NEW BUSINESS  6.

COMMITTEE MEMORANDUM

KEY INTENDED OUTCOME:
Enhance Cultural and Recreational Activities

HISTORY:

The Art in Public Places Ordinance (No. 95-2985) was adopted in 1995 and was created to “enhance the aesthetic environment of the City of Miami Beach by including works of art on public property within the City and in City construction projects.”  The Art in Public Places program is funded by 1 ½ % of all “hard costs” of City capital construction projects, including new construction, additions, and costs for construction of joint private/public projects. As provided in Sec. 82-562 “Powers and Duties” of the Art in Public Places Committee, the Art in Public Places Committee shall recommend to the City Commission whether a particular proposed city construction project is an appropriate site for works of art and whether all or a part of the appropriation required by section 82-587 should be utilized at the site or, reduced or waived in its entirety or, placed, whether in its entirety or a portion thereof, in the art in public places fund for other acceptable uses.

The city commission shall also consider whether the funding source for a particular city construction project is restricted by public bond covenants; federal, state or local laws; and/or legal parameters which would require that the appropriation be utilized on the particular city construction project site, including projects funded by Miami-Dade County General Obligation Bonds, such as the Flamingo and Lummus Park projects. These restrictions also include projects falling within the Miami Beach City Center Redevelopment Agency, which encompasses the area bounded by 24th Street on the North, West Avenue on the West, 14th Lane on the South and the Atlantic Ocean on the East. As such, public art funds generated from capital projects located within the Miami Beach City Center Redevelopment Agency, such as SoundScape Park, are required to be located within the designated Redevelopment Agency boundaries.

The City of Miami Beach Art in Public Places Committee has recommended Soundscape Park as an appropriate site for public art and all of the appropriation required by section 82-587 was recommended to be utilized at the site. The Mayor and City Commission approved the site location and Art in Public Places allocation through Resolution 2009-7156. As well, the Soundscape Park Art in Public Places project was included as part of the FY 2015-16 Final Capital Budget through Resolution 2015-29144.

ANALYSIS:

After establishing the scope of the project, the Art in Public Places Committee, in consultation with New World Symphony staff, recommended forty (40) internationally noted sound artists for consideration. After thoughtful discussion and review of the artists’ previously completed works, on July 19, 2016, five (5) of these artists were selected by the Art in Public Places Committee to develop site specific audio installation proposals which may include video. The artists are noted as follows:

Bill Fontana (San Francisco)

Jenny C. Jones (Brooklyn)

Gustavo Matamoros (Miami)

Susan Philipsz (Berlin)

Stephen Vitiello (Richmond, VA)

On January 20-21, 2017, these five artists joined Art in Public Places and New World Symphony staff for a project orientation meeting, which included an overview of the facility, tour of the audio/visual technologies, and a New World Symphony WALLCAST concert. Artists presented their proposals to the Art in Public Places Committee and New World Symphony staff on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 in the acoustically equipped New World Symphony SunTrust Pavilion. Following discussion of all five proposals, the Art in Public Places Committee recommended San Francisco based artist Bill Fontana to implement his proposal, entitled Sonic Dreamscapes. The proposed project will utilize the 72 channel speaker system and projection wall in Soundscape Park, activating the space with a hybrid sound and video projection artwork designed to run through the course of a day and evening in Soundscape Park. The estimated artist approval process and project schedule is noted as follows:

Estimated Project Schedule

Commission Meeting- Referral NCAC                                                July 26, 2017

Design Review Board                                                                         October 3, 2017

Neighborhoods and Community Affairs Committee                            October 27, 2017

Approval City of Miami Beach Commission                                        December 13, 2017

Commissioned Artists Contract Approval Phase                                January 2018

Approval of Artist Contract                                                                  January 2018

Selected Artists Begin Full Design Development                                February 2018   

Project Completion (TBD based on selected proposal)                      Fall 2018 

As referenced in Resolution No. 2009-7156, funding for this project was generated from 1.5% of construction costs of the New World Symphony Parking Garage and Park Project, which totaled $352,155. As with all Art in Public Places commissions, 15% of the project cost is allocated for project management ($52,823), 15% of the project cost is allocated for future maintenance of the work ($52,823) and the remaining 70% is allocated for the commissioning of the public art project ($246,509).

At its October 3, 2017 meeting, the Design Review Board unanimously approved, at the required public hearing, the proposed project by artist Bill Fontana for SoundScape Park as to location, footprint, relationship to facility and the use of physically and aesthetically durable materials for its implementation and other relevant factors in considering its approval.

Attached is Exhibit A, which was presented to the Design Review Board and contains the artist biography; artist statement; images and audio of other completed public art installations; and a project description of the proposed work, Sonic Dreamscapes. 

CONCLUSION:
The Administration recommends that the Neighborhoods and Community Affairs Committee recommend the proposed SoundScape public art commission by artist Bill Fontana.