Alexandria is considering adopting a public art policy that would create a dedicated stream of funding for projects around town.
City Council received a presentation on the proposal Tuesday night at but will not make a decision on the matter until September.
Funding for the program would come from a percentage of Alexandria’s capital improvement project budget and from private developers submitting developmental special use permits at a rate of 50 cents per square foot of gross floor area for projects of 600,000 square feet or less.
Public art for larger development projects will be negotiated. Private developers may also choose to provide public art onsite.
The developer contributions are not uncommon in other municipalities. Arlington County receives a flat rate of $75,000 for public art from developments both small and large, according to Alisa Carrel, deputy director of Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities.
Securing public art funding through development projects has been in practice for sometime in the city, but Councilman Rob Krupicka said it has been done in a manner he considers “a little haphazard” and with “a little inconsistency.”
He said he believes the new policy will add some fairness to the practice.
“Having public art throughout the community says a lot about who we are. It says a lot about our character, a lot about our culture and a lot about our relationships to each other,” Krupicka said. “I think it’s a critical piece of our community culture, but also kind of a strong piece of what attracts people to us and fill up those hotel rooms. … I think this is a good, smart economic development strategy for the city. I think bringing some consistency and transparency to the development community is a good start as well.”
The city allocated $50,000 in its fiscal year 2013 budget to public art and it is proposed that the funding increases by $50,000 each year to reach $250,000 in its FY 2017 budget and $500,000 in FY 2022. The half-million dollar total would equal about 0.6 percent of the city’s capital improvement funding in FY 2022.
“Before we ask developers, there has to be public investment as well,” Vice Mayor Kerry Donley said.
Currently, cities like Baltimore and Charlottesville allocate about 1 percent of their public construction budgets to public art. Arlington County allocates about 0.5 percent, while Fairfax County commits no capital improvement project money to fund public art.
Councilwoman Del Pepper said she would like to see public art move beyond just public sculptures and have developers employ functional artwork incorporated into building and streetscape design.
“I hope the policy gets developers to think of [public art] in its design early on,” she said.
The city will also continue to seek private funding through individuals and grants, Carrel said.
Chris Fedderson
never rent a video; never go to the movies; wear crappy clothes from Goodwill; never doodle in the margins; etc. Yes, we do not live in a perfect world. We will never live in a "perfect" world. Does that mean we forgo all of life's niceties and beauty and culture? Of course not. We budget for as much of it as we can afford; you do it in your personal life and likewise we should [collectively] do it by way of our city development budgets. When we do build a school, we do not throw up a soul-less cinder block cube with absolutely no aesthetics whatsoever? No. we build a structure which is visually and emotionally pleasing; both for the students' comfort so they can learn more effectively, and for the pleasure of everyone who happens to pass on the street and look at it. Also, do not underestimate the revenue-generating capacity of art and an artfully-rich community. When was the last time anyone vacationed in the dregs of the inner city parts of Detroit or Pittsburgh vs. Broadway, Nashville, Los Angeles, Seattle? (BTW, I mean no disparagement of Detroit or Pittsburgh; they just epitomize our sense of really crappy inner cities.) Point here is that Art will directly, and Indirectly, enrich us... emotionally, socially, economically, spiritually, inter-personally. In every way imaginable.
http://alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/recreation/info/AEP3Alex.pdf Please let's not make the naive mistake of underestimating the importance of public art - and its essential / pivotal role within each and every neighborhood.
My heartburn is with spending tax dollars for art. I do NOT see it as a role of government.
For those really interested in valid reasons for tax dollars to go to public art - and to programs for the arts - following are even more references: http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2012/0301/Cities-are-banking-on-the-arts http://dearborn.patch.com/articles/art-installation-gives-edsel-ford-graduate-sick-kids-a-reason-to-hope http://www.artscorps.org/ http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/rahe http://www.thesah.org And finally, where do the nonprofits get the money for the programs you do endorse? Without some funding from tax dollars, they would cease to exist. For the sake of all the communities of Alexandria, please support public art. Susan Amber Gordon (Disclosure - although my comments are solely my own, and not in any way sanctioned by either organization, I am a member of the Public Art Committee of the Alexandria Commission for the Arts, and serve the all-volunteer Del Ray Artisans on its Board as Director, Outreach.)
I believe in the value of art, and support some arts programs. We simply disagree on who should pay for it. I don't think the government should pay for *anything* that is not an *essential* government service, which includes police, fire, limited regulation, education, and the like.