The County's first formal Civic Art Policy and Procedures were adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on December 7, 2004. The Civic Art Program seeks to encourage innovative approaches to civic art, to provide County residents and visitors with access to artistic experiences of the highest caliber, to enhance the quality of County capital improvement projects through the incorporation of the skills of artists, and to provide leadership in the development of high quality civic spaces.
Key features of the policy and procedures are:
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The Arts Commission will develop an annual Civic Art Plan, approved by the Board of Supervisors, encompassing ongoing civic art projects and recommendations for projects.
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The Civic Art Program is charged with overseeing a condition survey of all historic and contemporary County-owned public art, and for updating surveys every five years. The Arts Commission, along with the CAO's office, will develop a plan for conserving artworks in need of special treatment.
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The Arts Commission plays an important role in reviews and approvals of new gifts and loans of civic art to the County (see Process for Approving Gifts and Loans of Civic Art).
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Some capital projects are exempt from the policy. These include refurbishments with costs less than $500,000 and streets, underground projects, flood control channels, and airport runways.
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Artists will be selected for new civic art projects through open calls or from a Resource List of Pre-Qualified Artists.
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Civic art projects, including artist selection, are guided by a Project Coordination Committee made up of key County departmental stakeholders, Supervisorial District staff, an Arts Commission representative, and community members.
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12% to 15% of the civic art allocation may be used for project management costs and other expenses associated with administration in accordance with the annual budgeting process.
For further information about the Civic Art Policy and Procedures, contact civicart@lacountyarts.org.