photo by: City of Lawrence

Public artwork that has been funded by Lawrence's Percent for Art program is pictured in a slide from a city presentation from the Lawrence City Commission's meeting on March 8, 2022.

Lawrence city leaders expressed interest Tuesday in reexamining how the city funds public art, selects artists, and places public art around the city.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission reviewed the city 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.

Commissioners agreed they’d like the community to be more involved in determining what public art should be and for art pieces to be more equitably distributed throughout the city. They said they wanted the public art program to be a key discussion point as the city works on its long-term plans regarding arts and culture.

Mayor Courtney Shipley expressed interest in looking comprehensively at public art programs that have been successful in other communities, and suggested that changes could go beyond the current Percent for Art program.

“There might be changes we could make here that are deeper and more comprehensive that would do what I imagine we all want, which is just to see a lot more art,” Shipley said. “… It’s a value that our community has, so I think it’s fair to look at what is working in other places to generate lots of art experiences.”

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 art in public places. Any capital project more than $10,000 — including new building construction, building renovations, parks and parking facilities — is eligible for the program. Whether the Percent for Art is funded is at 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.

In a letter to the commission, local artist Dave Loewenstein wrote that the city deserves a program that reflects the community more broadly and supports art and artists in a wider range of disciplines. He said he and others have advocated for changes to the city’s program that would employ a more equitable funding framework, diversify the types of art and artists eligible for projects and expand the places where new artworks could be located.

Commissioner Amber Sellers requested that the commission revisit the resolution governing the program and discuss how it was being interpreted. In response to questions from Sellers, city staff clarified that the commission may elect to designate less than 2% of a project’s budget if it chooses to do so. Staff also explained that because the program generally uses municipal bonds to fund the art, the art must be located at the site of the associated project, but that other funding sources could potentially be used to give the city more flexibility for where the art is located.

Sellers said she thought there were some opportunities to reassess aspects of the program, adding that she saw an opportunity to be less restrictive and place art in a wider radius across the community. The Parks and Recreation Department is now overseeing the city’s arts and culture program, and Sellers said the arts should be a big factor in the department’s ongoing work on its master plan.

Vice Mayor Lisa Larsen said after having gone over the resolution, she thought there was room for flexibility on how art is funded and located. She said the subject was ripe for community engagement, and that she’d be open to getting public input on the topic.

In other business, the commission:

•Voted 3-2, with Shipley and Sellers opposed, to adopt a resolution establishing March 22 from 8 to 11 a.m. as the additional election date for an employee group seeking to unionize under the Teamsters. The Teamsters and city administration disagree on whether certain positions should be included in the employee group, which consists mostly of maintenance and Parks and Recreation workers. The disagreement among commissioners was whether that issue, which is governed by a separate city resolution, should be addressed as part of the ongoing election or afterward.

•Received a presentation from Porter Arneill, the director of communications and creative resources, about the department’s work and the city’s community engagement efforts.