The Newport Beach City Arts Commission has a packed agenda for their monthly meeting on Thursday, April 11 at the Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave.
After reviewing the monthly financial report and the monthly review of cultural arts activities from the Library Administrative Office for upcoming Library and City arts events and services, the Arts Commission will discuss current business, starting with the donation of Craig Gray’s “A Novel Idea,” one of the works featured in Phase VII of the Newport Beach Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park.
According to a staff report, Newport Beach resident and former Mayor Nancy Gardner has offered to purchase the piece for $5,000 and donate it for permanent loan to the City of Newport Beach.
The Art in Public Places Ad Hoc Subcommittee recommends the City Arts Commission move forward to recommend City Council approve the acceptance for a permanent loan of the sculpture. If approved, the Ad Hoc Subcommittee will work with City staff to recommend the sculpture site placement and return its recommendation to the City Arts Commission for site approval at a future meeting before recommending City Council’s acceptance.
Maintenance, estimated at $350 annually, will be expensed from a Cultural Arts account. Further expenses will be determined for the relocation of the sculpture once a site has been determined.
Also on the Arts Commission agenda is a recommendation to approve the winners of
the 2024 Newport Beach Student Art Exhibition, a report on Public Art in the City of Newport Beach, and a request to approve the return of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park Photography Contest with the purpose of creating further interest
in the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park.
Public comments are invited on non-agenda items generally considered to be within the
subject matter jurisdiction of the City Arts Commission. The public can submit questions and comments in writing for the City Arts Commission to consider. Please send them by email to the Library Services Department at ArtsCommission@newportbeachca.gov by Wednesday, April 10, at 4 p.m.
City Arts Commission Members are Maureen Flanagan, Chair; Leonard Simon, Vice Chair; Barbara George, Secretary; John Blom, Commissioner; Melissa Kandel, Commissioner; Wayan Kaufman, Commissioner; Marie Little, Commissioner.
Read the full meeting agenda here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/News/News/42757/
