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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSS 2020-02-24 Item 1D - Public Safety Plan - Fire Station Murals and Process Moving ForwardCity of Tukwila Allan Ekberg, Mayor TO: Community Services and Safety Committee CC: Mayor Ekberg FROM: Rachel Bianchi, Deputy City Administrator DATE: February 14, 2020 SUBJECT: Follow Up to Public Safety Plan Art Presentation ISSUE The City Council requested that staff provide the Community Services and Safety Committee with suggestions on resolving the issues around the prospective murals located in the new Fire Stations 51 and 52. In addition, staff would like to clarify information about the process for public art moving forward. DISCUSSION Overall Approach to Public Safety Plan Art The project team had the following approach to art associated with the Public Safety Plan: Ensure at least 1 % of the construction costs for each building to fund art in the buildings; goals exceeded on all three buildings. • Identify ways to maximize art opportunities to be community -led for the long term: o Create spaces for physical art displays o Create spaces for experiential art and events • 1 % for art policy adopted by Council at the beginning of the projects, but the Municipal Arts Plan was not yet complete; chose to put the 1 % into the buildings to honor Council's intentions. • Alignment with the Municipal Arts Plan once complete: o "Intent: Decisions regarding use of public funds for art and culture will provide a valance of project types and locations, based on the intent and vision of Tukwila Arts. • Art at purposely selected civic buildings ■ Art and culture that highlight the particular places that make Tukwila unique • Community engagement projects that emphasize the creative process ■ Community -wide culturally -based gatherings, events and performances." o Tukwila International Boulevard focus area: plan indicates "art can give identify to International Boulevard... bringing color and beauty to the street scape" and that art can "bring color and beauty to International Boulevard." o Community Events: "...shared, joyful experiences in park spaces, along the river, or along Tukwila International Boulevard. Such events could be City led, or community -based with City support... Instead of following models from elsewhere, Tukwila could adapt models to serve its community needs." 23 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 2 Fire Station Murals At the January 27 Committee of the Whole meeting the architects associated with the Justice Center and Fire Stations presented on the Public Safety Plan's art program and how the City is achieving the 1 % for art mandate. Concerns around gender and racial representation were raised about the murals designed for the two fire stations. At the subsequent February 3 Regular Council meeting, additional concerns regarding these murals were voiced by residents and a City staff member. Staff recommends that the mural program be sent to the Tukwila Arts Commission for discussion and ultimate decision on whether to accept or reject the mural program. This type of decision is within the purview of the Commission. Due to timing, with the Arts Commission meeting two days after this committee meeting, staff has already scheduled this item on the Commission's agenda. Should the Committee not concur with this approach, staff will pull the item from the Commission's agenda. In order to ensure transparency, the interested parties who testified on this issue, as well as representatives from the Fire Department, have been notified that the mural program is a likely agenda item for the Arts Commission at their February 26 meeting. Staff will follow up to let the interested parties know of the Committee's decision. There is precedent of public agencies in the region rejecting a commissioned piece of art for a variety of reasons. Accepting or rejecting an art concept, versus trying to make modifications to the concept, is best practice. Staff does not recommend trying to alter the current concept of the artwork. Honorina Indiaenous Cultures At the January 27 Committee of the Whole meeting, questions were asked about how the City should appropriately recognize indigenous cultures. While not explicit in the arts presentation, all three projects will contain recognition of the indigenous cultures that were in the area prior to white settlers. At the Justice Center, such recognition will be integrated into the large maple slab at the front door. At Fire Station 51, it will be included in the front lobby mural and in the plaza area at Fire Station 52. Programming Public Safety Plan Art Performances and Events As stated above, one of the main approaches that the team took to the Public Safety Plan Art program was to: • Identify ways to maximize art opportunities that can be community -led for the long term: o Create spaces for physical art displays o Create spaces for experiential art and events As the buildings come online and this approach is operationalized, policies will be critical to ensure that art, performances and events located at the sites are inclusive. As such, staff is currently developing policies on how the City selects art, vendors, performers and artists in an equitable fashion. These policies are in draft form and the Arts Commission will be involved in their review. As a result of the questions raised about the Fire Stations murals, staff now recommends that once that policy has been drafted and reviewed by the Arts Commission that it also go to the Equity and Social Justice Commission for review and comment. Additionally, as a part of implementing the City's adopted Equity Policy, one of the four priorities for 2020 is the development of an Equitable Outreach Toolkit. Goal 2 of the adopted Equity Policy reads: 24 INFORMATIONAL MEMO Page 3 2. Community outreach and engagement is relevant, intentional, inclusive, consistent and ongoing. The City often has important information to share with the community, and often seeks dialogue with the community. The City will create a community outreach and engagement toolkit to enable inclusive public engagement that all departments will use when seeking community participation. A subcommittee of the City's Equity Policy Implementation Committee (EPIC) is currently working on drafting the toolkit. Once the draft is complete the toolkit (along with the other products of the four Equity Policy priorities for 2020) will be presented to the Equity and Social Justice Commission for review and comment. The final toolkit will then be used when evaluating the City's engagement around art, events, performances and vendors at the new Justice Center and Fire Stations, as well as other sites programmed by the City. RECOMMENDATION Staff is seeking the Committee's concurrence to send the Fire Station mural program to the Arts Commission. 25