Calgary public art program may stay frozen as committee approves overhaul

Calgary's public art program could remain suspended until next spring until changes can be made to update how art is chosen.

The city's community andprotectiveservices committee met Wednesday and agreed torecommendations made in a report from city administration to update the controversial program.

The recommendations now move on to city council, which will discuss the report at a meeting later this month.

The review was ordered last fall after widespread outcry about the public art display at Bowfort Towers, near Calgary Olympic Park.

The half-million-dollar display was created by a New York artist and incorporates rock slabs held up by rusty steel beams. It has been called aneyesore and at first was deemed by some asinsensitive to local Indigenous artists.

The controversy sparked the report and a freeze on most new projectsuntil it was done.

"I know the board did take those conversations to heart and we are looking for opportunities to be, to provide a more engaging process," Calgary's public art board chair Katherine Wagner told theCalgary Eyeopenerbefore Wednesday's debate.

"Art, its very nature is subjective, and I think that the public art program allows us the opportunity to have those conversations."

Changes include locating art wherever needed

To fund public art, the city allocates one per cent of budgets of capital projects worthup to $50 million. For projects worth more than $50 million, the allocation dropsto a half per cent for the part over that amount. The maximum public art allocation for any projectis capped at $4 million.

In one of the biggestchanges, the committee agreed topoolpublic art money and give them the freedom tolocatepublic art projectsanywhere in the city.

For example, if the money comes from atransportationproject, the art display doesn't have to go next to the bridge or the interchange.

Should city council agree with the recommendations, city staff may be directed to look at changes, such as:

• Developing a program to encourage more art applications from diverse local artists.
• Forming a public art steering committee.
• Hiring an external consultant to review the public art board's mandate.
• Improvingvarious engagement strategies with thepublicand artists.

Because the changes will take time to implement, the committee suggested public art projects should remain suspended until early next year, adding four months to the program's current suspension.

There are still new works of public art underway because some were in the commissioning phase when the program was suspended. Small neighbourhood projects have gone ahead, as well as public artassociated with the 17thAvenue S.E. BRTproject.

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With files from Danielle Nerman, Scott Dippeland theCalgary Eyeopener.