Coquitlam needs more public art but who should pay for it?
That's the question city council is wrestling with as it considers an upcoming staff report on projects to beautify public spaces.
Last week, two funding source ideas were presented to the city's recreation committee by the arts and culture advisory group. The first suggestion is to use a portion of the revenues Coquitlam generates as host city to the Boulevard Casino on United Boulevard. The second - and more controversial - recommendation is to spend 1% of city land sale revenue to buy and maintain public art. Last year, city land sales totalled $3.5 million, meaning $35,000 would have been dedicated to public art had the policy been in place. Coun. Brent Asmundson bristled at the suggestion, saying council needs to be careful how it handles taxpayer dollars.
"I think we wanted to test council's attitude," arts advisory chair Coun. Neal Nicholson told The Tri-City News yesterday, adding, "We're not looking for council to create a pot of money for 'The Thinker'."
Nicholson said public-private partnerships work well for public art, with the city matching a company donation.
Last year, Wesbild, a major Coquitlam land developer, gave $50,000 to the city for a fountain at Lafarge Lake; the city plans to plug in another $40,000 worth of decorative landscape lighting around the fishing pier. And Polygon Homes also handed over $5,000 for a living sculpture near the Poirier branch of Coquitlam Public Library.
Coun. Selina Robinson, the advisory group's vice-chair, said a regular funding source is needed for public art - a topic that has been on Coquitlam's books for more than a decade.
"Public art is about turning a space into a place," she said, and quoted a letter from an Armstrong resident who had recently visited Coquitlam and remarked on the city's abundant retail attractions, like Ikea and Coquitlam Centre.
"Our sense of place shouldn't just be about shopping," Robinson said. The city's 125th anniversary in 2016 should also be a catalyst to get a public art policy adopted soon, Nicholson added.
City manager Peter Steblin said a report discussing a variety of ways to fund public art will be presented to city council soon.
Port Coquitlam is also looking at adding more public art for its downtown as part of its Pedestrian Circulation Study.
