Fiscal Note
No additional City appropriation required.
Title
Accepting ownership of the sculpture The People’s Pronouns by Raymond Chi, located in Emerson East Park, 1915 E Johnson Street.
Body
WHEREAS, on August 1, 2017, in Resolution Number RES-17-00636, Legislative File I.D. Number 47596, the Common Council authorized the Community Development Division to execute an Inter-Agency Agreement with the Parks Division to expend up to $97,880 in federal CDBG funds for public improvements to two City parks; and,
WHEREAS, of the $97,880 in federal CDBG funds available, the Parks Division was authorized to use up to $40,000 to implement public improvements to Emerson East Park (formerly Pennsylvania Park), based on objectives identified in the Emerson East-Eken Park-Yahara River (EEEPY) Neighborhood Plan, which identified improving parks and greenspace as a priority; and,
WHEREAS, community members expressed their preference that the funds be used to enhance Emerson East Park with public art; and,
WHEREAS, on October 17, 2017 the City issued a request for qualifications for artists interested in creating public art proposals for Emerson East Park and ran an extensive, neighborhood-based, public process to select an artist and their proposed project for the location; and,
WHEREAS, as a result of the public art selection process, on February 27, 2018, the Madison Common Council approved Resolution Number RES-18-00139, Legislative File I.D. Number 50363, approving the initial concept design of The People’s Pronouns by Raymond Chi and authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute an agreement not to exceed $40,000 for the design, fabrication and installation of a site-specific public art feature for the park at 1915 East Johnson Street; and,
WHEREAS, City staff worked with the artist, the Eken Park Neighborhood, and City Agencies to refine the design to meet City agencies’ design concerns, and to include a third pronoun “US” to the approved design for the “WE” and “OUR” pronouns; and,
WHEREAS, on September 3, 2019, the Madison Common Council approved Resolution Number RES-19-00631, Legislative File I.D. Number 56886, authorizing the Mayor and the City Clerk to amend a contract between the City of Madison and Raymond Chi to provide an additional $30,000 in funding from the Municipal Arts Fund to complete the fabrication and installation of The People’s Pronouns according to the artist’s original vision, which included all three pronouns; and,
WHEREAS, People’s Pronouns were successfully installed in Emerson East Park, 1915 E. Johnson Street on Tuesday, December 3, 2019; and,
WHEREAS, the artist has submitted all necessary photos and other documentation for the project as specified in his contract,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Madison accepts ownership of The People’s Pronouns by Ray Chi, in Emerson East Park, 1915 E. Johnson Street.