Public art to be inventoried, mapped under new policy
As part of the new public art policy all of Oshawa’s public art will be inventoried and mapped, including this Clement Meadmore piece, titled Upstart II, outside of city hall.
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
It’s a first for Oshawa.
The Public Art Policy will set out the guidelines for the way the city acquires, manages, maintains and eventually disassembles any public art installed on city property.
The draft policy, approved by the community services committee last week, is part of the Culture Counts plan approved last year and will apply to any art in buildings or spaces owned by the city. These include parks, trails, roads, open spaces, courtyards, bridges, tunnels, boulevards and building exteriors, the policy states.
The art could be anything from sculptures to mosaics, murals to monuments or water and outdoor garden features. A public art committee will be created under the policy to coordinate certain efforts related to public art.
Survey information gathered from approximately 60 respondents was used when writing the new policy.
As part of the policy, current art installations in the city will be mapped and inventoried to better monitor them in the future.
“The Public Art Policy will provide Oshawa city council, city staff and the community with a clear and consistent framework for decision making and a process for the administration, selection and maintenance of public art in public spaces in Oshawa,” the draft policy states.
“We wanted this, what we’re doing in Oshawa, to be totally inclusive of the community,” Julie MacIsaac, manager of culture and centralized recreation services, told The Oshawa Express.
Missing from the policy was any mention of public consultation when making decisions on art installations or even the decommission and removal of existing pieces. MacIsaac assured that the omission was not intentional.
“The intention is really for every aspect of public art in the city, we would be consulting with the public,” she says. “Anything we do, the intention is to consult with the public. It’s art in public space and for the public.”
As part of the approved staff recommendation, funds in the Civic Property Reserve, sitting at around $498,000 this year, that are earmarked for the downtown mural program will shift to a new reserve to be created for this policy.
Currently, $7,000 has been going into the reserve each year.
The shift in funds will also be part of a review of public art funding models the city is set to undertaken this year.