from today's Star....
Culture vultures thrive on public art policy
Plan requires builders of large properties to fund art, parks or community centres for all to enjoy
March 7, 2009
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Donna Jean MacKinnon
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
If you think the proliferation of public statues in Toronto is because developers are becoming culture vultures, think again.
The Percent for Public Art plan requires developers to spend 1 per cent of the gross cost of any project (residential and commercial) greater than 10,000 square metres on public art.
The old City of Toronto has had a public art policy in place since 1986, according to Jane Perdue, the city's public art co-ordinator. Five years ago, this program was amended to include the entire amalgamated city.
"If a developer wants something new or different approved, not covered under the city bylaws, the planning department negotiates public benefits," Perdue says.
Public benefits include amenities such as art, parks and community centres. Providing one of these extras is a criterion of approval of a development application.
Once a developer decides on a piece of artwork, the city's planning department reviews the proposal and considers the location, community needs and the context of the piece as a means of evaluating the benefit to the community.
Developers are asked to present proposals that are judged by a jury of three or five objective art professionals and someone from the community.
Once everyone agrees, the developer is committed to follow through, according to Perdue, who estimates that the city reviews about 15 to 20 public art plans annually.
"You only get what you pay for, so we encourage developers to run professional art competitions where art professionals vet the proposals," she says.
In October, Tridel unveiled a bronze sculpture in front of its new Meridian condominium, in North York. The work, called Dormez Vous?, is comprised of a bronze female figure reclining on the unfurling fiddleheads of a giant 6.5-metre-high fern.
In 2006, after negotiations with city planners, Tridel set aside a budget of $300,000 for a public artwork, according to Michael Smith, Tridel's director of development.
This sum covered administration fees, honoraria for artists' proposals and the cost of making the sculpture. About 85 per cent of the budget went to the chosen artist.
The entire process falls under Section 37 of the Ontario Planning Act.
Tridel originally engaged public art consultant Brad Golden to help allocate funds for the project. Golden describes how Section 37 enables the city to negotiate for more benefits on behalf of the public.
"In many ways, it's a levy or tax," Golden says. "Developers end up paying for things that usually come out of the public purse."
Tridel considers the public benefits a "soft" cost, accepting them as part of doing business, says Jim Ritchie, senior vice-president of sales and marketing.
Interestingly, under Section 37, a developer has the option of giving the 1 per cent levy to the city's planners and letting them decide how to spend the money on community enhancement.
"It's easier to write a cheque for 1 per cent and let the city implement something off-site," Ritchie says. "But I think installing art enhances Tridel's public image in the communities where we build."
Golden also identified 15 possible artists for the Tridel commission, which were then whittled down to a final five. At that point, the proposals went before an art jury – two art professionals, a North York community member and Meridian's architect and landscape architect.
Tridel executives who visited Alexander Moyle's bronze work-in-progress marvelled at his artistic process. First Moyle formed the reclining nude out of Styrofoam. Then he cut it into 40 pieces, so the foundry could manage the bronze casting. The large fiddlehead beside the figure was cut into 70 parts. After casting, Moyle welded all the bronze components together.
After all was said and done, Smith says Tridel was delighted with the results.
