LTC 091-2023 Art in Public Places Committee Motions-February 21, 2023DocuSign Envelope ID: 88CC70BE-3046-47C7-ACD1-E1757DD6BA25
MIAMI BEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# 091-2023 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Honorable Mayor Dan 3o/brand Members of the City Commission
Rase e coo cds!.few«he
February 23, 2023
Art in Public Places Committee Motions-February 21, 2023
The purpose of this letter to the Mayor and Commission is to provide an update regarding
a motion made during the February 21, 2023 Art in Public Places ("AIPP") Committee
meeting.
At the meeting, the Art in Public Places Guidelines, which provide criteria for an artwork
to be deaccessioned, were discussed. This includes the following: situations where value
to repair work exceeds the value of the work itself; the work possesses faults of design or
workmanship; the work causes excessive or unreasonable maintenance; the work is
damaged irreparably, or to an extent where repair is unreasonable or impracticable; or the
work represents a physical threat to public safety.
Based on the criteria stated above, the Art in Public Places Committee made a motion to
deaccession the Beatles Mandala (Amor=Love), 2014 by Kevin Arrow (Bandshell Park,
Collins Avenue and 73" Street).
The above motion was approved, with the following members recommending
deaccession of the artwork: Marcella Novella (Chair), Michael McManus (Vice-Chair),
N ic k D'Annunzio, Yolanda Sanchez, and Ann-Kathrin Seif. Aaron Resnick abstained
from the vote.
To provide background, below is a synopsis detailing faults of design and workmanship at
the onset of the project and measures taken to conserve the artwork.
• February 6, 2015 the artist received final payment for artwork.
• February 23, 2015 the artwork began to show signs of faulty installation with
pooling of water inside the mosaic on the south east corner of the artwork
o Artist was notified of condition and per Artist Agreement with the City, under
ARTICLE 2, SCOPE OF SERVICES, Section 2.11(b)
ARTIST shall be solely responsible for conducting any and all inspections
of the Site for purposes of ascertaining the condition of same and for proper
execution of the Work, and completion and installation of the Project.
EXHIBIT A SCOPE OF SERVICES, CONSTRUCTION & INSTALLATION
COORDINATION
The ARTIST shall be responsible for construction oversight during the
fabrication and integration of all artist-designed components, whether
fabricated by ARTIST's subcontractors or included in construction
documents to be fabricated
• December 2015 tiles began popping out of the substrate
DocuSign Envelope ID: 88CC70BE-3046-47C7-ACD1-E1757DD6B A 25
• February 2016-O ctober 2020 (appro xim ate) Parks Department staff were trained
by the tile installer to reinstall dislodged tiles. Parks Department staff provided
hundreds of hours of in-kind maintenance over this fo ur-year period. By the
beginning of 2021, the substrate disintegrated to a point that tiles dislodged
im m ediately after installation and in-kind resources were not able to keep up with
the rapid deterioration.
• February 2, 2021, the C ity contracted with Torres Construction to repair the tile.
The scope of this project included sourcing specified tiles and materials,
installation of tiles (w ith possible gro ut and site rem ediation) and sealing the final
work to prevent future water intrusion. O verall, this process would restore this work
of art aesthetically, without addressing underlying fo undation issues. Missing tiles
would be ordered and installed within the mosaic in accordance with the initial
design and in collaboration with the artist.
• June 2, 2021, Torres Construction concluded the tiles were not able to be restored
and refunded the deposit to the City. The contractor fo und several areas that were
hollow under the fiber board, which means that water has disintegra ted both the
adhesive and fiber board. The contractor concluded that even an aesthetic repair
to the tiles was not possible, as the area below the fiber board was too dam aged.
As well, other areas of the mosaic had tiles fall off just by touching them .
• O ct ober 19, 2021, the A rt in Public Places Com m ittee recom mended rem oval of
the mosaic due to dam age that seem s most likely to be the result of the concrete
slab onto w hich it has been set, which was not canted to slough off water. Standing
water has deteriorated the artw ork.
• M ay 6, 2022 RLA Conserv ation prepared a com prehensive scope of work fo r the
docum entation, rem oval and catalogue crating of the mosaic. The estim ate fo r this
work is $60,000-$74,000. This am ount does not include security fencing fo r
duration of de-installation, re-surfacing of fo undation after removal, grass
replacem ent, etc., which would be an additional cost. Most notably, the cost of
reinstallation of the m osaic has yet to be determ ined.
• In late 2022, the artist proposed an altern ate solution that would involve filling in
the lost tiles w ith colored grout. However, after further study by the artist, this would
not pro vide the work with long-term stability moving fo rw ard without regular
m aintenance as loose tiles would continue to fa ll off and well-adhered tiles will
eventually becom e loose.
• The artw ork com m ission was $70,000, cost of rem oval and reinstallation exceed
the cost of the com m ission.
M em bers in attendance: M arcella Novella (Chair), Michael McManus (V ice-Chair), Nick
D'Annunzio, Aaro n Resnick, Yolanda Sanchez and Ann-Kathrin Seif.
For m ore info rmation, please contact Li ssette G arcia Arro gante, Director, Tourism and
C ulta~ Ii arro ante miam ibeachfl. ov or x26597.
MM
cc: