Two El Cerrito Public Art Plans Advance

The largest public art project in El Cerrito history – abstract sculptures to be hung from 12 streetlight poles on San Pablo Avenue – won another key approval from the city's Arts and Culture Commission Wednesday night.

With four of the panel's five members present, the commission voted unanimously to select 12 designs and locations for the formal proposal that will be considered for approval by the commission at a public hearing in March. The designs and locations had won tentative approval at prior commission meetings.

Also on Wednesday night, the commission unanimously approved the city's newest public art project – a plan for commissioning an artist or artists to create "functional artworks" for the soon-to-open Recycling Center. The artworks would include shelving made from recycled materials, a gate for the compost area and possibly other features.

Both public art projects result from the city's Art in Public Places law, adopted by the City Council in 2005. The ordinance requires that new city or private projects costing $250,000 or more devote at least one percent of the development costs to public art. (It is Chapter 13.50 in the city's Municipal Code.)

Streetlight pole sculptures

Two artists – Jonathan Russell and Saori Ide of Berkeley – were awarded a $100,000 commission in an open competition sponsored by the city to create the sculptures as the public art component of the San Pablo Avenue Streetscape Project. The $6.6-million streetscape project is essentially complete except for the art, which was delayed by earlier disagreement over what direction it would take.

The commission Wednesday night approved placing two sculptures at the city's southern gateway at El Cerrito Plaza, with one next to Macaroni Grill and the other at the corner of Carlson Boulevard at the parking lot.

Heading north on San Pablo, the next grouping would be placed on three poles near City Hall. Next would be two at the busy intersection of Potrero Avenue, and then three next to the del Norte BART station. The final two scupltures would go near Home Depot.

Given that the BART station and Potrero Avenue locations are freeway access points and major traffic/transit nodes, four of the five groupings would be located at the city's main entrance points.

The commissioners indicated in their meeting last month that selecting City Hall for the fifth grouping would place them in a highly visible location of special civic significance.

On Wednesday night, Russell told the commission and that he and Ide are amenable to changing the location of any sculpture if the commission later changes its mind on placement.

Functional artworks at the Recycling Center

The commission's vote Wednesday night gave the green light for city staff to issue a call to artists in the nine-county Bay Area to compete for the $24,000 commission for creating the shelving, gate and other functional artworks at the new Recycling Center, expected to open sometime in mid-March with a formal opening ceremony on April 22.

A city staff report to the commission (attached to this article) projected that the artworks could be completed by October, which commission chair Joyce Hawley termed "optimistic."

The selection committee, according to the staff report, will likely include:

• Melanie Mintz, Environmental Services Division Manager, City of El Cerrito
• Garth Schultz, Environmental Analyst, City of El Cerrito
• 1 additional member of the Project Management Team
• 2 Arts and Culture Commission members
• 2 Design Review Board members