photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

“A Ribbon of Light,” by Dierk Van Keppel, hangs in the middle of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St., as shown in this file photo from July 2014. It is one of the art pieces funded by a city of Lawrence program that sets aside up to 2 percent of a project’s budget for public art.

With another high-dollar public art project on the horizon, Lawrence city leaders will soon discuss the city program that provides funding for public artwork as part of a project’s construction budget.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission will review the resolution governing the long-standing Percent for Art program as well as related city administrative policy. The resolution allows city leaders to set aside up to 2% of a capital project’s budget for public art and the policy sets out a process for selecting art or artists.

At the commission’s meeting Jan. 18, Commissioner Amber Sellers requested that the commission revisit the resolution governing the program. Sellers wanted to discuss how the resolution was interpreted, especially within the context of the commission’s recently created strategic plan. Mayor Courtney Shipley and Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen also said they were open to discussing the particulars of the program.

The city resolution and related administrative policy allow the commission to set aside up to 2% of a capital project’s budget to fund the purchase and installation of visual arts in public places. Any capital project more than $10,000 — including new building construction, building renovations, parks and parking facilities — are eligible for the program. Whether the Percent for Art is funded is the discretion of the commission, and the policy designates the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission as the body that oversees the selection process and makes recommendations to the commission.

The program was established in 1987, and has funded various public art projects over the years. That includes the sign for the Lawrence Public Library and the cut-glass sculpture hanging over the library’s staircase; the mosaic benches outside the East Lawrence Recreation Center; and the fountain outside Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health building, among other art pieces, according to a city staff memo to the commission.

A new sculpture funded by the program was installed outside of the recently renovated Fire Station No. 1 and the adjacent Senior Resource Center in downtown Lawrence. The city has also allocated $340,000 for an art installation outside the new police headquarters building. The Lawrence City Commission approved the design concept for that project in September amid questions about the message the piece might communicate. The metal pavilion includes artistic renderings of eyes meant to imply empathy, but some commissioners worried they might convey the idea of surveillance. One commissioner said he’d heard concerns about the content as well as the cost of the project.

photo by: Contributed rendering

This is a concept that artist Joe O’Connell has created for the artwork he is commissioned to complete for the new Lawrence police headquarters.

Another project funded by the Percent for Art program is also on the horizon. The city is preparing to build a new bus station this year, which will open in Jan. 2023. The commission has set aside $200,000 for public art as part of that project.

In other business, the commission will:

•Consider adopting a resolution establishing an additional election date and time for the city’s maintenance and Parks and Recreation workers, the third employee group seeking to unionize under the Teamsters.

•Receive a presentation from the director of communications and creative resources about the department’s work.

The Lawrence City Commission will meet virtually at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, and some staff will be in place at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St. The public may attend the meeting in person at City Hall or participate virtually by following directions included in the commission’s meeting agenda, which is available on the city’s website, lawrenceks.org.