Staff recommends the Council receive the presentation on the proposed City Public Art Policy and provide feedback on the policy. Staff plans to bring the policy back for approval at a regular business meeting following this Work Session review. 

Staff presented the draft Public Art Policy to the City Council at its July 7, 2025 Work Session, and the Council raised several questions staff were asked to address. This memo mainly outlines the major changes since the last presentation. The major changes staff has made since the July 7 Work Session, include:

• Public art approval 
  • Given the realization that the Charter prohibits committees from making administrative decisions, the draft policy proposes the City Administrator will approve projects with materials and installation budgets of less than $25,000. For projects over $25,000, the City Council will approve the projects. City Attorney, Gina Dahl, finds the City Administrator would be the most appropriate official to approve smaller public art projects as the City Administrator has the authority to “carry out policies established by Council” (i.e. the Public Art Policy); “enforce, laws, ordinances, and resolutions;” “administer the affairs of the City;” and “direct, organize, establish, supervise, and administer all departments, agencies, and offices of the city.” Staff believes this is preferable over an "implied approval" process suggested during the work session since it allows another level of review following the committee's recommendation and the City Administrator has frequent and ongoing contact with Council and can bring issues to the attention of Council in advance of decisions as appropriate.
• Maintenance Budget 
  • The draft policy has been edited to state that the 10% maintenance donation will be based on the cost of materials and installation. As several Council members pointed out, it can be challenging to determine the exact value of a piece of art when factors such as volunteer hours are included. In addition, a well-known artist may charge more for their work on a piece of the same size and medium as a lesser-known artist, yet both pieces may require the same maintenance effort and cost. Basing the donation on materials and installation provides a more consistent and standardized measure.  
  • Partners from Healthy By Design are working to establish a maintenance fund funded by third-party donors to serve as a "backstop" in case there are maintenance/removal costs not covered by the required donation. 
  • The draft policy requires the Public Art Committee report back to the Council on how the policy is working and whether any changes are recommended/necessary. This could include a reconsideration of the required maintenance donation amount if the committee/staff/council members determine an adjustment is warranted. 
  • For art on City-owned property placed on private property (i.e. commercial garbage containers), no maintenance budget will be charged. The private property owner/tenant will be completely responsible for the maintenance of the art. If a garbage container wrap is damaged beyond repair, the property owner/tenant can replace the wrap with an identical one without reapplying to the public art committee; any change to the design will require a new application. 
• Deaccessioning of artwork 
  • Given that committees cannot make administrative decisions, the public art committee will forward a recommendation of deacessioning to the City Administrator. 
  • Two additional criteria were added to the list for deacessioning, including:
    • A request by City Council approved by a vote of the majority of council members.
    • Any other criteria the committee, in its discretion, determines to be reasonable.

This draft policy takes into consideration input from local and national experts, local stakeholders, City staff, and the City Council. The most recent draft reflects edits from the Council and the Mayor, who submitted a Word document with proposed edits. 

City Council may:

• Recommend staff bring the policy for approval as a consent agenda item, with or without changes
• Recommend staff bring the policy for approval as a regular agenda item, with or without changes
• Recommend staff not advance the draft public art policy

The policy's implementation and the Public Art Committee will be managed by the Neighborhood Planner. This position is already funded. While it may take staff some additional time to review public art proposals, it creates a clear process as opposed to trying to individually figure out a process for each individual proposal. 

The draft policy includes a requirement for the applicant to donate 10% of the art project's cost of materials and installation to a fund held by the City to provide needed funds for minor maintenance and removal of art when the piece reaches the end of its useful life.