LTC 289-2017 Soundscape Public Art Commission~ MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# 289-2017 R TO COMMISSION
TO:
DATE: June 1, 2017
SUBJECT: Soundscape Public Art Comm ssion
The Art in Public Places Ordinance (No. 95-2985) was adopted in 1995 and was created
to "enhance the aesthetic environment of the City of Miami Beach by including works of
art on public property within the City and in City construction projects." The Art in Public
Places program is funded by 1 'Y:! % of all "hard costs" of City capital construction
projects, including new construction, additions, and costs for construction of joint
private/public projects. As provided in Sec. 82-562 "Powers and Duties" of the Art in
Public Places Committee, the Art in Public Places Committee shall recommend to the
City Commission whether a particular proposed city construction project is an
appropriate site for works of art and whether all or a part of the appropriation required by
section 82-587 should be utilized at the site or, reduced or waived in its entirety or,
placed, whether in its entirety or a portion thereof, in the art in public places fund for
other acceptable uses.
The city commission shall also consider whether the funding source for a particular city
construction project is restricted by public bond covenants; federal, state or local laws;
and/or legal parameters which would require that the appropriation be utilized on the
particular city construction project site, including projects funded by Miami-Dade County
General Obligation Bonds, such as the Flamingo and Lummus Park projects. These
restrictions also include projects falling within the Miami Beach City Center
Redevelopment Agency, which encompasses the area bounded by 24th Street on the
North, West Avenue on the West, 14th Lane on the South and the Atlantic Ocean on the
East. As such, public art funds generated from capital projects located within the Miami
Beach City Center Redevelopment Agency, such as SoundScape Park, are required to
be located within the designated Redevelopment Agency boundaries.
The City of Miami Beach Art in Public Places Committee has recommended
Soundscape Park as an appropriate site for public art and all of the appropriation
required by section 82-587 was recommended to be utilized at the site. The Mayor and
City Commission approved the site location and Art in Public Places allocation through
Resolution 2009-7156. As well, the Soundscape Park Art in Public Places project was
included as part of the FY 2015-16 Final Capital Budget through Resolution 2015-29144.
The Art in Public Places Committee is working collaboratively with the New World
Symphony to commission an integrated, site specific audio installation which may
include video for SoundScape Park. The commissioned work will make use of the
existing audio system designed by Meyer Sound Labs. This is the same system utilized
by the New World Symphony. If desired, artists may utilize the SoundScape projection
wall, should the artist determine a video component would complement the audio
installation. In addition, the commissioned artist(s) have the opportunity to include New
World Symphony Fellows in their commissioned artwork, if desired.
After establishing the scope of the project, the Art in Public Places Committee, in
consultation with New World Symphony staff, recommended forty (40) internationally
noted sound artists for consideration. After thoughtful discussion and review of the
artists' previously completed works, on July 19, 2016, five (5) of these artists were
selected by the Art in Public Places Committee to develop site specific audio installation
proposals which may include video. The artists are noted as follows:
Bill Fontana (San Francisco)
Jenny C. Jones (Brooklyn)
Gustavo Matamoros (Miami)
Susan Philipsz (Berlin)
Stephen Vitiello (Richmond, VA)
On January 20-21, 2017, these five artists joined Art in Public Places and New World
Symphony staff for a project orientation meeting, which included an overview of the
facility, tour of the audio/visual technologies, and a New World Symphony WALLCAST
concert. Artists presented their proposals to the Art in Public Places Committee and New
World Symphony staff on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 in the acoustically equipped New
World Symphony SunTrust Pavilion. Following discussion of all five proposals, the Art in
Public Places Committee recommended San Francisco based artist Bill Fontana to
implement his proposal, entitled Sonic Dreamscapes. The proposed project will utilize
the 72 channel speaker system and projection wall in Soundscape Park, activating the
space with a hybrid sound and video projection artwork designed to run through the
course of a day and evening in Soundscape Park. The estimated artist approval process
and project schedule is noted as follows:
Estimated Project Schedule
Commission Meeting-Referral NCAC
Design Review Board
Neighborhoods and Community Affairs Committee
Approval City of Miami Beach Commission
Commissioned Artists Contract Approval Phase
Approval of Artist Contract
Selected Artists Begin Full Design Development
Project Completion (TBD based on selected proposal)
July 26, 2017
October 3, 2017
November 17, 2017
December 13, 2017
January 2018
January 2018
February 2018
Fall2018
As referenced in Resolution No. 2009-7156, funding for this project was generated from
1.5% of construction costs of the New World Symphony Parking Garage and Park
Project, which totaled $352,155. As with all Art in Public Places commissions, 15% of
the project cost is allocated for project management ($52,823), 15% of the project cost is
allocated for future maintenance of the work ($52,823) and the remaining 70% is
allocated for the commissioning of the public art project ($246,509).
Please contact me should you have any questions.
JLM/KGB/ES/br