Fiscal Note
No City appropriation required.
Title
Accepting City Ownership of Artwork in the newly renovated Madison Municipal Building and affirming the value of including art in the design of capital projects.
Body
WHEREAS, when preservation, conservation, art, and design inform a major civic building renovation project and are met with cooperation from architects, engineers, staff, donors and other critical members of the project team, it is possible to create an exceptionally beautiful and functional public space; and
WHEREAS, the public art plan for the Madison Municipal Building was to create a public space that 1) celebrated the historic significance of an important Madison Landmark, 2) provided local arts organizations and artists with the opportunity to loan contemporary art to the building to enhance the new and updated features, 3) commissioned new contemporary sculptural installations that harmoniously bridge the old and the new, and 4) created temporary exhibition opportunities for local visual, new media, installation, and performance artists and involve them in the building reopening; and
WHEREAS, a design team consisting of architects, engineers, the Arts Administrator, Madison Arts Commission members, and local arts professionals, actively participated in selecting specific works of art and identifying locations for their placement; and
WHEREAS, the selected artworks reflect a broad based community enthusiasm for beloved features from the old building and commissioning contemporary pieces for the newly renovated space; and
WHEREAS, the Madison Arts Commission commissioned Risë Christensen to create a mixed-media assemblage installation comprised of relics unearthed during reconstruction of the Municipal Building; and
WHEREAS, Aristotle Georgiades was commissioned to recreate a sculptural installation that he originally designed for “Municipal,” a one-day art takeover of the Municipal Building after it was closed for reconstruction, as ...
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