The City Council will consider the acquisition of two sculptures, “ONE LOVE” and “RELAX UR OK” by artist Scott Froschauer, for inclusion in the City’s Urban Art Collection at a Regular City Council Meeting on Monday, November 20, 2023.
City Staff recommends the following:
- Approve the purchase Agreement for acquisition of artworks RELAX UR OK and
ONE LOVE from Wallspace LLC. - Authorize the Director of Finance and Technology Services to allocate $55,676.25
from unallocated reserves in the Public Beautification & Art Fund to account
number 209-4-10-12-704024 for costs associated with the purchase Agreement. - Authorize the City Manager to sign any necessary documents required for the
acquisition.
The brightly lit neon street art is currently located at the median on Santa Monica Boulevard and Holloway Drive. They were installed on Thursday, October 15, 2020. Both signs are made of neon, glass, aluminum, and steel. The RELAX UR OK sign measures 8 feet, 5 inches tall, by 4 feet wide and the ONE LOVE sign measures 10 feet tall by 3 feet wide. This is a temporary art installation that was to display in the City of West Hollywood from October 2020 to June 2022, but the installation has been extended.
The City of West Hollywood’s Gift Policy and Procedure for accepting works of art was adopted by City Council on October 5, 1998. It states that the City of West Hollywood believes that there is a value in owning a diverse collection of artworks that is available for exhibition in the City’s public municipal spaces. The Gift Policy charges the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission with evaluating the suitability of a proposed artwork and determining whether to accept the artwork to be installed on City property. Evaluation criteria include aesthetic quality, relationship to the urban streetscape and other City public artworks, public safety, materials, and maintenance. In addition, the Public Facilities, Recreation, and Infrastructure Commission is responsible for approving locations for the works on City property. City Council has the final decision-making with respect to acceptance of the artwork and location for the artwork. If accepted, the maintenance of the artwork is the responsibility of the City.
At its meeting on August 24, 2023, the Arts Commission recommended approval for the acquisition of the artworks RELAX UR OK and ONE LOVE for inclusion in the City’s Urban Art Collection and for them to remain at their current locations on Santa Monica Blvd. and Holloway Drive as their permanent locations.
Funding for the project comes from the City’s Public Beautification & Art Fund which is the depository for in-lieu developer fees as part of the City’s urban art ordinance (one percent for art requirement).
The city has the right to purchase the artworks at a fair market value price, as determined at the time of the completion of the commission minus the amount the city paid for the commission of the artwork. To date, the cost of the neon exhibition is $83,500 which includes design, fabrication, and installation of the artworks, insurance, addition of the acrylic shields to protect the neon elements, and extension of the exhibition through 2023. The fair market value of the “RELAX UR OK” artwork is $55,000. The city paid $31,100 for the commission. The acquisition cost for “RELAX UR OK” artwork is $26,349.75 including tax. The fair market value of the “ONE LOVE” artwork is $60,000. The city paid $33,400 for the commission. The acquisition cost for “ONE LOVE” is $29,326.50 including
tax. The total acquisition cost for both artworks is $55,676.25. The anticipated maintenance for the two artworks will be $5,000 per year.
Scott Froschauer uses the institutionalized structure of road signage as inspiration to surprise and delight viewers by replacing the traditionally negative and coercive language with positivity and inspiration in his artworks. The artworks “RELAX UR OK” and “ONE LOVE” are very popular with residents and visitors and have been photographed and posted on social media numerous times. These are the artist’s first neon artworks.
Who designed the neon diving lady?
While I enjoy this temporary art installation, I do not feel it is appropriate to purchase these and change their location into a permanent one. I look forward to the evolving art. Neon is very difficult to maintain and to spend $5,000 a year, in maintenance, makes these signs an inappropriate investment. The Arts Commission has a poor record of maintenance. The neon diver that was moved and placed at the West Hollywood Park’s Aquatics Center has it’s neon already not working for the last 4 months.
These are 2 of the 4 very best ever. The other two were the neon Spanish dancers & the neon diving swimmer, now at the WeHo Park. All beautiful & all much better than big rocks anytime