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What Tacoma Needs: Art Bike Racks
 by Rue on 8/13/2008 @ 12:27pm |
The NY Times featured super creative Talking Head dude David Byrne and a series of bike racks he designed. Could Tacoma use bike racks? How about artful bike racks?
Read about it. |
 by jane on 8/13/2008 @ 1:40pm | We need those up and down 6th Ave |
 by Marty on 8/13/2008 @ 3:07pm | IT was suggested that the New Tacoma Neighbohood Council funds some, but nobody was willing to take a leadership role in writing the grant. |
 by ixia on 8/13/2008 @ 9:43pm | A Cautionary Tale:
A year and a half ago, I wrote an innovative neighborhood grant for the 6th Avenue Merchant’s Association for 5 art planters along 6th Ave. The planters were old damaged surplus stuff from the city. The grant money was to be used as artist’s honorarium. The grant application required I get approval from the individual merchants where the planters were to be located. I also needed approval from the city’s Public’s Works Department. Both were no problem. After hiring the artists to embellish the planters I went to the city to ask for them. Apparently, things had changed and the planters were no longer available. .After a meeting with several city staff they agreed to look around for some planters, which they did. It took some time for the planters to get de-accessioned and for ownership to be transferred to the 6th Avenue Merchants, but after a few months we got them. Once the planters where done, we wanted them placed along the Ave. At this point I found out that a needed written permission not just from the merchants, but also the property owners close by (the planters were to be in public right-of-way - Not private property). Most property owners did not like the letter from the city because of liability issues. So the city sent another letter, stating the merchants’ responsibility for any planter liability insurance. After long negotiations with many property owners, I finally found 5 locations and supporting business merchants willing to let us put some art there. . Figuring we finally were ready to place the artwork along the Ave, city staff told me that they in fact too wanted to be on our insurance policy (An Accord Certificate and an Endorsement naming the City as an additional insured for $1,000,000 single limit combined for personal injury and property damage; $2,000,000 aggregate. The policy should state that the coverage is primary over and non-contributory with any insurance the City may maintain, and that the policy will not be cancelled or materially changed without 30-days written notice to the City . The endorsement also needs to include coverage to the City for "products-completed hazards". ) Caught in a bureaucratic maze, I called a meeting with city staff and some city council people. At this point the city informed that we needed a ‘street occupancy permit’. That costs $300 in original permit fees per location with a $ 90 dollar annual permit maintenance fee (?!?!) each year per location. I was also told that these projects are using too much city staff time and in the future groups like the 6th Ave Merchants will have to be billed staff hours for this. I can not tell you how incomprehensible this little grant has become. I wish I never would have touched it. The artists have done their work long time ago and have not been paid yet. The association’s membership, who supported the grant, and both Central and North-end Neighborhood Council who approved the grant application have not see the art work on the Ave yet. Until the city creates a Department of Common Sense I would not recommend anybody trying to place anything in the city’s right-away. Unless you have countless volunteer hours to burn, tenacity to stick it out, a day time schedule allowing you to go to city hall over and over again and an organization with major liability insurance and plenty of money for permits behind you, you will be out of luck. While the city does the talk of supporting public art and effective government, I have learned the hard way that reality is in direct opposition to that. I did write innovative grants before. We have been able to place art on 6th Ave before without this kind of hassle. Has the city machine gone kaput?? |
 by beerandhotdogs on 8/13/2008 @ 10:17pm | If it's any consolation, a city worker was out in front of our building last week with a measuring tape. I asked what was up, and he said we were getting planters painted by individual artists along the ave, "about 5 or 6" of them. Anyhoo...
C@TRH |
by ixia on 8/14/2008 @ 6:17am | yeah, that would be one of ours.
Basically any business that has a flower pot, a bench or a bike rack in front needs property owner permission, a 300 buck city permit with an annual 90 bucks permit fee and a million dollar liability insurance. Plus a nightmare of paperwork. Absolutely unreasonable! And here a thought the city had some real issues to deal with… |
by Rue on 8/14/2008 @ 8:34am | Wow, thanks for sharing, ixia. What a nightmare! I hope someone at the city sees this and can help streamline the process. One would think the city should be encouraging projects like yours. |
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