Art in its place
Program to put up public art where it’s least expected and most welcomed
By André Coleman 08/26/2010
Last November, the Fork in the Road — an 18-foot-tall guerilla art piece of a fork — was placed at the intersection of St. John and Pasadena avenues, sparking conversation about the need for more public art before city officials removed it in June. Although it is gone, the influence of the Fork in the Road lives on.
The piece — which was placed on city property without permits — has inspired the city to begin a rotating public art exhibit program that could finally bring public art to artistically barren Northwest Pasadena.
City officials have identified nine city-owned properties — including four in Northwest Pasadena — as future sites for public art, according to Arts and Culture Commission Chair Patrick Conyers, who hopes to duplicate the enthusiasm caused by the Fork in the Road.
“That’s what we would like to recreate with this program,” Conyers told the Weekly. “We want to increase the public’s interaction with public art by finding it in unexpected places, hopefully spurring conversation.”
The program is part of the Cultural Nexus Master Plan which directed the city to expand the public arts program where public art is not being generated by development. The plan calls for rotating artworks to be in every council district, with an emphasis on Northwest Pasadena.
“This is an exciting program with an emphasis on Northwest Pasadena,” said Rochelle Branch, the city’s cultural affairs manager. “The program offers opportunities for more Pasadena artists to participate. We hope they generate a lot of discussion without a lot of the emotional or financial investment a lot of the permanent exhibits inspire.”
In 1988, when the city started the public arts program, the City Council passed an ordinance exempting developers building in Northwest Pasadena from the required 1 percent fee for public art to encourage them to build in that area. As a result, the area is almost barren of public art installations, according to Councilwoman Jacque Robinson.
“Compared to the public arts opportunities that are available in other parts of the city, Northwest Pasadena really has nothing,” Robinson said. “Hopefully in the future we will get our fair share of artistic projects.”
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