To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: John Coates, Parks and Recreation Services Director
Prepared By: Katrina Gregory, Recreation & Cultural Arts Manager Meredith Nevard, Public Art Coordinator
TITLE:
Title
Napa Art Walk 2019-2021
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Receive a report regarding the 2019-2021 Napa Art Walk and dedicate the 2019-2021 Napa Art Walk in memory of Harry Price.
Body
DISCUSSION:
Napa Art Walk is a collection of temporary sculptures strategically placed along downtown retail corridors. The goals of the program are to:
• Create exciting, appealing and harmonious public environments by integrating outdoor art into public spaces
• Showcase public art that celebrates Napa’s historical, socio-cultural and aesthetic values
• Preserve and enrich Napa’s cultural environment
• Enhance the character of Napa through visibility of community-valued artworks
• Promote public participation and interaction with artists and artwork
• Stimulate the downtown economy through increased pedestrian activity and positioning Napa as an art destination
With each exhibit, a brochure is distributed through the Welcome Center, lodging properties, and various downtown merchants which provides a self-guided walking tour. The City has also contracted with Otocast, a mobile tour app which may be downloaded onto a smart phone for self-guided tours of art exhibits. Narrated by the artists themselves, listeners may hear about the art sculptures and what inspired their design as they take the tour on foot.
The City solicits art pieces for the Napa Art Walk through a request for proposals (RFP) process, and the City Manager appoints an Art Walk Jury of art professionals to evaluate proposed art pieces based on program criteria. The jury’s recommendations are submitted to the City Manager for approval, and the City Manager or his designee presents the selected art pieces to the City Council. The selected pieces are loaned by the respective artists in exchange for a stipend; the City enters into a contract with each artist and coordinates the installations and removals of each sculpture. Some of the sculptures are on privately owned property with formal permission from the property owner.
Over the course of the first five exhibits, 61 sculptures have been featured created by 50 different artists. Several pieces from these exhibits have been sold to private parties as a result of this display, which provides additional incentive and exposure to the artists and their art. For each piece sold, the program retains a 10 percent commission.
With each exhibition, the public is provided an opportunity to vote for their favorite sculpture. The People’s Choice winner of the 2017-2019 exhibition is “Treasures from the Sea” by LT Mustardseed. As the winner of the people’s choice award, the image of the artwork will be the cover of the 2019-2021 Art Walk map.
Staff is pleased to announce that the 2019-2021 Napa Art Walk program will have 8 sculptures along the downtown corridor (see Attachment 1). All pieces submitted for the sixth Napa Art Walk are intended to integrate and embody a “Sense of Place”. The aim of this exhibition is to prompt the public to identify their own symbolic and literal relationship to the environment(s) in which they live, and to inspire a recognition or creation of experience tied to the place in which the artwork resides.
The artwork installations will be completed by the second week in July. The artist reception and kick off celebration is scheduled for Tuesday, July 30th at 5 p.m. The Napa Art Walk website (www.napaartwalk.org <http://www.napaartwalk.org>) has been updated and is available for the public to learn more. The updated Napa Art Walk maps will be distributed by the end of the July.
Staff recommends City Council dedicate the 2019-2021 Napa Art Walk in memory of Harry Price. The proposed dedication statement will be on the art walk maps:
“Harry cared about the people of Napa and worked hard to make it a better place for all. Harry was a loving husband, father, mentor and friend to many in the Napa community. His vision and efforts as a successful developer and preservationist helped shape the beautiful downtown Napa that we all know today. Harry was also an immense supporter of the arts community. He provided space for previous art walks and sponsored numerous installations, purchased several artworks from the Napa Art Walk artists, and commissioned several public art pieces for permanent installation at the Napa River Inn and Historic Napa Mill property. With this dedication, the City of Napa is honoring Harry Price’s enduring support of Public Art and its long-lasting impact on our community.”
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
For the upcoming exhibit, the budget is estimated to be approximately $60,000 and is supported by the General Fund in both FY19 and FY20. Program costs include artists’ stipends, concrete work and pad creation, photography, collateral materials and printing, and part-time staff labor costs.
CEQA:
The Director of the Parks and Recreation Services Department has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Staff report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Napa Art Walk 2019-2021
NOTIFICATION:
None required.