Beginning in the summer of 2017 Wake Forest’s streets, parks and public buildings will be enhanced by sculptures from various artists if all goes as planned by the town’s public art commission and approved by the commissioners Tuesday night.
John Pelosi, commission chairman, explained the outdoor sculpture exhibition, which will be similar to those in Chapel Hill, Cary and other North Carolina towns and cities.
“The idea is to make it a walking tour in the downtown area, though some of the sites might be parks. We would like to continue this for a couple of years to see what the response is. The goals are to provide new art for the town, start conversations and add to the idea of downtown as a destination and Wake Forest as a destination.”
The commission will solicit applications from local and national artists and a selection commission will select the seven pieces of art that will be displayed for a year. The artists will receive $2,000 that will cover all their expenses; the town will provide concrete pedestals for the displays.
The $14,000 each year will come from the 1 percent public art fee included in every capital project contract the town enters into. Finance Director Aileen Staples, speaking before Pelosi Tuesday, said the commission received $34,000 for 2013-2014 for work on the Smith and Sanford greenways. The major bond issue projects such as the second phase of Joyner Park, the expansion of the senior center, greenways, streets and sidewalks will add about $251,000 available to the commission. But, she said, the town has the next few years to sell those bonds.
Pelosi said the commission is not losing sight of its main purpose to seek art for the town that is unique and special to the town. “Our problem with permanent installations is that they cost more and take more time from conception to installation.
“One of those projects would have wiped out our fund – it was $250,000 for one and close to that for another,” Pelosi said. Those projects were both for the town’s greenway system – one in the culvert underneath the N.C. 98 Bypass connecting the Dunn Creek-Smith Creek greenway to downtown, the other at the connection of the Wake Forest and Raleigh greenway systems.
Mayor Vivian Jones praised the plan – “I think it’s an exciting thing” – and Commissioner Margaret Stinnett, who is the board liaison to the commission, said, “They have done an excellent job in doing this. It’s a very strong group.”
The board unanimously backed the idea.
After approving the demolition of a house on Caddell Street and some text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance, Padgett said the morning of the board’s retreat on Friday, Aug. 19, would be devoted to current town projects and all department heads would join them for the afternoon to review town goals. The retreat starts at 8:30 a.m. in the Renaissance Centre.
Also, Padgett said he and the mayor and Director of Engineering Eric Keravuori have been on the phone with the state Department of Transportation about “traffic situations” because the Rogers Road bridge is being rebuilt.
Keravuori said he has been talking with DOT about the median on South Main Street at the Selsey Drive intersection and it will be reworked. Also DOT will do the resurfacing of Ligon Mill Road at night. Both Keravuori and Jones will call DOT officials about switching the traffic signals at the N.C. 98 Bypass and Franklin Street to regular green, yellow and red instead of blinking red and yellow.
At the start of the meeting, Jones called the four new police officers from the back of the room to the front to lead the Pledge of Allegiance after which Padgett introduced them: Officers John Foster, James Nichols, Joseph Simmons and Matthew Tate.
