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ERIN MENDENHALL LORENA RIFFO-JENSON
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DEPARTMENT of ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Salt Lake Art Design Board Meeting
Wednesday,July loth, 2024
5:00 — 8:00 pm
PRESENT: Meggie Troili Tiffini Porter Alex Moya
Michael Mejia Angela Dean Colour Maisch
Staff Members
Felicia Baca, Executive Director,Arts Council
Renato Olmedo-Gonzalez, Public Art Program Manager,Arts Council
Amy Childress, Public Art Program Coordinator,Arts Council
EXCUSED: Jen Lopez
GUESTS: Nancy Monteith, SLC Public Lands, Landscape Senior Architect
Kat Andra, SLC Public Lands, Public Land Planner
Jamie Fogle, Design Workshop, Contracted Landscape Architecture
Consultant for Pioneer Park
Jinyoun Lee-Lodge and Scout Invie i, Finalists
Andrew Rice and Jason Manley 2, Finalists
Horacio Rodriguez and Cheryl Derricotte. 3, Finalists
Mission: To amplify art in Salt Lake City to enrich, enhance, and build a dynamic city where art and
artists thrive.
AGENDA
I. Call to Order, Introductions, and Welcome
Mr.Alex Moya welcomed everyone to the meeting and stated the Art Design Board's mission.
II. Approval of May 1st, 2024 Meeting Minutes
Ms. Colour Masich put forward a motion to approve the May ist meeting minutes,Ms. Meggie Troili
seconded; all Board members present voted in favor.
III. Pioneer Park finalist presentations (Potential Action)
Mr. Renato Olmedo-Gonzalez went over the Pioneer Park public art project background, scope,
artwork goals, and artist selection criteria for the Salt Lake City Pre-Qualified Artist Pool Request for
Qualifications (RFQ).The art installation ultimately chosen through this RFQ process will be the first
public artwork for Pioneer Park. Four areas within Pioneer Park's northern portion have been
identified as suitable locations for a public artwork: near the proposed playground, in the vicinity of
the north or north-east entrance of the park, or on or within the footprint of a future misting
fountain.Artists may propose another location of their choosing within Pioneer Park. The artwork
goals for the project: 1)presents an opportunity to enhance placemaking and define the character of
downtown Salt Lake City's primary green space; 2)Is inclusive, accessible, and welcoming for
individuals of all abilities,incomes, age,genders, and cultural backgrounds; 3)Responds to Pioneer
Park's layered history and provides value to future generations; 4)Recognizes Pioneer Park
importance as a place that serves visitors on a daily basis and connects individuals from the greater
Salt Lake metropolitan region to our downtown urban core; 5)Considers and incorporates
sustainable concepts and materials that will amplify Pioneer Park's goal to be a green space that
responds to our climate challenges; 6)Is considerate of the future resources required to support
elements within the proposed artwork(excluding the use of water) and provides a projection of
required resources to supplement proposals which include these elements; 7)Meets all public safety,
structural, and maintenance standards and complies with the Americans for Disabilities Act(ADA),
Salt Lake City requirements, and all other applicable laws, codes, and regulations.This RFQ was
open to artists in the 2023-2025 Pre-Qualified Artist Pool.To encourage the participation of more
artists,prospective Pool applicants were encouraged to apply as a team and given the option to have
team members who were not in the Pre-Qualified Artist Pool. Only Pool applicants who submitted
interest in being considered for this commission were reviewed by the Art Design Board and project
stakeholders.At the May 2024 Art Design Board meeting, 3 teams were selected to create proposal:
i)Jiyoun Lee-Lodge and Scout Invie; 2)Andrew Rice and Jason Manley, and; 3) Horacio Rodriguez
and Cheryl Derricotte.These teams will each have 20 minutes to give their presentations on their
proposals followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. Once all of the teams have presented their
proposals,the Board and stakeholders will discuss and hopefully vote on a proposal to be
recommended to the Mayor for commission.The Board may also decide to request revisions from
one or all of the artists teams and present their revisions at another Art Design Board meeting,or
decide to reissue the RFQ and start the Call for Artists process over.
The first team to present was Jiyoun Lee-Lodge and Scout Invie. Everyone present introduced
themselves.Jiyoun Lee-Lodge is a Salt Lake-based artist, she has both local and national public art
installations. Scout Invie is also a Salt Lake-based artist and writer who works mainly with fiber arts
and has collaborated with musicians and choreographers. They have been collaborating for the past
two years. The artists gave a presentation on their proposed artwork:Portals.Portals is an
installation of three stainless steel portal-like loops within an infinity form, engraved and cut out
with elements significant to the natural and human history of Pioneer Park.The sculpture's proposed
location will be within the footprint of the proposed misting fountain. The sculpture would be 1-3 feet
high by 13 feet long by 8 feet wide.The form of their sculpture was inspired by the concept of cyclical
time. The sculpture honors the past,present, and future of Pioneer Park.The sculpture is interactive
as it encourages visitors to walk through the arching rings.The three rings are themed by the concept
of time,the connection of people, and land/the natural history of Utah. The cutouts are inspired by
the quaking aspen,which is Utah's state tree,water,which has shaped the Utah geological landscape
over time, and language,specifically the different languages that have been and are currently spoken
in Utah. The team presented the board with two variations of their proposed sculpture.The second
variation has the will separate each ring from one another,but still allowing for people to walk
through them.To fabricate the sculpture,their team will be working with Metal Arts Foundry.Their
final budget is projected at $115, o0o and includes general expenses,labor, artist fee,contingency,
and fabrication and installation.The team asked several questions to the design team on what the
process would be with collaborating with the design team throughout the project.The board had
questions about how the sculpture would interact with the mist fountain and were concerned about
safety issues with the metal cutouts.The team was very open about making engineering and design
changes to their sculpture if needed.
