Oro Valley Considers Public Art Changes

The Oro ValleyPlanning and Zoning Commission will be hearing a zoning code text amendment on public art.   According to the Planning and Zoning staff report, changes to how public art is determined were requested by the Oro Valley Town Council last May.

The amendment draft amendment addresses the following:

• Establishes a Call For Artists process for public art over $10,000 in value
• Increases the value of public art threshold from $10,000 to $20,000 for in-lieu fee allowances
• Revises the Conceptual Public Artwork Design Review Principles; and
• Establishes Public Art Guidelines to define administrative procedures relative to the Call For Artists process.

(Source: Oro Valley Staff Report)

John Musolf has reviewed the proposed text code amendment. We asked him to provide a bit more detail.
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"The public art program in Oro Valley is funded by  a 1% assessment from all development projects for public art.  The purpose of the program is detailed in the 2005 General Plan (Section 9.1): "To enhance the quality of life by promoting and sustaining the arts and culture in our community." You can view Oro Valley's Virtual Art Gallery on line. Also, there are monthly art tours for which you can make a reservation.

The purpose of tonight's hearing is to gauge public input to staff's proposed program changes.  Some areas of public comment might be:

• The role of the property owner in the art determination process
• The involvement of the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) organization in the process
• A more comprehensive or, perhaps, more expansive definition of what constitutes “public art” 
• Whether there is a necessity for Public Art Guidelines to determine the suitability of the type of art; and
• The administrative procedures for the entire process.

Hopefully,  we'll hear some thoughtful comments tonight."

John Musolf

Oro Valley Resident

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