 | | | Image provided | | | | | | The Lafayette City Council at its Jan. 10 meeting voted unanimously to approve the installation of two works of art at the new Brant development by Lennar at the corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Dolores Drive. The decision was the culmination of three years of proposals and modifications from developer Lennar in coordination with the city of Lafayette's Public Art Committee and the Lafayette City Council, according to a report by Public Art Committee Staff Liaison Jenny Rosen.
The new artwork will be comprised of works by two separate artists. The first artist selected by the city council, ceramic artist Aileen Barr, will install handmade tile mosaic panels for planter boxes along the mews walkway leading from Mt. Diablo Boulevard to the public trail above the development, as well as a staircase design along that path. According to the staff report presented by Rosen, Barr's work will feature "colors and curved lines and stylized plant life that coordinate with the building and with the hills behind the development and culminate in a stairway featuring a flight of birds to the cloud and sky." Barr's prior notable work includes a similar stairway mosaic on the steps at Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
The second art feature will be designed by the art partnership Wowhaus, who was asked that the piece reflect the natural environment of Lafayette. It will feature a laser-etched, stainless steel, free-standing vertical totemic sculpture of Brant geese in flight as a nod to the name of the development, "The Brant." Lighting from the sun during the day and from an LED lighting component at night will illuminate a dot-matrix pattern, the staff report noted. This pattern will create an image of migratory birds and thereby also complement the design of the mosaic stairway of the first art installation.
The cost for both art installations is $302,960 and was made possible by Section 6-2603 of the Lafayette Municipal Code which requires not less than 1% of the final construction or alteration cost to go toward installation of public art. Further consideration for approval by the city council included a minimal cost of maintenance of these art projects. According to a proposal submitted by Leah Denman, project manager for Lennar, this will be accomplished with the durable nature of the high-fired tile artwork and the steel composition of the sculptural work, as well as its lightbox only needing replacing about every 10 years. The cost of the maintenance of these exhibits will be recorded with the county as part of the CC&R's for the condo's Homeowner's Association.
In reference to the new art installations Vice Mayor Carl Anduri stated,"This is exactly how the public art committee and the art requirement for buildings is supposed to work. These are truly exciting works that we are going to have in the city."
The artwork is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA