REPORT TO ARTS COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Recommend Council Approve Art in Private Development Project - Hunter Properties/CityLine: Double Drip (Phase 1, Artwork 2 of 2)
Report
BACKGROUND
Under the City’s Art in Private Development Ordinance (Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC) Chapter 19.52), the CityLine development in downtown Sunnyvale is required to provide public art. The public art component must be equal in value to1% of the building permit valuation. The artwork will be commissioned and installed in two phases.
Phase 1 will include two large scale sculptures. The first sculpture, 1000 Suns by Future Forms, was reviewed by the Arts Commission on Jan. 15, 2020, and was approved by the City Council on Feb. 25, 2020. The second sculpture is being presented in this report. The combined minimum artwork expenditure for Phase 1of the project has been established as $451,381.
The procedure established for reviewing the artwork is:
1) Review the artist’s background, including their experience and ability to design, fabricate and install large-scale artwork;
2) Review the artwork to determine whether the nature and style of the artwork is appropriate to the site;
3) Determine whether the proposed artwork is appropriate in scale for the overall development; and
4) Review the location of the artwork for accessibility to the public.
This report provides information for the Arts Commission review and recommendation to City Council to approve the second piece of proposed artwork for Phase 1 of the CityLine project. The artwork for Phase 2 will be reviewed at a future date.
Although the Arts Commission usually has final approval for Art in Private Development projects, due to the high visibility of this development the conditions of approval state: “Upon approval 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 an upcoming Council meeting.
EXISTING POLICY
Sunnyvale Municipal Code 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 Sunnyvale Town Center 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 had occurred, and the amended conditions were deemed categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15304 and 15305.
DISCUSSION
Project Location: In 2007, the City Council approved a master land use and site development plan for the CityLine project (previously referred to as “Sunnyvale Town Center”). The site covers six blocks located between South Mathilda, South Sunnyvale, West Washington and West Iowa Avenues (Attachment 1 - Vicinity Map).
Project Description: The development includes a mixture of retail, commercial, office and residential apartment units. The project will retain the Target store, Nokia and Apple office spaces and the existing Redwood Square along McKinley Avenue. The former Macy’s building will be demolished in a future phase (Attachment 2 - Site Plan).
A two-story commercial building will be occupied by Whole Foods on the ground floor and AMC Theaters on the second floor with a public parking garage immediately adjacent on the southwest corner of McKinley and Sunnyvale avenues. This part of the project is slated to open in early 2020.
Artwork Location: Hunter Properties 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.”
The artwork is being developed, approved and installed in two phases. Phase 1 addresses the McKinley Avenue corridor, which runs through the center of the development. Phase 2 locations and proposals are still being developed.
Phase 1 artwork includes two locations (Attachment 3 - Site Plan with Art Locations):
1) 1000 Suns by Future Forms (previously approved), will be installed in the median along McKinley Avenue between Taaffe and Mathilda avenues (Attachment 4 - 1000 Suns by Future Forms)
2) Double Drip by Woody de Othello, the artwork presented for approval in the report, will be located on the Northeast corner of Murphy and McKinley avenues, directly across from the Whole Foods and AMC Theaters.
Selected Artist: The selected artist for the Double Drip location is Oakland-based sculptor Woody De Othello (Attachment 5 - Artist Resume). Mr. De Othello has been actively exhibiting his ceramic sculptures in gallery and museum settings since 2012. He recently completed three large scale sculptures for an outside terrace at San Francisco International Airport, Boarding Area G, in addition to a recent installation for Art Basel Miami Beach, Florida.
Currently, he is exhibiting at the San Jose Museum of Art thru April 5, 2020. More information and images for the artist can be found at woodyothello.com.
Artwork Proposal: The artwork selected for the Murphy/McKinley intersection is a large scale, bronze sculpture entitled Double Drip (Attachment 6 - Elevation Rendering). The design incorporates the artist’s signature style of mutating everyday recognizable objects to address the tension between animate and inanimate, energy and exhaustion, and hospitality and hostility.
