City of St. John s Public Art Program The City of St. John s Public Art Program consists of goals, definitions, policies, and procedures relating to the acquisition, maintenance, funding, and promotion of public art. Goals: to contribute to the quality of life of our citizens by increasing their access to the visual arts, to invest in the local arts community, to enhance our social, physical, and economic environments by displaying art in public places. Guiding principles: to provide opportunities for the citizens of St. John s to enjoy and appreciate art. to provide adequate funds to create and preserve public art. to use public funds to help establish and encourage new artists as well as acknowledging the works of artists who have spent years to achieve excellence in their work. to ensure that the process for acquiring public art is open, fair, and equitable. to protect and maintain public art. to make space available for public art. Definitions: Public spaces Because our mandate is public art and is funded by the public, the priority for installation of works is public spaces. Public spaces are defined as areas frequented by the general public including but not limited to interiors of city buildings (foyers, concourses, outer offices, waiting rooms, conference rooms, council chambers, sports facilities, city offices, parks, boulevards, streets, bridges) and exteriors of city owned buildings. Public Art Public art includes art purchased, commissioned, or received through the Public Art Program. Public art is considered to be art objects of a high quality which are located in public spaces. This includes but is not limited to: Sculpture in any material or combination of materials whether in the round, bas-relief, high relief, mobile, fountain, kinetic or electronic Painting, drawing, print, photograph, film or videotape Crafts, in any material or combination of materials such as clay, fibre, textiles, wood, glass, metal, plastic Architectural embellishments such as ornamental surface treatment, special lighting, landscaping or specific architectural design features.
Acquisition Public Art is acquired through procurement, commissioning, and receiving donations. The policies and procedures for acquisitions have been developed to ensure open, fair, and equitable competitions while at the same time ensuring that a quality art collection is built. Procurement: The goals of the City's Art Procurement Policy are three-fold: (a) to build a collection representing works of the highest quality by professional artists and artisans as a lasting legacy for City residents; (b) to support actively and encourage artists and artisans of the city, in recognition of the special dimension they contribute to community life. (c) in establishing this collecting policy, the City of St. John's acknowledges that its collection is being formed in trust for the public and that it has responsibility for the proper care and preservation of the collection in addition to providing adequate public space for the collection. To these ends, the City of St. John's commits funding for art purchases on an annual basis, under the following guidelines: Eligibility Preference will be given to professional artists or artisans residing or working in St. John s or environs. Methods of Purchase Works may be acquired directly from artists or by purchase through dealers to whom they have been consigned. Works will not be acquired from third parties. Art Procurement Jury I. Selection of works for purchase will be through an Art Procurement Jury appointed by the City Clerk and will act with an autonomous status reporting to Council. Membership of the Jury may consist of a practicing professional artist, a curator and/or community member knowledgeable about art, and a Councillor. The Archivist and Arts and Cultural Development Coordinator will serve as staff advisors and will not have any voting privileges. 2. Consultation will be made with members of the arts community, eg VANL, for jury composition. 3. Jury members are disqualified from directly or indirectly benefitting from their participation in the procurement process. Any City policy or By-Law respecting conflict of interest will apply. 4. Jurors may be asked to sit for two or more consecutive terms. 5. The jury will be convened during the spring of each year. Each jury member will be briefed concerning the objectives of the art procurement program, its guidelines and procedures, budgetary limits and the nature of the existing collection.
