HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.1 Kaiser Public Art Proposal
ITEM NO: 8.1
STAFF REPORT
HERITAGE & CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION
DATE: June 8, 2017
TO: Honorable Chair and Commissioners
FROM: Tegan McLane, Cultural Arts & Heritage Manager
SUBJECT: Kaiser Public Art Proposal
By: Tegan McLane, Cultural Arts & Heritage Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Commission will consider a proposal by Kaiser Permanente to install a public art wall sculpture on its
building façade between Keegan and Lockhart streets, to satisfy the Public Art requirement for its new
Dublin specialty medical office and cancer center.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
As this is developer-installed artwork, as required by the public art ordinance. There are no City Funds
expended for the artwork itself.
While there is some minimal City staff time associated with preparing staff reports and advising developers
the art approval process, City Staff time is budgeted from the General Fund and is generally unaffected by the
choice of artwork.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Commission recommend City Council approval of the proposed public art for Kaiser
Permanente’s specialty medical office and cancer center project.
DESCRIPTION:
Kaiser Permanente is developing a three-story, 220,000 square-foot specialty medical office and cancer center,
Dublin Boulevard, located on Dublin Boulevard between Keegan and Lockhart streets. This building is Phase
1A of a larger Kaiser campus. (Attachment 1, Kaiser - Site Plan and Elevation).
As part of their Site Development Review approval by the City Council, the Developer opted to install public
art versus paying the in-lieu fee. Per the Public Art Master Plan, all private developers are required to meet
with the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission for review of the proposed artwork. Upon recommendation
by the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission, the developer is also required to seek final approval of the
proposed artwork by the City Council.
Artist Selection Process
The Public Art Master Plan encourages private developers to follow an artist selection process consistent with
the City’s policies for selection of artists and artworks. Kaiser employed a process similar to the City’s own
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“shortlist” method. After Kaiser’s architect on the project, Smithgroup JJR, proposed using the north side of
the building as a canvas for a large scale environmental art piece, the architect identified a shortlist of four
artists who had experience doing similar work of this scale. A committee reviewed the artists’ portfolios and
narrowed it to two candidates whose work would fit well with the architectu re. As one of these has work
throughout the Bay Area (including a piece at another Bay Area Kaiser facility and a piece at a Dublin park),
Kaiser selected Rob Ley, a Los Angeles-based artist, whose work is relatively unknown in the Bay Area.
Mr. Ley is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Southern California and has done commissions
for City of Los Angeles, Municipal Art Commission of Kansas City, Denver Botanical Gardens and Hewlett
Packard, among others. His only Bay Area piece was done for City of Emeryville. Mr. Ley’s work has won
numerous design awards and grants from organizations including the Seattle Design Commission, coD+A
(Collaboration of Design and Art), AIA (American Institute of Architects), Americans for the Arts, the
Municipal Art Society for New York and others. (Attachment 2, Kaiser – Artist’s Resume)
Mr. Ley’s proposed piece, Double Exposure, is a wall sculpture composed of 3,000 aluminum panels,
individually bent and painted with weather-resistant powder-coat paint, to reflect two different panorama
photos. Depending upon where the viewer is standing, the artwork appears to show either a cloudscape or a
tree canopy with autumn leaves. (Attachment 3, Kaiser – Artist’s Statement and Rendering)
The technique Mr. Ley will use for the Kaiser project is similar to the technique used on his May/September
sculpture, completed in 2014 for Eskanazi Hospital of Marion County (Indiana), which was selected that year
for the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review, whic h recognizes the nation’s best public
art projects.
Staff Review
Preliminary designs were reviewed internally by the City’s Planning Department and the Heritage and Cultural
Arts Manager.
Staff has noted the set-back from Dublin Boulevard and the fact that a parking lot, landscaped with trees, will
be between the building façade and Dublin Boulevard. Staff has shared with Kaiser the City’s preference that
public art be highly visible from roadways and has requested a rendering showing the piece from si dewalk or
auto vantage point and information on the landscaping trees planned for the lot, to help Commission and
Council evaluate whether the piece is adequately visible.
Staff has no concerns with safety or the design itself.
Community Outreach
In addition to including City Staff in the review and critique of the artwork, as specified in the Public Art
Master Plan, Kaiser Permanente also performed outreach to the Dublin community. Kaiser Permanente
sponsored a booth at the May 25 Dublin Farmers’ Market, giving the public an opportunity to Mr. Ley,
inspect preliminary designs and offer comments and concerns. Kaiser mailed 1,038 postcard invitations to
owners and occupants within a 300’+ radius. The outreach meeting was also publicized through the Dublin
Farmers’ Market Facebook page.
Numerous people stopped at Kaiser’s Farmers’ Market booth to discuss the project and 30 written comment
cards were received, significantly more than are typically received at a traditional open house. All comments
were supportive of the artwork.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
Kaiser Permanente was provided with a copy of this report.
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ATTACHMENTS:
1. Kaiser – Site Plan and Elevation
2. Kaiser – Artist’s Resume
3. Kaiser – Artist’s Statement and Rendering