ARTWORK DONATION & LOAN REVIEW CRITERIA

1. AESTHETIC
   1. Artistic merit of the work of art, including consideration of its artistic, social, and/or historical significance, as evidenced by the Artwork Donation Proposal (which includes a written description and drawings and/or maquette of the proposed artwork)
   2. Artist's qualifications, as evidenced by the Artwork Donation Proposal (which includes slides/photographs of past work, resume, references, and published reviews)
   3. Compatibility of the work of art within the context of the City of Austin Art in Public Places Collection
   4. Warranty of originality of an existing artwork (only original works or limited editions shall be considered)
   5. Provenance for an existing artwork
2. SITE
   1. Appropriateness to the proposed site with respect to its immediate and general social (audience) and physical environment (neighborhood)
   2. Scale, form, content, color, and design of the artwork in relation to the site (NOTE: Some city facilities, such as Town Lake or the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Passenger Terminal, may have specific design criteria or special conditions)
   3. Ecological impact (i.e., percentage of impervious cover, etc.)
   4. Accessibility to the public, including persons with disabilities
   5. Text components (i.e., signage and/or plaques)
3. INSTALLATION
   1. Site requirements for installation (i.e., electricity, lighting, water, or other services)
   2. Method of installation
   3. Storage requirements, if any
   4. Maintenance requirements
   5. Safety standards
4. FINANCIAL
   1. All costs associated with fabrication and installation (including site preparation, plaque and unveiling/dedication event, if any)
   2. Source of funding and date funds are available (i.e., must monies be raised through private fundraising or a city Cultural Contract before the artwork may be fabricated?)
   3. Estimated annual maintenance costs
   4. Amount and source of funding for annual maintenance costs
   5. Statement of value of artwork for insurance purposes (i.e., artist's commission contract amount or professional written appraisal of existing artwork
5. LIABILITY
   1. Susceptibility of the artwork(s) to normal wear and to vandalism
   2. Potential risk to the public
   3. Public access, in general, as well as compliance with ADA requirements
   4. Special insurance requirements
6. TIMELINESS
   1. Allowance of sufficient time for normal review process by the Department Review Committee, the Art in Public Places Panel, the Austin Arts Commission, and any other boards, neighborhood associations involved.
   2. Timely and appropriate response to Art in Public Places Panel and staff requests for additional materials or information
7. SPECIAL CONDITIONS
   1. Any conditions of the gift (or loan) imposed by the donor
   2. Donations/Loans that contain advertising will not be considered

1. Gifts of State may be accepted by the City Council and/or City Manager without the benefit of this review, according to the City of Austin Purchasing Policy; however, the Art in Public Places staff shall be notified of acceptance of such donation or loan (in order to accession and insure the work) and may be consulted to recommend appropriate siting, an annual maintenance program, etc.
2. Portable artworks on short-term loan to the City of Austin shall not be subject to review under this policy [i.e., for temporary exhibitions (generally 60 days or less) at the Julia C. Butridge Gallery, Dougherty Arts Center, City Municipal Building, etc.]
3. Donations proposed for Town Lake Park will be given separate and unique considerations as outlined in Approaches to Public Art for Town Lake Park, which recommends an innovative and comprehensive approach to commissioning and integrating public art within the 54 acres that comprise Phases I-IV of Town Lake Park. Constantly evolving, Town Lake Park is being revitalized as a cultural park, a place that promotes new ideas and contemporary attitudes. Therefore, the quality of the relationship between the artwork and the site is as important as the quality of the artwork itself. To assure that artwork is specific to the site, it the City of Austin requires that:

   • All artwork for Town Lake Park must be commissioned.
   • Acceptance of gifts of pre-existing artworks and the purchase of pre-existing artwork for Town Lake Park is strongly discouraged. Standard manufactured park amenities such as benches, picnic tables, plaques and lighting are under the jurisdiction of the Parks & Recreation Department and do not qualify as works of art.

   To assure artistic cohesiveness throughout Town Lake Park and to prevent a scattered disarray of static memorials, requests for new artwork commissions will follow the procedure outlined below under COMMISSIONING NEW WORKS OF ART FOR TOWN LAKE PARK*.

The Department Review Committee and the Art in Public Places Panel shall review this policy annually and make recommendations for revisions to the Austin Arts Commission as needed.

ARTWORK DONATION & LOAN REVIEW PROCESS

In order for an artwork donation or loan to be considered, the potential donor must obtain and complete an Artwork Donation/Loan Proposal form and submit it to the Art in Public Places Administrator. It is recommended that the donor discuss the proposal with the Art in Public Places Administrator prior to completing the form, as this may be helpful and save time. The process outlined below assumes that the donor has an artwork proposal in the form of drawings and/or a maquette or model or has a finished work of art to donate/loan (Please contact AIPP to see the Donation Flow Chart).

If, however, the donor has a concept in mind for which site approval is requested, the donor shall go through this process twice - once for conceptional/site approval and again for approval of the artwork itself. Donors who are seeking conceptual/site approval for an artwork for which they are seeking funding through the city's Cultural Contracts Program must go through this process prior to the Cultural Contracts review process (Please contact the Culutral Contracts office to see the Cultural Contracts Flow Chart).