Selection Process 1. The City will publicize for three consecutive weeks an open call for submissions well in advance of the selection dates. This includes but is not limited to the local print media, and directly to applicable art organizations. 2. Artists will be invited to submit to the jury up to three pieces of artwork for consideration of purchase. For the purposes of pre-selection, artists will be required to submit either original artwork or slides or photographs of the item(s) that they are submitting. 3. Once an item has been pre-selected the artist may be asked to submit the actual work for further consideration. The artist will be required to sign a waiver exempting the City from liability in case of loss or damage to the artwork during the selection process. 4. The City will provide appropriate and adequate space for the selection process. 5. The jury will select works to be purchased within the spending limits as authorized by Council. 6. All unselected works, slides, and photographs will be returned to the artist at the end of the procurement process. Criteria for Purchase 1. Art will not be acquired as an investment, that is with the intent to dispose of it for profit at a later date. 2. The care and maintenance of the piece of artwork will be taken into consideration during the selection process. 3. The work will be of a high quality within its field, with respect to its imaginative and expressive aspects and its technical execution. 4. All purchased artwork will be reasonably priced with regards to current market values. Responsibility City Clerk, Arts Advisory Committee
Donations of Artwork On occasion, the City is given artwork and once received it is accessioned into the City s collection. Art acquired as a gift or donation should be considered in a manner similar to all public art and acceptance criteria should be in keeping with the city s overall desire for quality public art. Acceptance by the City must be considered in full awareness that public space is a valuable commodity and the acquisition of art by this means conveys a measure of esteem and importance to both donor and artwork. Council may ask the opinion of the Arts Advisory Committee on proposed gifts, and the following guidelines should be used in deciding to accept a gift as public art: Consider the suitability of the work (complements existing items in the public art collection) Consider the quality of the work Consider the suitability of the subject matter to public venue Where a specific site is identified, consider the appropriateness of that site Establish financial implications of acceptance: installation, on-going maintenance, insurance, future relocation or removal Where appropriate suggest provision by the donor for ongoing maintenance For a proposed donation, take all reasonable measures to obtain documentation of authenticity and ownership. If the donor requires a receipt, the City s Archivist will appraise or arrange for an appraisal and a receipt will be issued by the City. If the donor requires a receipt for Income Tax purposes, the City Archivist will arrange for an appraisal of the piece and a receipt will be issued by the City. For artwork that has not yet been created, if the proposal is accepted a memorandum of agreement will be drawn up outlining the responsibilities of each party. The agreement will address such issues as project funding, insurance, WHSCC (Workers Health and Safety Compensation Commission) requirements, location, maintenance costs and responsibilities, project supervision, project documentation, copyright and/or issues of ownership, etc. Artwork being proposed for installation on a public site in the City s jurisdiction should be treated in the same manner as gifts and donations. Responsibility: Council, City Clerk, City Archivist
Commissions For instances where the City commissions a new piece of art work, the following process is recommended: Commission Process 1. Maximum funding requirements for the cost of the artwork and the competition will be determined before the competition is called. This figure will be circulated with the competition call. 2. Terms of reference will be developed by City staff, a representative of the Arts Advisory Committee and if required, other appropriate people such as an architect. 3. An open invitation will be sent out to interested artists, art organizations and the local media well in advance of the competition closing date. 4. The City Clerk s Department will appoint a jury consisting of local artists and art community members knowledgeable about art and generally accepted and recognized as peers within the media as called for in the commission, a sponsor and architect where appropriate, and City representatives. The Jury will act with an autonomous status reporting to Council. I. The Jury will hold an information session for artists. II. If appropriate and warranted, short listed artists may be requested to submit a maquette or other visual representation. A fee, separate from the commission fee, will be paid for all maquettes. This will be taken into account when developing the Terms of Reference and determining the budget for the project. III. An opportunity may be provided for the public to view short listed submissions. IV. The jury will make the final decision regarding the awarding of the commission. Responsibility City Clerk, Arts Advisory Committee.
Preservation (Maintenance & Repair) The City preserves the integrity and security of public art by ensuring the development of artwork collection management systems with documentation standards and procedures modeled on museum practices, and with an ongoing program of maintenance and inspection of works of art in public places. The management, maintenance and general care of the collection is the responsibility of the City Archivist. Any repairs, restoration, salvage, preservation, or conservation of art will be done by a conservator under the supervision by the City Archivist. Promotion: Engaging the Public with art The City of St. John s provides opportunities for the public to enjoy and learn about art through: Highly publicized acquisitions and commission calls Opportunities for the public to view new acquisitions New acquisitions are temporarily displayed in the Great Hall before being installed Displaying public art in buildings and office that have a lot of public traffic Rotation of selected pieces every four years Annual guided art tours of selected pieces A booklet of the inventory for public distribution including: -artist s name -description of piece -date of completion -location of piece -medium and materials of the piece -photograph of piece [pending copyright permission] -information about the art work and artist The City also maintains an inventory of potential public spaces for art.