HI Donald,
Chiming in late here as I came across this email while doing some housekeeping. Better late than never!
Thanks for laying out an important issue we all encounter on a regular basis. I’ve appreciated reading other’s responses and wanted to add another perspective.
As with many public art programs, our funding restricts how much staff time we can spend on community/artist projects that are not initiated by our program. Several years back we decided we did need to charge fees, just as other departments
in our City charge members of the public, and our own department, for their services.
An hourly fee, based on highly scrutinized cost-recovery model, was added to our City’s Master Fee Schedule, and increases annually to align with salary and overhead increases applied to all fees across the City. A flat fee per service
can only be charged if we can document a true accounting for a minimum number of hours based on a particular process (for example, a non-city funded, community initiated public art project for Caltrans state property, where the local municipality is required
to be the applicant and take on maintenance responsibilities).
Of course, tracking time spent on facilitation of a project, and managing the optics associated with charging fees for this work, are more challenging. The model is fine for the larger, well-funded initiatives. But we often waive the fees
for smaller projects.
Conclusion:
If you can advocate for funding for a program addresses this type of project, as some cities do, that is ideal. If that is not an option, I would recommend a modest allocation from an alternative funding source that could be earmarked to
cover a percentage of your staff time, particularly for smaller budget projects, and alleviate the burden from the local constituents and staff to track hours and bill for hours spent on these community driven projects.
Please feel free to reach out to me if you want to know more about our fee structure.
Kristen
Kristen Zaremba
Public Art Coordinator | Cultural Affairs
Economic & Workforce Development Department | City of Oakland
desk: 510-238-2155
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 9th Floor, Oakland CA 94612
From: public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com <public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com>
On Behalf Of Donald Gensler
Sent: Monday, March 1, 2021 7:04 PM
To: public_art_network@americansforthearts.simplelists.com
Subject: Fees for services - City department
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Dear PAAN allies,
We are finding that our small city division, and the public art program specifically, gets a fair number of requests for work (permits, license agreements, etc.) for people that want to install temporary artwork on city property. These
“small” requests are correctly routed to our office (usually from a City Council Member office where the request started) because they involve installation of public art. But, they are often projects that are not funded by or originated by the City. As an
office of arts and culture, we want to support these efforts from our local community, and we have the knowledge necessary to have them correctly pass through required contractual, insurance, and permitting requirements. However, given the staff time it takes
to manage and process these requests (taking time away from paid projects) we are considering a fee structure similar to what other city departments have for processing external city permits and license agreements.
Could other city Administrators please comment or weigh in on how your city handles and processes these types of projects or requests for temporary installation of artwork on city property? Do you charge a fee to draft a license agreement
or process a permit?
Your insights are greatly appreciated.
Best,
Donald
Donald Gensler
Art in Public Places, Project Manager
Sacramento Office of Arts + Culture
915 I Street, 3rd Floor
Sacramento, Ca 95814
(o) 916-808-8493
(m) 916-955-4564
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