REPORT TO ARTS COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Christensen Holdings/433 N. Mathilda Avenue
Report
BACKGROUND
Under the City’s Art in Private Development Ordinance, the development at 433 N. Mathilda Avenue is required to provide public art. The public art component must be equal in value to 1 percent of the building permit valuation. The procedure established for reviewing the artwork is as follows:
1) Review the artist’s background to ensure he/she has the experience and knowledge to design, fabricate and install large-scale artworks;
2) Review the artwork itself to determine whether or not the nature and style of the artwork is appropriate to the architecture and site;
3) Determine whether or not the proposed artwork is appropriate in scale for the overall development; and
4) Review the location of the artwork for visibility to the public.
The purpose of this report is to provide information and to request Arts Commission approval of the proposed artwork. The City Council is not scheduled to consider this item. Under the Art in Private Development Ordinance, the Arts Commission is authorized to make a final determination of the proposed artwork. The Commission’s decision may be appealed to the City Council by the developer.
EXISTING POLICY
Sunnyvale Municipal Code 19.52 - Art in Private Development
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
N/A
DISCUSSION
Project Location: This project is a 9.27-acre site located in north Sunnyvale (Attachment 1 - Street Map). The site is bordered to the north by Trinity Church, to the south by Kal’s Barbecue and to the west by industrial uses. Across Mathilda Avenue to the east are residential apartments. Due to the property’s location along Mathilda Avenue, staff anticipates that there will be a large amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Project Description: The project at 433 N. Mathilda Avenue consists of two new office buildings. Building A is three stories in height and totals 91,254 square feet of floor area and Building B is four stories in height and totals 121,872 square feet of floor area (Attachment 2 - Site Plan). The site has 671 ground level and underground parking spaces and there is a prominent vehicular driveway entry from N. Mathilda Avenue.
Selected Artist: The artist selected for the project is Oakland artist Albert Dicruttalo (Attachment 3 - Artist's Resume). Mr. Dicruttalo has been actively exhibiting his sculptures since 1998 and has been designing large scale public art sculptures since 2011. His public works can be found locally at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose; Neiman Marcus Plaza, Walnut Creek; Elkhorn Court, San Mateo; and Orinda Plaza and Orinda City Hall in Orinda.
Images of Mr. Dicruttalo’s sculptures can be found at albertdicruttalo.com.
Artwork Location: For this project, the developer has chosen to locate the artwork at the front of the property, near the main vehicular entrance off Mathilda Avenue and the main pedestrian entrance to Building A. (Attachment 4 - Site Plan with Art Location). The location is also adjacent to the public right of way along Mathilda and it allows for unobstructed viewing of the artwork by pedestrians and vehicular traffic in the area.
Artwork Proposal: The proposed art is an abstract 18’ x 10’ x 10’ burnished steel sculpture entitled “Looper” (Attachment 5 - Elevation Rendering). The design consists of two concave shapes that intersect and interact with each other. Passively kinetic, the sculpture changes as the viewer moves towards, beyond and around the sculpture (Attachments 6, 7, 8 and 9 - Sculpture Renderings). The sculpture will stand on a large mounting plate that will be buried below the landscaping, creating the illusion that the sculpture is “growing” out of the ground.
Lighting Plan: The developer intends to light the sculpture with three to four ground level up-lights. The sculpture will also benefit from ambient lighting on the site.
Maintenance: Maintenance for the proposed artwork will be minimal, requiring only periodic rinsing and polishing.
FISCAL IMPACT
If approved, the developer will be responsible for design, fabrication and installation costs of the artwork, as well as ongoing maintenance. 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.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made through posting of the Arts Commission agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board, on the City’s website, and the availability of the agenda and report in the Office of the City Clerk.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve the artwork as it is proposed.
2. Not approve the artwork as it is proposed.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 1: Approve the artwork as it is proposed. Staff concludes that the proposal adequately meets the criteria of the Art in Private Development requirement.
Staff
Prepared by: Kristin Dance, Visual Arts Coordinator
Reviewed by: Dan Wax, Superintendent of Community Services
Cc: Anne Cain, Interim Director, Department of Library and Community Services
ATTACHMENTS
1. Street Map
2. Site Plan
3. Artist’s Resume
4. Site Plan with Art Location
5. Elevation Rendering
6. Sculpture Rendering
7. Sculpture Rendering
8. Sculpture Rendering
9. Sculpture Rendering