Petaluma art committee names 6 finalists for Water Street project

Petaluma's Public Art Committee has once again named finalists for its $150,000 Water Street project that will be the city's first major public art installation.

The committee's attempt to develop proposals for the location last year resulted in artist renderings that drew, at best, lukewarm feedback from committee members and the public alike, resulting in the committee's decision to scrap the whole thing and start over.

This time, said committee chairwoman Caroline Hall, things will be different.

Instead of asking finalists to propose projects of their own, which last year resulted in “underwhelming” ideas, Hall said, the committee put together a panel of committee members, business owners and other stakeholders with a vested interest to work with the finalist to create the project for the area near the river's turning basin.

After getting more than 60 applications, the 12-person committee has narrowed the list to six finalists.

Among them are Petaluma's David Best, known for creating elaborate temples for the annual Burning Man festival, and Petaluma artists Ilana Spector and Mark Grieve, who constructed the 60-foot, 10,000-pound “Cyclisk” obelisk made of recycled bicycle parts installed in front of a Kia dealership in Santa Rosa.

Other finalists include Brian Goggin, of San Francisco; Ilan Averbuch, of New York; Mags Harries and Lajos Héder, an artist team from Massachusetts; and Barbara Grygutis, of Arizona, a 2016 finalist who had proposed two columns topped with knots.

The finalists were notified this month, and another round of interviews will take place in April, before a winner is chosen.

“Last time, the public art committee was doing it single-handedly, and I got a lot of feedback from people that they wanted to be involved,” said Heather Hines, planning manager for the city.

“So (the committee) brought in a panel of business owners and property owners, and wanted to involve those people from the beginning.”

The project is funded by a law that requires large developments to either commission an art project of their own, or pay into the city's public art fund. The $150,000 cost for this project comes from the recent Target development on East Washington Street.

The previous request for proposals produced 70 applicants, narrowed down to a final five in spring 2016 - of which four spent time coming up with stationary and kinetic installation designs they thought would best fit the space, along with renderings.

One from Sebastopol artist Ned Kahn called “Vertical River” was intended to hang over the edge of the walkway and sway in the wind.

A design from Oakland-based Seyed Alavi called “Icarus” showed massive yellow legs sticking out of the water, feet facing the sky.

“The biggest problem we had last time, and the thing we're hoping to avoid this time, is the pieces didn't really feel like they belonged to Petaluma at all,” Hall said. “It was almost like they could be plopped down anywhere, and that's what we want to avoid.”

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.