Pioneer Ways Arts

The City of Oak Harbor issued an RFP calling for artists to submit proposals for art to be placed on Pioneer Way since the street is being redeveloped. The deadline for the RFP was January 14, 2011. The City received 16 proposals. The City of Oak Harbor Arts Commission will review the proposals and make a recommendation to the City Council. This blog has been created to share information with the public on the proposals.

Project parameters

The RFP requested proposals for four possible locations along Pioneer Way. The general locations that are currently under consideration are:
1) City Beach Street and Pioneer Way - SE corner or general vicinity
2) Dock Street and Pioneer Way - NW corner or general vicinity
3) Ireland St and Pioneer Way
4) Midway Blvd and Pioneer way - NE corner or general vicinity.

Total budget = $80,000

The Art Commission considered the City Beach Street and the Midway Blvd location to be the entryways and therefore assigned prominence to these locations by allocating $30,000 to each of those locations.

The Art Commission may choose to change some of these location or allocate $$ based on the choice of artwork.

Friday, June 10, 2011

City Council Action

The City Council considered the Pioneer Way Arts proposals at the June 7, 2011 meeting.  After a long discussion they made the following motions ...


Motion Number One
MOTION:       Councilmember Campbell moved to approve the expenditure of funds from the Arts Acquisition and Maintenance Fund (0.25% Utility Tax Program) for the purpose of acquiring art for the SE Pioneer Way Improvement Project and to assist in achieving a GreenroadsTM  certification for the project.  The motion was seconded by Councilmember Munns. 

VOTE ON THE
MOTION:       Councilmembers Almberg, Campbell, Dudley, Munns, Paggao, and Palmer voted in favor of the motion.  Councilmember Severns abstained from the vote.  The motion carried.

Motion Number Two
MOTION:       Councilmember Campbell moved to approve the acquisition of public art pieces known as Mermaid and Moon Waves with a not-to-exceed total of $59,000 plus any applicable taxes.  The motion was seconded by Councilmember Palmer.
AMENDMENT TO THE
MOTION:       Councilmember Almberg moved to relocate Moon Waves to City Beach Street’s entrance.  The motion was seconded by Councilmember Palmer. 
AMENDING MOTION WITHDRAWN: 
Councilmember Almberg withdrew his amendment to the motion.  Councilmember Palmer withdrew his second to this motion.
VOTE ON THE
MOTION:       Councilmembers Almberg, Campbell, Dudley, Munns, Paggao, and Palmer voted in favor of the motion.  Councilmember Severns abstained from the vote.  The motion carried.

Motion Number Three
MOTION:       Councilmember Campbell moved to direct the Arts Commission to provide public comment opportunity on the Ducklings art piece and provide the results of that process to the Mayor.  The motion was seconded by Councilmember Munns.
VOTE ON THE
MOTION:       Councilmembers Almberg, Campbell, Dudley, Munns, and Paggao, voted in favor of the motion. Councilmember Palmer opposed.   Councilmember Severns abstained from the vote.  The motion carried.

Motion Number Four
MOTION:       Councilmember Almberg moved to authorize the Mayor to enter into contracts with the appropriate artists for the acquisition of the selected art pieces, Mermaid and Moon Waves.  Councilmember Paggao seconded the motion.
VOTE ON THE
MOTION:       Councilmembers Almberg, Campbell, Dudley, Munns, Paggao, and Palmer voted in favor of the motion.  Councilmember Severns abstained from the vote.  The motion carried.

From Councilmembers’ Comments Section
MOTION:       Councilmember Palmer moved to investigate art that could be used as entrance art for Pioneer Way and bring a recommendation back to Council on an upcoming agenda (no date was specified).  The motion was seconded by Councilmember Dudley. 

Funding For Art

The Pioneer Way Arts Project, initially scheduled for the May 17, 2011 City Council meeting was rescheduled for June 7, 2011 since the City in consultation with the State found that REET funds that were originally budgeted to fund the art pieces cannot be used for art.

In looking for alternate source of funds, it was determined that the best funding source for the project would be the Arts Acquisition and Maintenance Fund.  This Fund had approximately $57,000 and would therefore not be sufficient to cover the cost of four art pieces.  If the City Council chose to fund all the pieces at this time, they have the option of using funds in the Waterfront Redevelopment Fund or doing a inter-fund loan. 

Arts Commission in May

May was busy month for the Pioneer Way Art Project.  The Arts Commission met on May 9th and May 16 to formulate a recommendation to the City Council.  The recommendations evolved with each week due to changes in cost estimates and withdrawals of art pieces (Clouds and Vortex).  Georgia Gerber, who had originally proposed the "Salmon Window" replaced the art piece with Duckling since the previous proposal was similar to a piece that was installed in Everett.  The Arts Commission preferred the "Ducklings" and recommended it for the Ireland Street location.  The other recommendations were Moon Waves for Midway Blvd, Sea Life for Dock Street and Water Sculpture for City Beach Street.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Survey Results and Arts Commission Recommendations

The Arts Commission met on April 25, 2011 at the City Council Chambers to hear the survey results and make a recommendation to the City Council on the art pieces for Pioneer Way.

The survey results are available in graphs and charts.
The survey results are also available in counts and percentages.

After deliberation the Arts Commission made the following recommendations to the City Council:

City Beach St - In his Element (Seal)
Dock Street - Option 1 is Clouds II and option 2 is Water Sculpture
Ireland Street - Option 1 is Water Sculpture and option 2 is Fish out of Water (if Water Sculpture is selected at Dock Street)
Midway Blvd - Moon Waves

The recommendation is scheduled to be heard by the City Council on May 17, 2011.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

VOTE NOW - April 18th Deadline

The deadline for the Pioneer Way Arts survey is April 18, 2011.  The survey can be taken online here.  Surveys can also be printed and mailed in.  To print the survey click here.

