CAO 99-03
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Sergio Rodriguez
City Manager
Murray H. Dubbia~ ~
City Attorney I~~ \
C.A.O. NO. 99-03
C.M.D. NO. 2-3/99
FROM:
SUBJECT: ART IN PUBLIC PLACES / REQUEST TO REMOVE JUDY PFAFF ART WORK
LOCATED IN THE POLICE STATION
DATE: April 7, 1999
Pursuant to your request for a legal opinion of March 15, 1999 (with the requested back-up
documentation received by this office on April S, 1999), as requested by the Art in Public Places
Committee, the following memo addresses the Committee's inquiry as to what actions are permitted
by the City and the restrictions that exist relative to the removal, relocation, sale or disposal of the
Judy Pfaff art work currently located in the Miami Beach Police and Court Facility (the Art Work).
On November 18, 1992, the Mayor and City Commission approved Resolution No. 92-
20671, authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute an Agreement with artist Judy Pfaff relative
to the Art Work. The Agreement itself was executed on January 26,1993. The Agreement provided
that Ms. Pfaff would be commissioned by the City for the design, execution, fabrication,
construction, and installation of the Art Work, to be located in the lobby of the Miami Beach Police
and Court Facility, at 1100 Washington Avenue.
The Agreement states that the Art Work was created specifically for the Police Station
Facility, and only provides for relocation of the Art Work in the event of alteration to that site.
Section 4.13, entitled "Alteration of the Work or of the Site", states that "The City agrees that it will
not intentionally destroy, damage, alter, change or modify the Art Work in any way.... Should
alteration to the site be necessary, the City shall use reasonable efforts to relocate the Art Work as
a single work of art.
Removal, disposal, and/or sale of the Art Work is addressed in Sections 4.13 and 4.14 of the
Agreement. Section 4.13 states in part that "If the City should ever in time decide to destroy the Art
Work, the Artist shall have the right of first refusal to purchase the Art Work at the market appraised
value at the time of the proposed sale. "
.......
Section 4.14, entitled "Future Sale of Art Work", states as follows:
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The City recognizes that the Artist's knowledge that the Art Work is
to be displayed in a public area of a public building is a material
consideration enticing the Artist to enter into this Agreement. The
City further recognizes that the Artist only agrees to the terms of this
Agreement due to the public access to the Art Work that will be
provided by the City. As further consideration of the Artist's
performance under this Agreement, the City agrees that it will not sell
the Art Work for a period of at least ten (10) years after the date of
the initial installation of the Art Work. In the event the City decides
to sell the Art Work, the Artist shall have the right offrrst refusal to
purchase the Art Work at the appraised market value at the time of
the proposed sale.
The Agreement states that the Art Work was created specifically for the Police Station
Facility; Section 4.14 of the Agreement further states that the display of the Art Work in a public
area of a public building was a material enticement for the Artist to enter into the Agreement. It is
my opinion therefore that, for purposes other than to alter the present site wherein the Art Work is
located, any permanent relocation of same could only be accomplished through an amendment to
the Agreement, which said amendment would have to be negotiated between the City and the Artist.
Similarly, a sale or disposal of the Art Work at any time would also have to include the
participation of the Artist. In the event that the Art Work were removed or otherwise disposed of,
the Artist has the right, under the Agreement, of first refusal to purchase the Art Work at the market
appraised value at the time of the proposed sale. Additionally, under Section 4.14 of the Agreement,
the City agreed that it would not sell the Art Work for a period often (10) years following the date
ofinstaIlation of the Art Work. Following that, should the City decide to sell the Art Work, the
Artist would also have the right of first refusal to purchase it back under the same terms and
conditions as set forth above. Any changes to the Agreement would require negotiation of an
amendment to the Agreement.
Should you have any questions or comments regarding the above, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
lUAIkw
f:IATTOIAG\JRICAOI99-OJ.CAO
cc: Christina M. Cuervo, Assistant City Manager
Richard Barreto, Police Chief
Kaslyn Mohammed, Staff Liaison to Art in Public Places Committee
Denise Gerson, Art in Public Places, Chair
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