Original artworks selected for Key West City Hall
BY PRU SOWERS
KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER
The almost-brand new Key West City Hall is going to get an artistic sprucing up in the next three months.
Four big-scale works of original art will be installed in and around city hall after being selected by the
Key West Art in Public Places (AIPP) board. A total of 44 proposals were submitted to the AIPP in
response to the city’s request for proposals last October. The board’s recommendations were given
unanimous final approval by the city commission at its Jan. 2 meeting.
Slated to be installed in the next 90 days inside the City Hall building are three murals, including a six by
10-foot fresco of ten native trees and flowers to be installed in the front lobby. The artist is J.H. Allen of
Key West and the piece is valued at $28,000.
On the wall across from the city clerk’s office on the first floor, Key West artist Jim Salem will hang a
three-panel mural entitled, “Becalmed, the Atlantic off Key West.” The triptych will measure
approximately 90 inches by 40 inches and is valued at $10,000. The third interior installation consists of
two painted murals facing each other on either side of the walkway leading to the rear building of the
administrative complex. The painter is Atlanta, GA, artist Ralph Gilbert and the two works together are
valued at $60,000.
The last artwork approved by the AIPP will go outside the building in the butterfly garden at the corner
of United and Grinnell streets. Created by Key West artist Craig Berube Gray, it will be a granite
sculpture of two “book benches,” each measuring 60 inches long and 18 inches high. The titles of the
carved books making up the benches will be determined by the artist and the AIPP but are planned to be
books of local interest and significance. The sculpture is valued at $28,000.
The total budget for the four selected works is $126,000, although $200,000 had been allotted for the
artwork purchase. Under city regulations, any development or redevelopment project with a value of
$100,000 or more must contribute one percent of the project budget to purchasing public artwork for
the site. Alternatively, that one percent can be contributed to the AIPP community fund to be used to
purchase public art for installation elsewhere in the city.
“The AIPP board discussed and reviewed the proposed budgets and determined that the
recommendations would collectively be less than the stated [$200,000] budget. The AIPP board decided
that the remaining funds would stay in the AIPP account and will be used for future projects as is stated
in the ordinance guidelines,” wrote Elizabeth Young, AIPP Public Art Administrator, in an executive
summary to city Manager Jim Scholl.
Scholl will now negotiate contracts with each artist, with installation to be completed within 90 days of
the contract signing.
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