The dedication ceremony for the new Bruce's Beach plaque has been postponed until March due to bad weather. Also this week, the city approved a request for proposals for a major art project commemorating Bruce's Beach.
The dedication of the
new plaque will be held at Bruce’s Beach Park on
Saturday, March 18 at
10:00 a.m. The event will feature a ribbon cutting and include official
remarks by Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano as well as guest speakers.
Artwork Moves Forward
Meanwhile, the Manhattan Beach City Council this week approved a
request for proposals for a major new art piece commemorating Bruce's Beach that will be incorporated into the park along with the new plaque.
The RFP calls for an original, site-specific sculptural artwork to honor the history and legacy of the Bruce’s Beach neighborhood. According to the RFP, the artwork "should evoke a sense of peace, healing, and community, and offer an educational opportunity for visitors to learn about the history of this area."
The total budget for the artwork is $350,000, which comes from the city's Public Art Trust Fund, a 1% fee levied on developers that is earmarked specifically for public art and is not part of the city's general fund. The city currently has approximately $2 million in the Public Art Trust Fund.
According to the RFP, that $350,000 must cover research, materials, travel, fabrication, packing and crating, transport, insurance, site preparation costs, foundation, installation, photography or videography, legal costs, and more. The artist's fee is not to exceed 25% of the budget.
The City Council agreed to add an extra $15,000 to the project from the public art fund to be used for travel and the production of maquettes (miniature versions of the proposed artwork) for the five finalists.
Councilmembers Joe Franklin and Richard Montgomery had argued for limiting the proposals to local or California artists.
But Mayor Steve Napolitano argued that for such a major art piece, the city should cast as wide a net as possible, and argued in favor of the additional $15,000 for finalists' travel and maquettes.
"It’s the biggest art project we will have done in the city, and I think appropriately so. It’s in a very public space, it’s going to be a very public and meaningful display for the city, and I don’t want to 'go cheap' on it by limiting the people who can apply to do it." said Napolitano. "It’s not about the artist; it’s about the artwork. The artwork will speak for itself, whoever the artist is, wherever they're from...I want merit in this choice. I think this is money well spent to get a quality art piece."
Although the project proposal called for a final unveiling of the artwork by spring 2025, Napolitano requested that the artwork be completed by the end of 2024.
The final RFP and $15,000 supplement was approved 4-1, with Franklin as the lone "no" vote.
