To: HONORABLE MAYOR AND From: Jim McBride

CITY COUNCIL

Subject: SEE BELOW Date: November 24, 2003

COUNCIL DISTRICT: City-Wide

SUBJECT: AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF SAN JOSE AND ANNA VALENTINA MURCH AND DOUG HOLLIS TO FABRICATE AND INSTALL AN ARTWORK

RECOMMENDATION

Adoption of a resolution authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an agreement with Anna Valentina Murch and Doug Hollis to fabricate and install a water feature to be located in the New Civic Center for an amount not to exceed $2,350,000.

BACKGROUND

The City of San José is designing a new city hall, entitled "New Civic Center," which will be the centerpiece of a seven-block district of new and existing buildings, tied together by streets, walkways, courtyards, fountains, and plazas. The complex is to be located on the south side of East Santa Clara Street between 4^th and 6^th Streets. The site is 4.6 acres and will include an office tower, City Council Chambers, public plazas, and parking structures. A public art budget of approximately $4,000,000 has been established.

In 1999, the Office of Cultural Affairs initiated a project to develop a Plan for Art for the New Civic Center, working with the New Civic Center design and urban planning team to identify opportunities and make recommendations for the type and location of public art appropriate for the complex, and to recommend artist and artwork selection processes. Those recommendations were incorporated into the Plan for Public Art for the New Civic Center. Additional factors in consideration of the development of that Plan were project budget constraints and the analysis of ways to incorporate public art to add value to the architectural program, and awareness and sensitivity of the visual elements of the immediate neighborhood, including other public artworks. The Plan for Public Art for the New Civic Center was adopted by City Council in June 2001.

At its April 2001 meeting, the Arts Commission’s Public Art Committee reviewed a draft Plan for Public Art for the New Civic Center and directed staff to consider a program of both traditional and architecturally integrated artworks. The resulting Plan called for a prioritization of sites and resources, with the highest priority being a unique water feature on the north plaza near Santa Clara Street. A budget of $2,650,000 has been established for the development of this water feature.

Following Council approval of the Plan, a selection panel was convened on July 12, 2001, to review a pool of artists qualified to work in collaboration with Richard Meier Partners and the Department of Public Works to develop a design for a water feature for the north plaza. The panel selected five artists for interviews. Following presentations given by the artists on August 8, 2001, the panel recommended the team of Anna Valentina Murch and Doug Hollis to develop a design proposal for the project. On September 26, 2001, the Arts Commission approved the panel’s recommendation of Ms. Murch and Mr. Hollis to collaborate with the New Civic Center design team to develop an artwork design for the New Civic Center plaza. In October 2001, the City Manager executed an agreement with the artists to proceed with schematic design on the project for an amount not to exceed $100,000.

On March 26, 2002, after reviews by City and Redevelopment Agency staff, representatives from the Mayor’s Office, and an aesthetic peer review panel, the artists’ schematic design was approved by the Public Art Committee and the Arts Commission. In April 2002, City Council approved an additional amount of $150,000 to complete design development and construction documentation for the water feature.

ANALYSIS

Based on community meetings and extensive coordination with City staff and a professional peer review panel, the artists developed a design proposal for a water feature artwork for the north plaza. The proposal calls for a three-dimensional topographic field of monumental granite slabs. The field slopes from Santa Clara Street inward toward the plaza; the descending elevation gradually becomes level with the finish slab of the Civic Center plaza. Water flowing down the surface of the field subtly ripples onto the plaza. Water flows over the perimeter stone edges, disappearing beneath the plaza, creating walls of gently moving water that define the perimeter along Santa Clara Street as well as the wedge-shaped walls within the plaza. The water within the field is programmed to respond differently to the changing time of day, temperature, season and/or availability of water, to create different visual, sonic and atmospheric qualities.

Within the field are a series of stone boulder groupings surrounded by concealed water jet nozzles that will bubble and swirl around these boulders as if they are emerging or submerging from the water flow much like boulders in a river. Additional boulders are set into the plaza, providing a variety of seating opportunities.

Telescoping linear “vanes” of stainless steel tubing extend from the field and plaza 20 to 28 feet into the sky. These vanes deliver different qualities of mist or micro-mist through the air above the plaza to cool the plaza on warm days. The vanes move subtly in the air and form a delicate three-dimensional transparent screen, contributing another layer of texture and a transitional scale between the pedestrian and the monumentality of the building. On sunny days, the water vapor produced by the array of vanes will catch and refract prismatic light.

Programming of the piece will consider sonic and active qualities of the water, the velocity of water, water jet activity, and the misting vanes. The piece will be lit at night for a distinctive evening identity.

On March 12, 2003, the Arts Commission approved the artists’ proposal.

Payment shall be made to the artists based upon approved invoices consistent with the project budget. The agreement will also include a contingency holdback, to be paid out in installments upon satisfactory completion and performance of the artwork. The artists will be obligated to provide the City with insurance coverage, and payment and performance bonds related to the construction and installation of the artwork. The City’s Arts Program Officer, under the direction of the Director, will be responsible for general contract oversight on behalf of the City, including the authority to approve payment of invoices to the artists.

PUBLIC OUTREACH

Recommendation of the artists by the selection panel is reviewed by the Public Art Committee and the Arts Commission, both of which are publicly noticed meetings. Prior to beginning the development of the schematic design proposal, the artists conducted four public meetings in different neighborhoods throughout the City. At these meetings, the artists introduced themselves to the community through their past work, and facilitated discussions designed to gather information about San José and how the community sees themselves and their public spaces. The schematic design was presented to the Public Art Committee at a publicly noticed meeting open to the general public.

COORDINATION

This item has been coordinated with the City Manager’s Office, Department of Public Works, the City Attorney’s Office, the Risk Manager, and the Budget Office.

COST IMPLICATIONS

Total funding for the project is $2,650,000: $250,000 which has been paid to the artists for design services; and $2,400,000 for fabrication and installation, of which $50,000 will be held by the City as an allowance for hard costs related to facilitating construction necessary to integrate the artwork into the base building structure.

BUDGET REFERENCE

Fund #	Appn #	Appn Name	RC #	Total Appn	Amt. For Contract	2003-2004 Adopted Capital Budget Page	Last Budget Action
425	4620	Civic Center Public Art	425-67-	$3,340,000	$2,350,000	Page 928	10/14/03; Ord. No. 26997
		Total		$3,340,000	$2,350,000

CEQA

Exempt status, PP0-02-072.

JIM McBRIDE

Acting Director, Conventions, Arts and Entertainment