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HomeMy WebLinkAboutInformational Report - Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM) Proposed Sculptures for GardenSTAFF REPORT CITY OF PALM DESERT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT MEETING DATE: September 26, 2019 PREPARED BY: Amy Lawrence, Management Analyst REQUEST: Receive and file informational report on proposed sculptures Maiz Goddess, Standing Figure, and Big Skull and Hom in Two Parts /V for display in the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert located at 72567 Highway 111 Recommendation By Minute Motion, receive and file informational report on proposed sculptures Maiz Goddess, Standing Figure, and Big Skull and Hom in Two Parts /V for display in the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert. No further action is required at this time. Commission Recommendation At its regularly scheduled meeting of September 11, 2019, the Art in Public Places Commission voted to receive and file an informational report on the proposed sculptures with a unanimous vote of 6-0-1, with Commissioners Adney, Boren, Campbell, Hauer, Miller, and Myriand voting aye, and Commissioner Darby absent. Strategic Plan Obiective Activities at the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert (PSAM) create a better community for residents and visitors to Palm Desert. This concept is in line with the Arts & Culture Mini -Vision of the 2013-2033 Strategic Plan, Envision Palm Desert — Forward Together which states: "Arts and culture give a community its soul. Palm Desert is the cultural core of the Coachella Valley. Cultural tourism drives economic growth in Palm Desert. The community is host to internationally recognized cultural events that bring significant economic benefits to the City. Palm Desert is a leader in arts education, ensuring a well-rounded population that possesses high levels of creativity and critical thinking skills." Discussion On July 1, 2010, the City of Palm Desert entered into a lease agreement with the Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM) concerning the former Palm Desert Visitor Center located at September 26, 2019 - Staff Report PSAM Sculptures (Maiz Goddess, Standing Figure, and Big Skull and Horn in Two Parts ll� Page 2 of 2 72567 Highway 111. As part of this lease agreement, the City is responsible for 1) paying PSAM up to 20 honorariums for sculptures installed in the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden; 2) the cost to transport, install, and remove sculptures in an amount not to exceed $10,000.00 per installation; and 3) all costs associated with installation of sculpture bases/foundation and lighting. When the City entered the lease agreement with PSAM in 2010, the honorarium amount was set at $2,575 for each sculpture installed in the first year. The honorarium was scheduled to increase by $50 each year thereafter for up to twenty honorariums. PSAM is permitted to install up to five sculptures per year until the twenty honorarium limit is met. To date, the City has paid PSAM 11 honorariums. PSAM is planning to install three bronze sculptures in the Faye Sarkowsky Sculpture Garden by the end of the year. These sculptures are Maiz Goddess by Erwin Binder, Standing Figure by John Buck, and Big Skull and Horn in Two Parts IV by Jack Zajac. Because the lease stipulates the aforementioned terms, City Council action is not required. Therefore, this report is for informational purposes only. Fiscal Analvsis PSAM installed the first sculpture in 2012 which serves as the commencement date for the honorarium; therefore, the honorarium for 2019 is set at $2,925. The Museum estimates installation and site related expenses approximately at $25,000 for the three sculptures. This amount, and that of the three honorariums ($8,775), totaling $33,775, has been included in the City's FY 19/20 Budget. LEGAL REVIEW N/A Robert W. Hargreaves City Attorney DEPT. REVIEW FINANCIAL REVIEW -F _ 45� Ryan Stendell Director of Community Janet M. Moore Development Director of Finance City Manager, Lauri Aylaian: r APPLICANT: Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert 72567 Highway 111 Palm Desert, California 92260 Attn: Thomas Wooten ATTACHMENTS: Artwork Images, Dimensions, and Descriptions Placement Map ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER y Firestine Assistant City Manager Proposed Artwork for the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert Erwin Binder, American, 1934-93 Maiz Goddess, 1977 Bronze, edition III -III, 66 x 47'/2 x 20 112 inches Collection of Palm Springs Art Museum, gift of the artist — Binder spent much of his time in Mexico, where he found both a mirror and an inspiration for his life and art. His spare but voluptuous work is allied closely with the modern Mexican School due to the emotions of the figures as embedded in simple forms. This corn goddess has a robust and rounded body, with her hand held on her lower torso, conveying fecundity and connection to the earth. John Buck, American, born 1946 Standing Figure Bronze, edition 1/1, 97 x 41 x 35 inches Collection of Palm Springs Art Museum, gift of Steve Chase — A recurring theme in Buck's art is the solitary figure that represents a universal human spirit. Surrounded by symbols of contemporary society, Standing Figure is anonymous, without head, gender, or personality. The objects the figure supports suggest the burdens each person metaphorically carries on his/her shoulders. Each sign has its own possible meaning. For example, the stacking forms could allude to the modern urban environment while the spiral form may refer to a continuously spreading and accelerating increase in the world population. Through his art, Buck speaks to the precarious balance between man, nature and the survival of the planet. Jack Zajac, American, born 1929 Big Skull and Horn in Two Parts IV, 1962-63 Bronze, edition of four, 30 x 81 x 20 inches Collection of Palm Springs Art Museum, gift of the Estate of Lionel R. Bauman — In 1957, Zajac began working with a ram's skull and horns to create a series in plaster which possessed bone -like textures. Later he cast some of these, transferring the textured surface of bone to bronze. This sculpture resembles an archeological find, with its fragmentation, but its scale also recalls the modernity of Henry Moore's biomorphic human forms. Zajac transforms elements found in nature into elegantly monumental figures with a life of their own. He thus reworks found objects from the past into symbols of man's connection to nature and place in the cosmos. HVVY 1 I 1 1 pato � or amr,6gha POnsa Judd F}lanagan Pomodoro Georgesco Gallagher 0 Q