The second team made up of artists Andrew Rice and Jason Manley gave their presentation next.
Everyone present introduced themselves.Jason Manley is a sculptor and professor of sculpture at
Weber State University.Andrew Rice,who joined virtually,is an artist who teaches printmaking at
Weber State University.They presented on their project:Drift.Drift will be a series of functional
sculptural benches.The benches will include collage imagery and poetry.The team was inspired by
how a fallen tree can represent both decay and renewal.They were also inspired by the writing of Salt
Lake poet,Nan Seymour.The location for the series of benches will be in the central northern part of
the park.The imagery will depict the geological landscape of Utah and the poetry will include writing
commissioned from local poets.Through multiple sculptures,the team wanted to create a more
dynamic installation that encourages the community to gather and create a space for connection.The
central sculpture of their installation includes a large cast aluminum tree trunk that has a bench
carved into it. The rest of the functional sculptural benches will all be cast aluminum and be shaped
in different ways,like tree branches.The total budget for their project tis $115,000 and includes a
stipend for poets, and fees for insurance, consultations,fabrication, installation,tools and materials,
and a contingency fund.They project that they will have the sculptures installed by Summer of 2026.
The board had questions about the colors of the benches and the texture,how the imagery will be
created, and how the imagery will be installed onto the benches. There were concerns about
vandalism, specifically people scratching the benches and mowing around the benches.
The third and last team to present was made up artists Horacio Rodriguez and Cheryl Derricotte.
Everyone present introduced themselves. Horacio Rodriguez is a Salt Lake City based sculptor,
working primarily in ceramics,who taught at the University of Utah's Department of Art&Art
History. Cherly Derricotte is a San Francisco-based sculptor working primarily in glass.The two
sculptors met while Cherly was the Warnock Artist-in-Residence at the University of Utah this past
spring.The team presented their project: 9 Pillars. 9 Pillars is a sculptural manifestation of the
diversity of ancestors who called the Pioneer Park neighborhood"home."The sculpture consists of 9
pillars that focus on 9 communities including the Shoshone, Goshute, Ute indigenous tribes,the
Mormon Pioneers and the black slaves that they brought with them, and the Italian, Greek,
Japanese, and Mexican communities who immigrated to Salt Lake during the turn of the century.
Each pillar is 15 feet high by 2 inches thick and made of powder coated steel and resin. The total
footprint of the 9 pillars is 11 feet wide. Each of the 9 communities are represented by medicinal
plant or culturally significant flower that will be laser cut out of the pillar.The preferred location of
the sculpture is a position that takes full advantage of the trajectory of the sun which is near the
central northern section of the park.The cutouts will create shadows and during the solstice the sun
will be aligned with the middle 3 pillars in the sculpture.The total budget for this project is $115,00
and includes artists fees, architectural renderings,structural engineering,legal fees,photography,
insurance, and travel expenses.Their full team includes fabricator, Stephan Cross, structural
engineer, David Dunn, and architect Brent Bowen. The board had questions about how community
members will interact with the sculpture,the symbols, and the choice of material.The team was very
open to feedback and making design changes.
Following the presentations,the Board discussed the three proposals.Mr.Moya felt that Jiyoun Lee-
Lodge and Scout Invie's proposal was the strongest but was concerned about the engagement aspect.
The board had technical, design, and material concerns about their proposal including the size of the
cutout designs in the metal.Ms.Troili was concerned about the safety of the cutouts. There were
concerns that the second variation they proposed was too similar to Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels, and a
public art sculpture in Park City commemorating the 2002 Winter Olympics.The Board had
concerns about how the imagery and poetry of Andrew Rice and Jason Manley's project was
incorporated into the sculptural benches and how it didn't seem to fit together. Ms.Nancy Montieth
was concerned there would be too many maintenance challenges with the benches being placed on
the grass. She said Horacio Rodriguez and Cheryl Derricotte's proposal had the least maintenance
concerns.There were risk concerns about the first proposal and the possibility of people hanging off
the Portals. Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez confirmed that the Public Art Program works with the City's Risk
Manager to mitigate these issues. Ms.Montieth felt like none of the teams created work that was site
specific to Pioneer Park and conveyed how the teams rather focused on the regional area but not the
specific narrative of Pioneer Park and its history.Ms. Colour Maisch agreed with Ms. Montieth's
comments. She felt like none of the proposals felt integrated into the park or acknowledged the
Park's multifaceted history.The Board and stakeholders agreed that the proposals were not site
specific to Pioneer Park.Ms. Felicia Bacca reiterated to the Board that they had the option to not
choose one of the proposals and reissue the call. Mr. Olmedo-Gonzalez recommended that the call be
open to national artists and went over the process if the call was reissued. He recommended that the
call be reissued in August. Ms.Maisch made a motion that the Board not proceed with any of the
proposals presented and choose to reissue the call nationally. Mr. Michael Mejia seconded; all Board
members present voted in favor.
IV. Public Comment
No public comment
V. Other Business/Adjourn
Ms.Tiffini Porter put forward a motion to close the meeting. Mr.Alex Moya seconded; all Board
members present voted in favor.