to the moon, a symbol of fertility and good luck, but also of mystery and unknown potential. The series embodies Henrot’s ability to play with bodily gestures to convey mood in the absence of language or facial expressions. Her work often includes hybrid figures, which are neither human, nor animal, nor plantlike in form and exist in a state of perpetual evolution and contradiction.
Dropping the Ball features a lighthearted, cartoonish foot perched atop a bronze orb that is carved and polished to appear as though it is spinning (Attachment 6). The opposite rounded leg arcs into a slimmer limb with an architectural support, or crutch, that appears to be supporting it. The artwork touches on ideas of labor (the philosopher’s foot), play (a spinning ball) and community support (the crutch supporting the leg combined with the implied gestural communication of Henrot’s work), while being rendered in the antiquity of bronze.
For Hunter Properties, “the sculpture speaks to the integrated uses of Cityline downtown as a space for both work and play and the selected location at the corner of Washington Avenue and Murphy Avenue announces the merging of historic and contemporary, marking the transition from Historic Sunnyvale into the new downtown.” The developer goes on to note that although the work has been previously displayed in Northern Europe, it would be making its U.S. debut and finding a permanent home at Cityline, Sunnyvale.
The developer anticipates installation of the artwork will take place in Q1 2025.
Maintenance: Bronze is a very durable material that is meant to age naturally. However, it must be maintained to keep the piece from darkening or oxidizing. The piece can be kept a lighter shade by using a dust rag and mild soap (Dawn) to clean the sculpture 1 to 2 times a year.
Lighting Plan: Art in Private Development projects are required to submit lighting plans (SMC Section 19.52.050) to ensure lighting is incorporated into the overall art proposal. Final review, and approval of the lighting plan and light fixtures is overseen by the Community Development Department as part of the permitting and installation process. This process allows for adequate review to verify the art lighting is following the various specific and precise plans within the City and the applicable design guidelines and standards, including Bird Safe Guidelines and Downtown Streetscape Standard Specifications and Details.
Hunter Properties’ proposal includes minimal up lighting from the base of the pedestal (Attachment 11) with additional lighting from spotlights installed in the recesses of the trellised canopy above the sculpture. To comply with the Bird Safe Design Guidelines that state “prohibit up light or spot lights” and “shield lighting to cast light down onto the area to be illuminated,” the lights will be aimed directly at the sculpture. The trellised canopy will help further reduce light spillage above the sculpture. There will also be sufficient ambient light from the surrounding retail space(s) to aid visibility of the sculpture at night.
Art Bond: The City has collected a security in the form of a bond to guarantee installation of the art. The bond will be held until completion of the public art requirement, consistent with SMC Chapter 19.52 (Art in Private Development). The requirement will be deemed complete when the following conditions are met for the permanent location(s):
1. Art installation
2. Plaque installation
3. Lighting installation
4. Covenant recording, requiring the property owner to keep and maintain the artwork
5. Verification of the 1% expenditure
FISCAL IMPACT
If the artwork is approved, the developer will be responsible for design, fabrication, installation costs and ongoing maintenance of the artwork. There is no fiscal impact on the City’s operating budget other than incidental staff time to monitor the project, which is budgeted in the Art in Private Development Program.
The Developer anticipates the total budget for the artwork for Phase 2 of the project will be equal to or greater than the 1% of the building valuation requirement ($1,378,090); if it is not, the Developer will be required to contribute the difference to the City’s Public Art Fund. This project was approved prior to the adoption of the Master Plan for Public Art and the 2% Art in Private Development requirement. Therefore, the art must meet the pre-existing 1% requirement. The Developer is required to provide supporting documentation to substantiate all art expenditures.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Arts Commission meeting agenda on the City's official-notice bulletin board at City Hall, at the Sunnyvale Public Library and in the Department of Public Safety Lobby. In addition, the agenda and this report are available at the NOVA Workforce Services reception desk located on the first floor of City Hall at 456 W. Olive Avenue (during normal business hours), and on the City's website.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Recommend Council Approve Art in Private Development Project - Hunter Properties/Cityline, titled Dropping the Ball (Phase 2, Artwork 2 of 4)
2. Do not recommend Council approve the artwork as proposed.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. Alternative 1: Recommend Council Approve Art in Private Development Project - Hunter Properties/Cityline, titled Dropping the Ball (Phase 2, Artwork 2 of 4)
JUSTIFICATION FOR RECOMMENDATION
Staff concludes that the artwork is consistent with the criteria for Art in Private Development requirements. Under normal circumstances a 6-feet sculpture would not be considered an appropriate scale for a seven-story building. However, staff concludes the size of the sculpture is adequate for this project due to the following considerations:
• The urban landscape of downtown naturally lends itself to viewing the art up close, without the entire building as a backdrop.
• The sculpture is elevated on a pedestal within a planter bed raising it 5-feet above the ground plane, so it will be visible over a crowded sidewalk.
• This is one of seven artworks being installed as part of a larger art walk experience throughout the downtown area.
Staff
Prepared by: Kristin Dance, Recreation Services Coordinator II
Reviewed by: Trenton Hill, Recreation Services Manager
Reviewed by: Damon Sparacino, Superintendent of Recreation Services
Reviewed by: Michelle Perera, Director, Department of Library and Recreation Services Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Reserve for Report to Council
2. Art Expenditures
3. 1000 Suns
4. Fountain
5. Heads
6. Dropping the Ball
7. Vicinity Map
8. Artwalk Locations
9. Artwork Location at Washington and Murphy
10. Artist Resume and Past Works
11. Lighting Plan