SR-850-002 (8)
F:\CCSADMN\SHARE\ARTS\SMITHSONIAN MURALS\CCHE Grant.doc
Council Meeting: October 26, 2004 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Resolution Approving the Application for California Cultural and Historical
Endowment Grant Funds for the Conservation and Installation of the
Stanton Macdonald-Wright Mural Series at the Santa Monica Main Public
Library, authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary agreements
to accept the grant and approve the appropriation of grant funds upon
award.
Introduction
This report recommends that the City Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing
the City Manager to apply for California Cultural and Historical Endowment grant funds
for the conservation and installation of the Stanton Macdonald-Wright Mural Series
entitled, ?Technical and Imaginative Pursuits of Early Man? at the new Santa Monica
Main Public Library. The report also authorizes City staff to take all steps necessary to
implement the grant, if awarded.
Background
The California Cultural and Historical Endowment (CCHE) is a new state agency
established in 2002 with a main goal of creating a competitive grant program to fund
public agencies and nonprofit organizations that will share the many stories and
narrative events that embrace California?s culture and history. CCHE?s current source
of funding is an appropriation from the California Clean Water, Clean Air, Safe
Neighborhood Parks and Coastal Protection Act of 2002, more commonly known as
Proposition 40. A total of $122 million in Proposition 40 funds is available for the CCHE
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competitive grant program. This funding will be divided into three rounds over the next
three years with the current grant application cycle totaling $35 million, representing the
first round of funding.
In 2001, the City Council directed staff to work with the Smithsonian Institution to
arrange for the Stanton Macdonald Wright mural series to be returned to Santa Monica,
conserved and installed in the new Main Public Library. Since that time, City staff and
consultants have been working with key staff of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
(SAAM) to realize this project. In June 2004, the City received correspondence from the
SAAM indicating its willingness to enter into an agreement with the City for the long-
term loan of the mural series with the stipulation that funds for the transport,
conservation and installation be provided by the City. In July 2004, City staff retained
two local conservators, Dr. Duane Chartier and Ms. Susan Friend, and Dr. Ilene Susan
Fort, a curator from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with expertise in Stanton
Macdonald-Wright?s work, to examine the condition of the 38 mural panels in storage in
Washington, D.C. and in Los Angeles. They have prepared a condition assessment
report outlining in detail the steps necessary to bring each mural panel back to its
former luster. The cost of this work has been estimated at $230,000. The CCHE grant
program is a key source of potential funding for this project.
Discussion
The attached resolution provides the local approval necessary for the State to enter into
a contract with the City for the distribution of funds if the City is successful in obtaining
project funding. The grant program requires a 1:1 match and therefore, if approved, it
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would fund half of the costs associated with the packing, transport, conservation and
installation of the Stanton Macdonald ? Wright mural series on the second floor of the
new Main Public Library.
Budget/Financial Impact
The grant amount of $113,241 will supplement other City funding sourcesif approved,
with the local match amount of $115,887 being available in the Library capital
improvement project number C040491.589000. When the grant is awarded, the
following budget changes will be needed to record receipt of the grant funds and make it
available for program use: 1) Establish a revenue budget in the amount of $113,241at
account number 20501.406820; 2) Appropriate $113,241 in capital improvement project
number C200450.589000 (Main Library Mural Conservation).
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1) Approve the attached resolution approving the filing of a CCHE grant application and
authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute all necessary documents
relating to the California Cultural and Historical Endowment grant funds
2) Upon grant award appropriate the grant funds by approving the budget changes
described above.
Prepared By: Barbara Stinchfield, Director
Karen Ginsberg, Assistant Director
Department of Community and Cultural Services
Attachment I: Resolution for California Cultural and Historical Endowment
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