PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Arts Commission and the Public Art Committee will hear six finalists of 53 statewide artists give their presentations Thursday for a $70,000 outdoor art project planned to be integrated into the city’s streetscape project downtown.
Open to the public at 5 p.m. at the Northwest Maritime Center, 431 Water St., the first half-hour will give the public time to look at the artists’ materials.
“They’ve got this chance to make a presentation and we don’t know what they will present,” Rubin said.
From 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. each artist will have 10 minutes to make a presentation, followed by 30 minutes of public questions.
The arts commission’s selection panel will continue to accept public comment throughout the process, said Stan Rubin, commission chairman.
The artists selected as finalists after a statewide search are Gloria Bornstein, David Eisenhour, Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan, Robert Horner, Carolyn Law and Gerard Tsutakawa.
Project models
They are expected to be showing their project models.
“They are all professional and of very high quality,” Arts Commission Chairman Stan Rubin said.
Kris Morris, who chairs Public Art Committee, said the criteria by which the streetscape artist will be selected includes consideration of their history of high quality and potential, their demonstration of sensitivity to site context and their personal statements to the selection committee.
The finalists, who toured the streetscape work site last year, all demonstrated a sensitivity and knowledge of Port Townsend, according to Rubin.
The artwork will be integrated into the city’s streetscape project bounded by Quincy Street and Point Hudson Marina, south to north, and the waterfront to Washington Street east to west.
That project is already under way with work extending from the Northwest Maritime Center to the old mercantile building that formerly housed Port Townsend police.
1 percent set aside
The city of Port Townsend has set aside 1 percent of funding for the streetscape project to go toward a major public art project.
The selection process christens the city’s new art in public places ordinance, which the City Council approved last year in an effort to have a steadfast policy for future art and avoid diminution of projects such as the infamous tidal bowl downtown, which was the brunt of jokes being better known as the “tidy bowl.”
“It’s going to be a learning process,” Morris said, with the panelists getting their first look at how the artists connect their vision to the site and Port Townsend.
“It will need to be a work that will stand the test of time, be aesthetic and safe,” she said.
The work can be integrated with streetscape project pavers, benches and landscaping installed.
“We were looking for the best work for this site,” Rubin said. “Imagination and transformation and not in anyway offensive.”
He added that it is hoped that nothing will be predictable.
Upper Sims art
Rubin and Morris said the Arts Commission is now working with the Jefferson County Community Foundation to seek donations for artwork on Upper Sims Way where the city’s other streetscape project is under construction.
Artwork for the two roundabouts being added is possible, they said.
The final selection for the downtown project should be done by Feb. 15, Morris said, with the City Council ultimately making the final decision.
Those on the artist selection panel besides Morris and Rubin are Anne Kearson, Counsel Langley, Linda Okazaki, Rick Sepler, Kathy Howard, Tom Scharf, Rosalind Russell, Annette Huenke and Martha Worthley.
The artists models will be on display form Jan. 15-29 at a location to be determined.
The Arts Commission meets from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 1 at City Hall, 250 Madison St., and will accept public comment then.
“The artists are going to welcome the notion of public involvement,” Rubin said.
“We’re very eager to see what comes of this. We have hard choices to make.”
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.