Title
Resolution to Approve the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission (AAPAC) Professional Services Agreement with Herbert Dreiseitl for Design Work to Propose a Project Integrating Stormwater in a Rain Garden Centerpiece for the Ann Arbor Municipal Center ($77,000.00)
Memorandum
In November of 2007, City Council adopted an ordinance establishing a percent for Art Program, which sets aside one (1) percent of the approved budget of large capital improvement projects to be reserved for public art with funding overseen by the commission. The Ann Arbor Public Art Commission (AAPAC) encourages greater community awareness of, access to and participation in the visual arts in Ann Arbor.
In 2004, AAPAC studied public art in other great cities to shape a strategic plan for public art. The study included reviewing best practices, processes for art selection and neighborhood access and suggested locations for public art installations in Ann Arbor.
For the first step of the planning process, each year AAPAC creates a public art plan, which prioritizes sites, projects and funds for art in the public places that the commission will support in the coming year. For FY09, the first year of the Percent for Art Program, AAPAC wanted to concentrate their energy and resources in one important project. The Municipal Center was the unanimous choice because of its central location, its access to the most people, and because art work there will become an integral part of our city government and community life for the next fifty years. This major priority means that percent for art funds from many projects is intended to be pooled with the theme of the art work related to the funding source has provided for in the ordinance.
The second planning step was for AAPAC to convene a Public Art Task Force, made up of community members, stakeholders, and city workers who would be using the municipal center buildings. The job of the taskforce was to prioritize art sites and projects at the Munic...
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