Sculptures to stay on display longer at Newport Beach Civic Center Park
Sculptures at the Newport Beach Civic Park will now be on display for periods of three years instead of two, saving the city about $70,000 this year and roughly $30,280 annually in future rotations, the City Council decided this week.
Since 2014, the city has funded the display of 20 sculptures at the park. They have been installed for two years at a time, and 10 of them are swapped out for new pieces each year. That process makes up the bulk of the cost associated with the ongoing public exhibition, according to a report by city staff.
Council members voted 7-0 to approve the change at their meeting Tuesday. The update had also been considered and unanimously recommended by the Newport Beach Arts Commission in September.
“We get to maintain the same level of service we’ve always had,” Councilman Noah Blom said during the meeting. “We get to maintain art in the civic center. And they have found a way to cut their own costs and create more value for Newport.”
The way the city currently rotates sculptures in and out of the park costs $519,000 over three years. Increasing the amount of time between swaps would bring that expense down to $428,160 every three years.
The change means none of the pieces at the park now will be changed until next summer. That should save the city $70,000 in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Reducing the honorarium paid to artists whose work is selected for exhibition was another cost-saving option discussed at Tuesday’s meeting. Councilwoman Robyn Grant voiced strong opposition to that idea, and city staff noted that the $2,500 per year the city offers was in line with what other communities with similar programs provide, so that rate was not changed.
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