• START: The Potential donor submits a completed Artwork Donation/Loan Proposal form with required attachments to the Art in Public Places Administrator. The AIPP Administrator shall contact the appropriate city Department Review Committee (DRC).

• STEP 1: The donor presents the proposed donation/loan to the DRC that oversees the city property, which the donor is seeking as a site. The DRC shall evaluate the proposal based upon all of the criteria listed above EXCEPT Aesthetics, which the Art in Public Places Panel shall evaluate later in the process. The purpose of this review is to determine the feasibility of the artwork.The DRC shall provide a list of other board(s), commission(s), and neighborhood association(s) that must also review the proposal.

• STEP 2: After a successful DRC process, the donor presents the artwork proposal to the Art in Public Places Panel (AIPP) for preliminary review based upon AESTHETICS; however, the AIPP Panel may also consider other criteria. If the AIPP Panel recommends major modifications to the work or determines that the donation/loan does not meet Aesthetic criteria, the process stops here. If the potential donor is willing to make minor modifications recommended by the AIPP Panel, the Donor may resubmit to the AIPP Panel and may be required to revisit the DRC.

• STEP 3: Donor presents artwork donation to other appropriate boards, commissions and/or neighborhood associations. Each group must provide written comments or letters of recommendation to the AIPP Administrator before the process may continue.

• STEP 4: Taking into consideration the input from all others involved in the review process, the AIPP Panel shall make a final recommendation to the Austin Arts Commission to accept the donation as presented. However, if the AIPP Panel declines the proposed donation, the process stops here.

• STEP 5: If the AIPP Panel review results in a recommendation to accept the donation with modifications, the new design shall be resubmitted to the Department Director for possible reconsideration by the DRC BEFORE the AIPP Panel makes its final recommendation to the Austin Arts Commission. If the DRC declines the proposal with the recommended modification(s), a redesign may be submitted for consideration or the process stops here.
• STEP 6: The Austin Arts Commission (AAC) reviews the AIPP Panel's recommendation.

• STEP 7: The AAC's recommendation is forwarded to the Department Director and City Manager and, if the donation is valued over $40,000 and/or the site is prominent, to Austin City Council for final approval.

Once the artwork donation approval process has been successfully completed, the City of Austin and the Donor shall enter into an Agreement for Placement of Artwork that legally conveys title to the City of Austin and includes the appropriate warranty of originality. The Agreement shall also enumerate any conditions of the gift that the City has agreed to accept and outlines the responsibilities of each party with respect to the donation, including installation and maintenance. In general, gifts shall be accepted without restrictions.

The Agreement may require the donor to provide engineer sealed drawings and shall require liability insurance during installation. The Agreement shall also require further review of major changes to the artwork. Once installed, the artwork shall be accessioned into the City of Austin Art in Public Places Collection and covered under the city's fine arts insurance policy for the stated value.

COMMISSIONING NEW WORKS OF ART FOR TOWN LAKE PARK

In the event that an individual or group has identified Town Lake Park as the appropriate site to commission an artwork to honor an individual or commemorate an event, it is recommended that a written Request for Consideration be submitted to the Art in Public Places (AIPP) Program in compliance with the current City of Austin Artwork Donations Policy. Proposals for gifts of pre-existing artworks will not be considered. Also excluded are standard park amenities such as benches, picnic tables, plaques and lighting that fall under the jurisdiction of the Parks & Recreation Department and do not qualify as works of art.

The written request must detail the following:

• Background on the individual or event to be honored.
• Importance of singling out the individual or event for special recognition.
• Historical and cultural significance of the individual or event to Town Lake Park.
• Connection to the cultural life of Austin.
• Commitment of funds, if any.

CRITERIA

The following criteria will be used in the review of the Request for Consideration:

• Relevance and importance of the proposed individual or event to the citizens of Austin and visitors to Town Lake Park
• Relationship between the site and the individual or event to be commemorated and whether it is in the best interest of both
• Relative compatibility or incompatibility of the proposal with the goals of Approaches to Public Art for Town Lake Park

DETERMINATION

If commissioning an artwork to honor the individual or event under consideration is judge by the AIPP Panel and the Austin Arts Commission to be compatible with the goals of Approaches to Public Art for Town Lake Park:

• The approved request will be place din priority order on a list of future public art commissions for Town Lake Park.
• The specific form that the commemoration takes and the nature of the artwork commission will be determined by the AIPP Panel when funding is available.
• If the individual or group making the initial request has an artist in mind to create the artwork, that artist may be considered by the AIPP Panel for a direct commission as an alternative to an open competition.

ART DONATION FORM

To submit a donation, please choose one of the following forms:

• Application Form (21 KB Microsoft Word file): This file is set up as a form. To complete the application, download the document, and use the tab key to advance to each field in the document.

• Application Form (10 KB Adobe Acrobat file): This file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the document. Print the application and fill in the appropriate information.