SR-305-002-06
C&CS:CAD:MLdH:HS:F:\CAD\COUNCIL\REPORTS\Solarwebfinal.wpd
Council Meeting: September 28, 1999 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
Subject: Recommendation to Authorize City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a
New Contract with Nancy Holt for the Fabrication and Installation of Solar
Web, a Permanent Public Artwork for the South Beach
Introduction
This report recommends that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate
and execute a new contract with Nancy Holt to fabricate and install Solar Web, a
permanent artwork for the South Beach.
Background
In 1984, the Santa Monica Arts Commission invited twenty-nine artists to submit proposals
for the Natural Elements Sculpture (NES) Park, a collection of public artworks which would
interact with the environment and be located in Santa Monicas coastal zone. On
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December 17, 1985, the City Council approved the siting and funding of the first two
artworks (Santa Monica Art Tool: Walk on L.A. and Santa Monica Singing Beach Chairs),
and approved the site of Solar Web (on the south beach near the border of Santa Monica
and Venice.) After substantial positive public input including letters, petitions and public
testimony, the City Council directed that this artwork by Nancy Holt be considered for
installation upon receipt of necessary funding. In 1989, the project was initially approved
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by the California Coastal Commission. Solar Webs next appearance before Council came
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on May 9, 1989 when funding for this project had been identified through a combination of
the Citys Percent for Art Funds and a $50,000 contribution from Southmark Corporation.
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At this meeting, Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract
for this artwork.
A second appearance before the Coastal Commission resulted in a direction to create a
Local Coastal Art Plan for all potential art projects in the coastal zone including Solar Web.
This plan was developed by staff and approved unanimously by the following boards and
commissions: the Santa Monica Arts Commission in May 1993, the Recreation and Parks
Commission and the Pier Restoration Commission in July of 1993. The Local Coastal Art
Plan was approved by Council on July 27, 1993. The plan was also approved by the State
of California Department of Parks and Recreation on September 22, 1993. On April 14,
1994, the Local Coastal Art Plan also was unanimously approved by the California Coastal
Commission which then issued a permit for Solar Web. A complete chronology of the
presentations and approvals of Solar Web is attached to this document (Attachment I).
Discussion
The Artwork and the Artist
Solar Web is an open structure made of dark gray aluminum tubing which will frame the
landscape -- ocean, sky and beach. At the center of the sculpture, dark gray five inch
diameter aluminum tubes come together overhead in a radiating twelve pointed "sunstar"
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reminiscent of Native American symbols. Solar Web varies in height from two and one-half
feet to sixteen feet at its crown, is fifty-two feet wide, and seventy-two feet long. An eight-
foot diameter rubber coated concrete circle beneath the apex can be used for seating as
one views the ocean. A diagram is attached to this report detailing the dimensions of the
artwork (Attachment II).
Once a year at solar noon, on the summer solstice, the ring in the center of the "sunstar"
framework will cause a circle of sunlight to be cast exactly in the circumference of the
rubber coated concrete circle below, marking the highest point of the sun in the sky, while
at the same time evoking an inverted, earthbound eclipse. Three concrete half-circles,
each measuring three and one-half feet high, emerge from the sand marking sunsets on
the summer and winter solstices and on the spring and fall equinoxes. At these significant
moments the sun will be framed between two rows of aluminum posts as it sets over the
half-circles and slips beneath the sea.
The proposed location for Solar Web is the south beach near the Venice border, southwest
of Santa Monica's landscaped linear park (Attachment III). Nancy Holt, the artist, was
specifically given the south beach area to create a gateway sculpture marking the
transition from Venice Beach to Santa Monica and signifying the beginning of the NES
Park. The proposed siting of Solar Web would place it at a distance of approximately 500
feet from the nearest Santa Monica residences.
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Nancy Holt, an artist known for her site-specific installations was invited to create Solar
Web specifically for south beach. Site specific artworks are inextricably bound to their
locations and the most significant part of their content is the relationship between the
artwork and its surroundings. Because of the manner in which the geography of the Santa
Monica mountains corresponds to the alignment of the sun, the artist, working with an
astronomer, determined that this precise site is necessary in order that Solar Web function
on the summer solstice and convey her artistic vision. Solar Web is fully engaged in its
environment and demonstrates a deliberate relationship with its setting: the beach, the
ocean, and the sun at that particular place. Daily transitions in each of these elements
produce changes in the artwork, enhancing the perception of all. As in much of Holt’s
work, an important theme is the attempt to create a harmony between the sculpture and its
surroundings that she achieves through the use of sight lines leading out of the work and
into the landscape. Solar Web explores and dramatizes the very significant bond between
the beach and the sun, a highly appropriate theme for an ocean side artwork, through the
exact alignment of the work with the solar solstices and equinoxes and the use of
shadows. By experiencing Solar Web, it is the artist’s goal that the viewer even more
deeply engages with the environment.
