WHEREAS, since its establishment, the Art in Public Places program has successfully commissioned and/or purchased over 100 works of fine art worth over $2 million for city parks and buildings throughout Austin that enhance the urban environment and enrich the lives of citizens and tourists visiting Austin for business or pleasure; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Austin Art in Public Places program is nationally recognized for its excellence and is looked to as an example by cities desiring to establish public art programs; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Austin is initiating and supporting numerous cultural endeavors, including, the George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center expansion, as well as the construction of the new Mexican-American Cultural Center and the Long Center for the Performing Arts, that will further strengthen the Arts in Austin and now is an excellent time to expand the capabilities of the Art in Public Places Program; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Austin is enjoying unprecedented growth that is propelling it into the ranks of a world class city and yet Austin is the only city in the United States with a public art program that has a cap on the percentage of construction budgets allocated for public art; and,

WHEREAS, the City of Austin Design Commission’s Downtown Austin Design Guidelines recommends lifting the $200,000 cap on single construction projects; and,

WHEREAS, with the current 1% allocation, the average Art in Public Places project budget is approximately $20,000; and,

WHEREAS, since the Art in Public Places Ordinance was passed in 1985, the cost of construction and inflation is continually diminishing the scale of artwork that may be commissioned and that such scale is vital to the impact a public artwork may have in relation to its architectural context; and,

WHEREAS, public artworks are small construction projects within large ones with the same requirements, including professional design work, engineer sealed drawings, liability insurance, durable materials that are easily maintained, equipment and tools, professional construction skills, etc., and, thus, public art budgets must be adequate to cover these costs; and,

WHEREAS, cities such as Portland, San Jose, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Corpus Christi allocate 1 ˝% - 2% of city construction budgets for public art; and,

WHEREAS, a larger percentage would insure adequate funds for public education programs, technical outreach programs for artists, maintenance of the AIPP collection and administrative costs; and,

WHEREAS, there are currently many lost opportunities for enhancing the city’s infrastructure, such CIP projects as roadways, sidewalks, bridges, underpasses, and tunnels and the City of Austin Design Commission’s Downtown Austin Design Guidelines recommends including art public infrastructure projects; and,

WHEREAS, the Great Streets Master Plan also advocates the inclusion of art in public infrastructure projects; and,

WHEREAS, there may be other infrastructure projects besides street improvement projects, streetscape improvement projects and bridges where the inclusion of public art would be appropriate, the Art in Public Places Panel and Arts Commission wish to review proposed infrastructure projects that are going to be included in bond propositions for recommendations to City Council on a case-by-case basis; and,

WHEREAS, the job title for the city staff position responsible for managing the Art in Public Places program is now called, “Art in Public Places Administrator”;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
That the Art in Public Places Panel and the Austin Arts Commission request City Council to revise the Art in Public Places Ordinance to:

a.) Remove the cap of $200,000 on Art in Public Places allocations for single construction projects;

b.) Increase the allocation for Art in Public Places from One Percent (1%) to Two Percent (2 %); and,

c.) Require CIP certain infrastructure projects to participate in the Art in Public Places Program, including: (1) Street Improvement Projects; (2) Streetscape Improvement Projects; (3) Bridges; and, (4) Other appropriate projects to be recommended by the Art in Public Places Panel and Arts Commission on a case-by-case basis; and,

d.) Revise all references to “Art in Public Places Coordinator” to reflect the new position title, “Art in Public Places Administrator”.

APPROVED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE
September 23, 2002
Andrea P. Bryant, Chairperson
Austin Arts Commission

[PLEASE NOTE: This resolution supersedes the resolution previously approved by the unanimous votes of the Art in Public Places Panel on April 9, 2002 and the Austin Arts Commission on May 20, 2002.]