'Seed of Life' grows to $86K
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 10 months AGO
A pedestrian passes by the Fourth Street Parking Garage on Tuesday. The brick wall will be decorated with the "Seed of Life" art project.
BILL BULEY/Press
This image reflects what the "Seed of Life" art work will look like when it is installed on the outside wall of the Fourth Street Parking Garage.
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | February 26, 2022 1:00 AM
COEUR d’ALENE - The Fourth Street Parking Garage is soon going to look much nicer.
But it won't come cheap.
The City Council on Feb. 15 approved a request to amend the contact by $11,000 for “Seed of Life” with artist Celeste Cooning, bringing the total to $86,000.
The wall-mounted steel sculpture will decorate the brick wall on the east side of the four-story structure. It measures about 21 feet high by 21 feet wide. It will be 16 feet off the ground. LED lights will provide backlighting.
The city’s Arts Commission voted unanimously last September to select Cooning’s art proposal and recommend approving a contract in the amount of $75,000.
The City Council approved the public art contract to be paid from the Arts Fund – River District urban renewal district.
In late December, Cooning contacted city staff to discuss possible front-end design changes which she felt would improve the artwork, according to a staff report.
The original design shows 26 metal shapes. Coon said she would like to remove three of the metal layers, “which would simplify the lighting strips and give the piece better flow.”
“She also mentioned that at this time, supplies and services have gone up substantially (30-75%) since she submitted her art proposal and budget, and asked that budget revisions be made to the contract,” the report reads.
Cooning said the lighting element of the sculpture equated to about $12,000 of the overall budget.
She explained that she researched many different options, trying to bring the project in closer to the approved budget, the report said.
The Arts Commission discussed the options and recommended the council approve the artist’s front-end design changes.
The art work is scheduled to be installed in June.
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