Weekly Poll: Public Art in Dublin
The City of Dublin is committed to providing public art throughout the city. The Dublin Fine Arts Foundation was formed in 1988 to “pursue artistic excellence in all cultural activities.” Dublin’s Public Art Policy was formed in 1997 to encourage private art in public places. Examples of these works include “Dublin Time” located at the Downtown Safeway on Dublin Boulevard and “Festivity” at the Ulferts Center (the red and chrome symbols of chopsticks and dim sum).
The funding for public art in private developments is provided by developers. All non-residential projects (e.g., the Promenade) and residential projects with more than 20 units are required to make a contribution to the public art fund. The current fee is set at 1/2% of the building valuation.
- As an example, the total building valuation at Phase I of the Promenade is $26M. At a rate of 1/2%, the project developer will be required to contribute $130K to the Dublin public art fund for artwork that will be placed in front of ClubSport.
The 1/2% fee is then “baked” into the home prices and lease payments that residents and businesses pay.
The City of Dublin also places public art in parks and community gathering places. For example, Dublin contributed $105K for the public art project at the Shannon Community Center.
While many residents feel that Dublin’s public art program provides many benefits such as inspiring civic pride among residents, some residents aren’t as enthusiastic. As recently noted by one Dublin resident, “I believe we spend too much on large sculptures, etc. It’s one thing if it’s some decorative feature, but isn’t nice landscaping and building design much more memorable and pleasing than (a statue)?” Another school of thought is that the residents and businesses of Dublin would be better served to have the 1/2% public art fee at least temporarily diverted into infrastructure projects to provide additional parking and improve traffic circulation in Dublin’s problem areas.
This week’s poll question is – What do you think about Dublin’s Public Art Program?
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9:12 PM on January 24th, 2009
I don’t know of any “public art” in Dublin, other than the underpass mural near Safeway.. Can anyone take a pic of something they know is “public art” in Dublin (stuff we paid for as tax payers that is)-water fountain in this pic seems to not fit what I’d call “public art”-
I think my problem with “public art” in the forms I think of and have seen is that I’ve seen cities spend hundreds of thousands on kooky statues of kids which they then put into the parks.. Um, the park is FULL of kids playing, why should we pay thousands of dollars for some statue of kids?–hahah– Worse still is the abstract stuff you sometimes see in city areas. They are ok to look at in some cases but wow, when you hear what they cost, you gasp in disbelief—
Instead of some abstract public art fund, I would rather the city take that money, put it into a beautification fund (where they’d take that money and buy up old buildings that are run down)—
3:26 PM on January 25th, 2009
Hey Gordon,
I understand your concern about wasted money.
Besides the murals on both Amador Valley Blvd. and Dublin Blvd. underpasses, there is the clock on Amador Plaza road in front of Safeway, the obilisk near McDonalds, the fountains in front of City Hall, the Globe inside the garden area of City Hall,the lifelike statues sitting around City Hall.
Did I get this correct or miss anything? Much of the original art at City Hall was from private donations, I believe.
3:28 PM on January 25th, 2009
oops. Forgot to identify myself on the public art issue. John L.
8:05 PM on January 25th, 2009
Thanks John for the info–
Yes, I don’t want to sound like a grumpy old man or something, but I just worry about stuff like this!
The clock at Safeway is a good example. If it was a gift, then cool, that’s nice and it’s not crazy looking. However, if Dublin spent anything more than $5k on it, I’d think “Wow, that money could’ve gone towards something better”- I like the fountains in the parks as well as pergolas in parks,etc…
11:27 AM on January 26th, 2009
I agree that some sort of Public Arts is nice to have, if it was a gift from donors or the developer, or a matching fund from the City of maybe $5k maximum. Anything more could be better spent on beautification and maintenance of the City’s infrastructure. Example is the Median along Dublin BLVD, most of the vegitation is dead with just bare dirt showing in between the remaining surviving plants, all the way from Tassajara to Village Parkway the median looks shabby being that it is Dublin’s main corridor. The median on Hacienda from 580 to Dublin BLVD, the vines there have overgrown and covers the decorative fences completely, spending a few bucks to trim them would be nice.
I know realistically these Public Arts funds collected likely cannot be used for other purposes. But when the Developer passes on the cost to propective tenants or buyers it make doing business in Dublin even that much more expensive. We all know about the extroardinary additional cost to open a restaurant in E. Dublin due to Sewer Fees, as a City lets not add to that cost by demanding various statues. The funds could be used to help ease the pain a little bit for prospective businesses wishing to locate in E. Dublin or for better material for the buildings themselves and the landscaping around them.
11:48 AM on January 26th, 2009
Honestly, I don’t notice many public arts in town. As the previous commenter said, we need to have more pavement improvement project along Dublin Blvd from hacienda to Doughterty. It looks like a dead zone, except with a few people jogging once a while. we should create a more pedestrain friendly corridor along dublin blvd. Currently, it is only for vehicle.
Instead of paying a high price for the Publc art, may be we can work with the art department of some local colleges to host competition. The money can be awarded to the students. This also create opportunities for those students who want to express their talent.
11:53 AM on January 26th, 2009
Hi MorganK – that’s an excellent suggestion for Dublin to work with local colleges (e.g., Cal State East Bay, Las Positas – especially now that they have a education hub in Dublin) and host competitions. It’s a win-win-win, the City would be able to conserve funding for other projects, the artists would get a chance for their “big break”, and the residents would still have unique public art sprinkled throughout Dublin.
Thx, John Z.
12:11 PM on January 26th, 2009
Great suggestion Morgan! We can even include or local High School, a chance for a budding artist to showcase. Funds/Awards for a winning project can be infused back into Dublin High’s arts department and possibly to a scholarship fund for fellow students aspiring to be an artist. It could generate more interest in the arts for our local school along with the local Universities and Colleges.