The Seattle Public Library board of trustees has selected Jessica Cusick and Rick Lowe to be arts planners for the new central library in downtown Seattle.
Cusick, who has a broad background in public art and urban design, runs a Los Angeles-based consulting firm that specializes in civic art and community development initiatives. While director of civic art and design for The Cultural Arts Council in Houston, she developed Houston Framework, a plan to identify civic art to improve Houston's environment. (For more information on Houston Framework, visit www.cachh.org/civic/framework/frameworkHome.htm )
Lowe, founder of Project Row Houses in Houston, has for years actively explored the relationship between art and community. (For more information on Project Row Houses, visit www.projectrowhouses.org/ )
The Library Board, which made its unanimous decision on Sept. 11, followed a recommendation from a panel made up of public art experts, and library, community and architect representatives. Panel members evaluated 14 applications and interviewed four finalists after the Library and the Seattle Arts Commission issued a limited invitational to arts planners across the country.
Cusick and Lowe stood out because of their long commitment to involving the public in art projects, said Betty Jane Narver, a Library Board member who also was on the panel that reviewed candidates.
"We wanted a team that could really expand the concept of public art and do the very intense planning and implementation of our public arts program," Narver said. "They have lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm and lots of real understanding of involving the community in creating a public art plan for the central library."
Cusick and Lowe are equally excited about the library.
"The chance to work on a project as significant as the Seattle central library is of great interest to us," Lowe said.
Added Cusick: "We are especially excited about exploring new roles for artists in creating a gathering place; ways that address the library's many functions. The planning process offers a rare opportunity to rethink public art."
Cusick and Lowe replace Nancy Spector, who withdrew as arts planner after she was asked to spearhead the Guggenheim Museum's new partnership with the Hermitage Museum in Russia. Spector considered doing both jobs, but decided the Library needed someone who could devote significant time to the project.
The arts planner is charged with creating a comprehensive, integrated public artwork plan for the new library in downtown Seattle. Cusick and Lowe will work with architects, landscape architects, community planning and advisory groups, the Library Board, and Seattle Public Library and Seattle Arts Commission staffs to develop the plan, which is scheduled to be finished by mid-2001. The team also will work closely with Rem Koolhaas with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and LMN Architects of Seattle, who are designing the new $159 million library in a joint venture.
Construction is expected to begin in 2001 on the library's existing site at 1000 Fourth Ave. The new central library is scheduled to open in 2003. The new library is part of the "Libraries for All" plan that Seattle voters approved in 1998.
The Library Board believes the central library's public art program should reinforce its goals that the new library renew Seattle's sense of community and leave a legacy that represents the best part of the human spirit.
The library's public art program is being managed by the Seattle Arts Commission, a city agency formed in 1971 to increase public awareness of and support for the arts.
Cusick and Lowe will develop a detailed public art plan and artwork proposals that may include architecturally integrated, portable and interactive art. The plan will include locations and media for artworks, proposals for involving artists during the various phases of the project, selection methods for involving other artists, technical specifications and budgets. They will participate in public presentations and workshops and may coordinate the integration of artwork into the construction documents.
The Library Board will review and approve the public art plan. After the plan is complete, there will be about $900,000 available for implementation of the central library art program, which includes artists' fees, fabrication costs, travel and other expenses.
(For more information, call Barbara Goldstein, Seattle Arts Commission public art program manager, 206-684-7311, or Caroline Young Ullmann, Library assistant communications officer, 206-615-1627.)
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Content modified: 9 October 2000
12/30/2005
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