HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.1 Sirius at Shannon Park
CITY CLERK
File # Dr9l[Q]~-0[Q]
AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: April 17, 2001
SUBJECT:
Artwork for Shannon Park
Report by Diane Lowart, Parks & Community Services Director
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Correspondence from Ron Nahas, President, Dublin Fine Arts
Foundation
2. Photo simulation of artwork at park
RECOMMENDATION: JJ& ~nsiderReqUest
FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Cost to the City - $30,000
DESCRIPTION: Correspondence has been received from Ron Nahas, President of the
Dublin Fine Arts Foundation, requesting the opportunity to discuss the acquisition of Sirius by Peter
Voulkos for permanent installation at Shannon Park (Attachment 1). The Voulkos piece is currently on
loan to the City and is located at the Dublin Civic Center. Due to the pending construction of the new
Library, the piece must be moved from the Civic Center in May 2000.
As discussed in the letter, Peter V oulkos is a major figure in contemporary art. He broke new ground with
his large scale, abstract experiments in ceramic and metal. Sirius was initially sold to one of the East
Bay's foremost art collectors and was placed on loan to the City of Dublin when the business park in
which it was located sold.
The Dublin Fine Arts Foundation had originally planned to provide artwork at Shannon Park through the
"Art in the Parks" program, however there is an opportunity to acquire Sirius at a very favorable purchase
price. Several locations at Shannon Park lend itself to a piece ofthis scope as shown in Attachment 2.
Although the Dublin Fine Arts Foundation has not finalized an agreement with Kemper (the owner of the
artwork) to purchase the artwork, they anticipate that the cost to acquire, move and install Sirius at
Shannon Park is $60,000. Thus, the Foundation is requesting $30,000 from the City, which is
approximately one-half of the cost. Funding from the City would not be needed until July 2001 so the
funds could be included in the Fiscal Year 2001-2002 Budget.
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and consider the request from the Dublin Fine Arts
Foundation to permanently install Sirius at Shannon Park..
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il 5, 2001
Ms. Diane Lowart
Parks and Community Services Director
City of Dublin
100 Civic Plaza
Dublin, CA 94568
Dear Diane:
As you know, we have requested that the City Council place us on their agenda
for April 1 ih to discuss the possible acquisition of Sirius by Peter Voulkos. This
piece has to be moved from the Civic Center shortly to accommodate the new
City Library. There is an opportunity for the Foundation and the City to acquire
this piece, and permanently install it at the Shannon Community Park. We have
identified a location at the pai"Kthat, we believe, would accommodate the piece
comfortably. I believe the City staff is preparing some digital overlays to illustrate
how the piece might be located on the site.
" .
. .
To ,date, the Art in the Parks program has been focused on commissioned art
which has been both functional' and representational. The Voulkos piece is
abstrqctart which is a.departure .for th(3 Foundation and forthe City. This is not,
in our opinion, out of keeping with the goals of the Foundation~ In our first
brochure prepared to help us raise funds for the Ned Smythe piece at the Civic
Center, we stated that "fine art offers a window through which our local citizens
can view the richness of the world of art." The Dublin Fine Arts Foundation was
formed to enlarge that view and window. It is in our view both appropriate and
desirable that the City's permanent collection be broadly representative of the
world of fine art.
Peter Voulkos is a major figure in contemporary art. He broke new ground with
his large scale, abstract experiments in ceramic and metal. This piece was
initially sold to one of the East Bay's foremost art collectors. When the business
park in which it was originally installed was sold, Kemper placed the piece on
loan to the City of Dublin. We now believe that we have an opportunity to buy
the piece for a very favorable price. The timing of the acquisition and payments
would be such that we will need additional financial help from the City. Our
recent request for budget allocation for Shannon Park was $13,500. In order for
the Foundation to acquire and move the Voulkos piece, we will need a
contribution of $30,000 from the City. If the City Council approves our request in
April, we will immediately endeavor to finalize an agreement with Kemper, and
will fund the relocation and any initial payments, pending receipt of the City's
contribution, after July 1 st.
P.o.
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ATTACHMENT 1
Ms. Diane Lowert
City of Dublin
- 2 -
April 5, 2001
Should the City Council conclude this is not an appropriate piece or an
appropriate location, we will, of course, proceed without solicitation for
commissioned artwork as we have done with the other Parks in the City. We will
not, however, be able to obtain artwork of this scale, impact or significance within
the budgets we have established.
Cordially,
Ronald C. Nahas
President
~~ ~fM:JA'{.ri
Marty D. Inaerbitzen
Vice President
RCN:sb
cc: Lynne Baer
Bonnie Leonard
Claudia McCormick
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