In the years since the project was originally proposed, Nancy Holt has become one of the
nations most acclaimed artists working in site specific environmental sculpture. She is a
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recipient of numerous awards including fellowships from the National Endowment of the
Arts, New York Creative Arts Fellowships, and a Guggenheim Award. Among her
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numerous public art projects are Sun Tunnels in the Utah desert; Dark Star Park in
Arlington, Virginia; Catch Basin in Toronto, Canada; Sky Mounds in the Meadowlands; Up
and Under in Nokia, Finland; Solar Rotary in Tampa, Florida; and Sole Source in Dublin,
Ireland. Ms. Holts work is included in an exhibition which opened in April at the Los
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Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
In conjunction with this exhibition, the Arts Commission, in partnership with the Santa
Monica Museum of Art, invited Ms. Holt to participate in the Museums Salon Series on
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Friday, April 9. Ms. Holt discussed her body of work and her design for Solar Web. City
staff notified 1,400 adjacent neighbors to the project and invited them to attend the
Museum presentation in order to learn more about this upcoming artwork. Notices for Ms.
Holts talk were sent to another 8,000 people on the combined Santa Monica Museum of
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Art and Cultural Affairs Division mailing lists. To further publicize the presentation, a press
release was sent to all local publications and media outlets. Members of the public with
questions about the artist and this project were invited to attend Ms. Holts presentation in
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order to learn more about the artwork. Approximately 200 people attended.
On February 22 and again on March 29, 1999, the Arts Commission voted to approve an
additional $40,000 from Percent for Art funds for the project, making funding complete for
installation. The 1,400 neighbors to the project were notified of the March meeting.
The Recreation and Parks Commission unanimously approved Solar Web in July, 1993 as
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a part of the Santa Monica Local Coastal Art Plan. However, on July 15, 1999, at the
request of a member of the public and again on August 4, the Recreation and Parks
Commission reviewed the current status of the project. The Commission recommended
that the City Council not award the contract to Nancy Holt for the development of Solar
Web as proposed with its current configuration, scale and site due to safety and open
space concerns.
The City’s Engineering Division has examined the engineering plans and determined
that the design is structurally sound. The City’s Risk Management Division has
evaluated safety aspects of the proposed work. In response to questions regarding the
possibility that a child could climb and fall from the artwork, Risk Management reviewed
the design specifications with the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC).
This independent federal regulatory agency develops guidelines for the safe design of
public playground equipment and publishes a handbook concerning public playground
safety. Based on the engineering details, the CPSC concurred with City staff that the
five-inch diameter of the aluminum tubing is too wide to enable young children to climb
it.
Risk Management also spoke to manufacturing experts regarding the heat absorption
properties of anodized aluminum. The Risk Control Officer reported that the five-inch
anodized aluminum tubing would not absorb enough heat from sunlight to cause
discomfort or burns to those who came in contact with it as aluminum dissipates heat
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proportionally. Heat absorbed on the side exposed to the sun would spread to the
unexposed cool side, keeping the overall temperature at a safe level.
In addition, the Risk Management Division researched the past ten-year history of
incidents on the beach. There have been no claims or incidents reported involving
public artworks in the beach area and there has been only one claim involving beach
playground equipment during that time.
Accessibility of the artwork to people with disabilities was an important concern of the
Recreation and Parks Commission in 1999. The City provides two all-terrain wheelchairs
for beach patrons which can be used to reach the Solar Web site. Disabled persons
showing a driver’s license or other identification are able to check out a wheelchair at no
charge for up to two hours. The “Landeez” wheelchairs are available at two locations, one
north of the Santa Monica Pier and another location near Ocean Park Boulevard, near the
proposed Solar Web site.
Another concern that has arisen during the recent extended public comment opportunities
is the validity of the California Coastal Commission permit issued on April 1994 and
renewed in October 1996 (Attachments IV and V). Attached to this document is a letter
from California Coastal Commission staff stating that the permit is valid and still in effect
(Attachment V).
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Budget/Financial Impact:
The current cost for the project is estimated to be $270,000. The original Solar Web
contract identified a budget of $72,500. Costs have increased due to several factors. A
significant portion of the increase (approximately $100,000) is due to increased structural
engineering expenses required by the City’s Engineering Division after the Northridge
Earthquake to ensure the work meets seismic requirements. Additionally, fabrication and
installation costs have increased substantially in the fourteen-year period since Solar Web
was initially proposed.
The project is financed from currently appropriated funds plus $75,000 recently donated to
the Santa Monica Arts Foundation by the J. Patrick Lannan Foundation, one of the
countrys most prestigious arts funders. The Lannan Foundation grant represents one of
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the last grants made by this organization and lends tremendous stature to the project in the
international art world.
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Source of Funds:
J. Patrick Lannan Foundation/Santa
Monica Arts Foundation $ 75,000
Southmark Corporation -
Development Agreement $ 50,000
City of Santa Monica Percent
for Art Funds $145,000
TOTAL $270,000
Expenditure Accounts for Percent for Art
and Southmark Corporation Funds:
C01008198.58900 $ 40,500
C01008196.58905 $ 69,000
C01008195.58905 $ 85,500
TOTAL
$195,000
Santa Monica Arts Foundation $ 75,000
TOTAL $270,000
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a new contract with Nancy Holt to construct and install Solar Web at the site
recommended herein.
Prepared By:
Barbara Stinchfield, Director, Community and Cultural Services Department
María Luisa de Herrera, Cultural Affairs Manager
Hamp Simmons, Administrative Analyst
Attachments:
I. Chronological History of Public Process for Solar Web
II. Diagram of Solar Web with Measurements
III. Solar Web Site Map
IV. Project Description from California Coastal Commission Application
V. California Coastal Commission Confirmation of Permit Validity
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