Survey results will be presented to the Arts Commission on April 25, 2011 at 6pm at the City Council chambers.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Survey on the Pioneer Way Art proposals

A survey has been published to continue the public involvement process for the Pioneer Way Arts.  This survey will be taken into consideration as the Arts Commission and the City Council select the art pieces.   

The survey is available online - Pioneer Way Arts Survey
The survey can also be downloaded and printed if you would like to submit a paper version - Pioneer Way Arts Survey print version.  Please complete the print survey and drop it off at City Hall before April 18, 2011 by 5pm or you can mail it to City of Oak Harbor, Attn. Pioneer Way Arts – Karen Crouch, 865 SE Barrington Drive, Oak Harbor, WA 98277.  

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Surveys in the March utility bills

In an effort to provide more public input opportunities for the proposed art projects along Pioneer Way, a survey will be included in the March utility bills.  The survey will provide options to rate the proposed art projects on a scale of 1 to 10.  The Arts Commission will then use the survey feedback along with other criteria such as cost, maintenance etc. to make a recommendation to the City Council. 

The survey will be available online starting March 21, 2011.  A link to the survey will be provided here on this blog as well as the City's website and the Pioneer Way construction blog.  The deadline for the survey is April 18, 2011.

Hard copies of the survey can be dropped off at City Hall, 865 SE Barrington Drive, Oak Harbor.

Friday, February 25, 2011

February 28, 2011 - Arts Commission Meeting

The Arts Commission will meet on February 28, 2011 at 6pm at City Hall to continue discussions on the art proposals for Pioneer Way.  At the meeting the commission will finalize the list of proposals to be included in a survey that will be attached to the March utility billing cycle.  Including the survey with the utility bills will provide an opportunity for all households in Oak Harbor to provide input on the proposals.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

OPEN House - Pioneer Way Project Office - February 22, 2011

An Open House is scheduled on February 22, 2011 at the Pioneer Way Project Office.  The Pioneer Way Art proposals will be on display at the Open House.  The qualified artists have been requested to be present to chat with the public and share information about their proposals.  Attendees can provide feedback to the City that will help the Arts Commission further narrow the list of recommendations.  This is a great opportunity to meet the artists and learn about their proposals.

Location: Pioneer Way Project Office, 720 SE Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor WA
Time: 5:30 to 7:30pm

List Refined - February 14, 2011 meeting

The Arts Commission met on February 14, 2011 and further reviewed the art proposals for Pioneer Way.  The intent of the meeting was to take another look at the proposals after the presentations by the artist at the February 7, 2011 meeting.  The proposals that are currently moving forward in the process are listed below. (The photos on the right have been updated to reflect the current list moving forward).

MJ Anderson's "Sails" and Lunar Tides" (Images not on the blog)
Falkenhayn's "Water Sculpture"
Gerber's "Salmon Window"
Freeland Arts "Sea Life" and "Rain Column"
Hunt's "In His Element"
McJunkin's "Fish out of Water"
Lindsay's "Vortex" and "Cloud II"
Marcell's "Mermaid"
Pettelle's "Spouting Fish" and "Moon Waves"

Monday, February 14, 2011

February 14, 2011 Meeting

The Arts Commission will meet at 6pm at City Hall to further review the proposals.  This is a working meeting and the Arts Commission will hear from the City's Parks Division Manager Hank Nydam on the maintenance of the proposed art.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Proposal Photos

Photos of the proposed art projects provided by the artists have been added to the blog to the right.  Click on the picture to view the artist's website and previous work.

ps. A few of the artists have not provided website links.

Monday, January 31, 2011

February 7, 2011 - Arts Commission meeting

The Arts Commission will meet again on February 7, 2011 to continue its review process on the proposals.  The meeting will be held at the Council Chambers at City Hall at 6pm.  Artists that made the qualifications after the first review have been invited to speak about their proposal.  This is a great opportunity for all that are interested to learn more about the proposed art and the artists that designed them.

The Arts Commission would like to welcome the public to its meetings and provide feedback on the proposals.  Other opportunities to provide input will also be scheduled.  They will be in the form of public meetings, open houses and opinion surveys with the utility bills.

This blog has been setup as a forum for public input.  Please feel free to leave comments on the proposals.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

First review of proposals

The Arts Commission met on January 25, 2011 and reviewed the sixteen proposals submitted for the Pioneer War Street Improvement project.  The proposals were reviewed against the established criteria.  The proposals that qualified to proceed further in the selection process are listed below:

Note: the links below are provided with information available to date.  Requests have been made to the qualified artists to provide a higher quality picture of the qualified proposals.  The links provided below are to pdf documents.  Some web browsers(Firefox, Safari) will open pdf documents directly and others(Explorer) may require you to save the file before opening.  Depending on the security settings of your computer, standard warning languages may be displayed.  The City will post images directly to the blog as soon as we get more information from the artists.


Two Sails - Marble
Lunar Tides

Spring to Creek
Creek to River
River to Ocean

Salmon Window

In His Element

Pedestal(s) - crab

Vortex
Clouds

Fish Out of Water

“The Mermaid”

Twist

Skirting Waves
Sprouting Fish

Sea Life
Rainshower

Friday, January 21, 2011

Criteria Established

The Arts Commission met on January 18, 2011 at noon to discuss the criteria that they would like to use to evaluate the proposals.  The established criteria can be viewed here.

The Arts Commission will meet on January 25, 2011 at 6pm and review all the proposals against the established criteria.