Civic Art

The LA County Arts Commission and the Homeless Initiative Second Dwelling Units Pilot Program recently announced the winners of the Yes to ADU Design Competition which invited artists, architects and engineers to submit concept designs for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)—also known as “granny flats”—as possible solutions to LA County’s homelessness crisis. The first place team—Anonymous Architects—each received $6,000 for ideas that included a “Barcode House” of interchangeable parts that can combined into a nearly infinite set of configurations to create customizable ADU structures (Ho) and a similarly customizable system utilizing building materials created from 100% recycled plastic packaging (Storey).

Some Place Chronicles is a creative placemaking project that features the people, histories and cultures of East Rancho Dominguez, Florence-Firestone, Lennox and Ladera Heights/View Park/Windsor Hills.

On February 7 the Rowland Heights Library re-opened featuring a work from the county collection by the late artist Dora De Larios. The work is a plaster veneer bas releif which was originally created in 1978 when the library first opened.

The LA County Arts Commission Civic Art Program is pleased to present the 2016–17 Annual Report. In FY 2016–17, a total of 62 civic art projects were actively managed and covered 60 communities reaching over 8,500 community members throughout the County.

In December, members of Americans for the Arts elected Clare Haggarty as a member of their advisory council for the Public Art Network Council. Haggarty will advise Americans for the Arts’ staff on developing programs and services that will build a deeper connection to the field and the network membership.

The LA County Arts Commission announces an addition to the County’s Civic Art Collection, a sculpture donated by renowned Mexican artist José Sacal. The artwork, which was originally created in 2012, honors two important women with roots in LA County, civil rights icon Dolores Huerta and LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.

Artist Sandy Rodriguez was placed as an artist in residence at the Recuperative Care Center at the Martin Luther King Medical Campus in Willowbrook, CA, in 2016-17. This residency was part of a $1.6 million investment in Civic Art funded through the LA County Percent for Art policy. A final evaluation report on the residency is available now.

KCRW
Segment on Press Play with Madeleine Brand

The Civic Art Program Annual Report provides a comprehensive review of projects completed in the 2015-16 fiscal year and their impact on the community. The Civic Art Program works with emerging and leading civic artists, County departments and communities to create artwork, exhibitions, temporary art and event-based programming for new and renovated facilities throughout Los Angeles County.

The Architect's Newspaper
By Mimi Zieger