Double Drip incorporates the form of a faucet, inspired by a sink in the artist’s apartment that has separate faucet spigots for hot and cold water. The artist was intrigued by this separation, which he understood as analogous to polarized moods or temperaments that offer no possibility for meeting in the middle and producing “warm” water. This observation was a launching point for a more complex discussion on the importance of water as a resource.
In Double Drip, the “hot” and “cold” faucets are playfully merged into a single, stacked, double-headed faucet that leans against another faucet, which has been tied into a knot (Attachment 7 - Artist Sketches and Attachment 8 - Ceramic Models). The artist states: “This piece connects broader environmental concerns about water to a personal, domestic, or everyday state. The double-headed faucet brings up ideas of water as it related to abundance or consumption, something integral to our everyday experience. In contrast, the knotted-up faucet speaks to issues of scarcity or conservation. Using this recognizable object, I hope people can relate personally with the scale of the importance of the resource, and that one will stop and question and reflect upon their own relationship to it.”
The sculpture will be 10 feet tall and sit atop a 1 to 2 feet tall pedestal (Attachment 9 - Elevation Rendering Showing Scale). To create this large-scale piece, the artist will hand-build a smaller ceramic model, pushing the form to a point where it nearly collapses. This “state of precariousness” adds psychological weight and creates a sense of movement and emotion. The model will then be 3D scanned. The scans will be used to create the large-scale mold into which bronze will be poured to form the piece. The sculpture will be stabilized by metal rods inserted into the mold.
The sculpture will be treated with a blue patina and sealed with a wax for easy cleaning. Overall, the piece will be a matte finish, not shiny like the glazed clay model (Attachment 10 - Patina Example). The exception to this will be the faucet knobs, which will be powder coated to have a slightly shinier finish.
Lighting Plan: The sculpture will be washed in ground light where possible and spot-lit from three in-ground light poles encircling the sculpture (Attachment 11 - Lighting Proposal). There will also be ambient light from the surrounding buildings and streets.
Maintenance: Patinaed bronze is durable and long-lasting, which resists vandalism and graffiti. It requires a biannual cleaning, waxing and buffing, unless vandalized. Graffiti and scratches to the bronze will only require a sanding and new coat of patina. Paint and marker can also be easily removed from the powder coated faucet knobs with a non-abrasive cleaner.
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:
1. Installation of the art
2. Installation of plaques for each art location
3. Installation of lighting for each artwork
4. Registration of the artwork(s), and the property owner’s obligation to maintain the artwork, with the County of Santa Clara.
5. Verification of the 1% expenditure
6. Submission of the landscape plan to the City’s Visual Arts Coordinator
FISCAL IMPACT
If the artwork is 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.
The developer anticipates the budget for the two artworks for Phase 1 of the project will be equal to or greater than the 1% requirement; if it is not, the developer will be required to contribute the difference to the City’s Public Art Fund. The developer is required to provide backup documentation to substantiate all art expenditures.
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. Recommend council approval of the artwork as it is proposed.
2. Recommend council approval of the artwork as it is proposed with the following condition of approval: Require the developer to submit a final landscape plan prior to installation of the art to the City’s Visual Arts Coordinator.
3. Do not recommend approval of the artwork as it is proposed.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 2: Recommend approval of the artwork as it is proposed with the following condition of approval: Require the developer to submit a landscape plan prior to installation of the art to the City’s Visual Arts Coordinator.
...
Staff concludes that the proposal adequately meets the criteria of the Art in Private Development requirement. However, the landscape plan is not finalized so the art proposal has been reviewed without considering nearby landscaping and tree locations.
Staff
Prepared by: Kristin Dance, Community Services Coordinator II
Reviewed by: Trenton Hill, Community Services Manager
Reviewed by: Damon Sparacino, Superintendent of Community Services
Reviewed by: Cherise Brandell, Director, Department of Library and Community Services
Reviewed by: Teri Silva, Assistant City Manager
Approved by: Kent Steffens, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Vicinity Map
2. Site Plan
3. Site Plan with Art Locations
4. 1000 Suns by Future Forms
5. Artist Resume
6. Elevation Rendering
7. Artist Sketches
8. Ceramic Models
9. Elevation Rendering Showing Scale
10. Example of Patina
11. Lighting Plan