Staff Report: DRAFT PUBLIC ART POLICY NO. 0100-053

DRAFT PUBLIC ART POLICY NO. 0100-053

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that draft Public Art Policy No. 0100-053 be approved.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To bring forward a comprehensive draft public art policy for consideration of approval that now includes feedback from the Community Development Advisory Committee.

BACKGROUND:

The Committee of the Whole reviewed and referred the “Draft Public Art Policy No. 0100-053” report to the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) at its May 2021 meeting.

CDAC considered the report on May 25 and provided a recommendation of support with four proposed amendments – two to the “Objectives” section and two to the “Funding” section. In anticipation of this staff report, Council received the May 25 CDAC motion at its June 1 meeting.

This report reviews staff proposed amendments to the policy contemplated since the May Committee of the Whole meeting as well as CDAC’s proposed amendments. Attachment “A” is the draft policy with proposed changes showing in red font.

DISCUSSION:

Staff Proposed Amendments

Since the Committee’s review of the draft policy in May, a few changes are now proposed by staff. Specifically:

• the definition of Public Art has been clarified to include “tangible”;
• section 8.1 funding “Funding to support this Policy will be provided through the establishment of a Public Art Acquisition Reserve Fund.” is proposed to be changed to “Funding to acquire public art will be provided through the establishment of Public Art Acquisition Reserve Fund.” for clarity; and
• section 10.4 has been added to clarify by separating out that the final decision making with respect to recipient sites belongs to Council.

Community Development Advisory Committee Proposed Amendments

CDAC provided four potential amendments in their May 25, 2021 motion. These include:

• revise 2.6 “celebrate the Town’s culture and heritage: to “celebrate the area’s culture and heritage” to ensure recognition of the First Nations lands on which the Town is located;
• add “promote climate change awareness” as an objective in section 2;
• add a sub-section to describe funding passive arts programs, such as “music in the park” and scholarships, in section 8 Funding; and
• add the use of Community Amenity Contributions as a potential funding source in section 8 Funding.

For the first two CDAC proposed amendments, item 2.6 can be incorporated into the draft policy while staff recommend that the second item is already included under the objective 2.8 “express shared values”. The nine objectives listed in section 2 are broad and are not intended to describe the specific attributes of each objective. For example, the explicit ways in which art enhances quality of life (section 2.1) or strengthens community pride (section 2.2) are not enumerated. Similarly, the promotion of climate change awareness is one of the community’s shared values (section 2.8) that can be expressed but is only one of many shared values. To list one – but not all – of the shared values would be exclusionary and therefore problematic. As well, expounding on the nine objectives is not the purpose of this policy.

With respect to CDAC’s proposed funding amendments, passive or performance arts programs, such as “music in the park” and scholarships, are not the intended purpose of this policy. Those types of activities are operational in nature and as such, would be funded from an annual budget as a program or grant-in-aid and would not be funded from a reserve as capital projects are.

The second funding proposal from CDAC can be incorporated. Specifically, a section can be added under “Funding” to reflect the potential to use Community Amenity Contributions (CAC) to acquire public art as follows:

"In addition to the funding provided through the Public Art Acquisition Reserve Fund described in sections 8.1 and 8.2, funding to acquire Public Art may also be provided through Community Amenity Contributions (see Community Amenity Contributions Policy #6400-041)."

It should be noted that Policy #6400-041 Community Amenity Contributions already includes reference to the use of these funds for aesthetic features though, assuming there is a limit to the level the development community is willing to contribute, designating a portion of the CAC to public art may reduce funding for other community projects.

Selection Panel for Acquisitions $75,000 and Over

Recognizing that not all public art initiatives require the same amount of time, resources (both financial and volunteer/staff time), and level of detailed attention, the draft policy follows the Town’s existing Purchasing Policy. The Purchasing Policy sets out that a Terms of Reference is required for larger acquisitions – those valued at $75,000 or more.

Based on the discussion at the May CDAC meeting whereby the City of Victoria was cited as an example, it may be worthwhile for the Committee of the Whole to consider the appointment of a selection panel when procurement of public art at this level is envisioned. This can be an ephemeral body established once terms of reference for an artistic work have been developed and whose sole role would be to provide either a recommendation on the submissions received in response to the terms of reference issued or to make the final decision as to the piece to be acquired. Staff recommend the latter approach and Attachment “A” has been written to reflect the formation of a selection panel for choosing artistic works valued at $75,000 or greater (definition, section 6 and section 7.3 have been added).

Membership on the panel would ideally include people that are knowledgeable in the arts, particularly public art as defined in this Policy, and may include, but not be limited to:

• an artist;
• a professional from the visual arts community (e.g., a gallery director or curator, a visual arts faculty member);
• an architect;
• a representative from Esquimalt Nation or Songhees Nation, or both;
• a representative from CDAC;
• one of the Council liaisons from CDAC; and
• a staff representative from the Development Services Department.

The final composition of any selection panel would vary based on the requirements for a given project.

The evaluation criteria for the artistic work set out in the draft policy is not expected to vary whether a selection panel is used or not.

Initial Recipient Locations

To ensure the policy maintains focus on its already broad purpose of selection, acquisition, maintenance and de-accessioning, it is silent with respect to specific locations and notes only that staff and CDAC will identify locations and that Council has the final decision. Specifically, the policy states the requirement for Public Art to be sited on Public Land and mentions that suitable sites will take into consideration the context for the specific artistic work and public safety.

Without wanting to list specific locations in the policy, staff have identified three locations in the municipality that would make ideal first sites to be considered for Public Art as the opportunity arises in the future: the park known as George’s Corner Park, Chancellor Park, and Helmcken Centennial Park. These locations provide geographic coverage (south, central, and north) as well as excellent visibility to the public. Other sites may be identified over time and the list is intended to be quite fluid – based on the many factors such as potential funding, surrounding development, artistic work to be acquired, and opportunities that may arise.

NEXT STEPS:

If this draft policy is approved, staff will be required to propose an amendment to the Reserves and Surplus Policy as well as prepare a bylaw for Council’s consideration to establish the proposed reserve fund – the Public Art Acquisition Reserve Fund.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that draft Public Art Policy No. 0100-053 be approved.

SUBMITTED BY:
S. Jones, Corporate Officer

REVIEWED BY:
K. Anema, Chief Administrative Officer