In Beverly Hills, Building Is Art

A surge in commercial development in Beverly Hills is providing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of paintings and sculpture to be placed on public display.

The increase in funds comes as the result of a Beverly Hills law requiring commercial builders to donate a percentage of the cost of their projects to the arts.

City officials said that the ordinance, approved by the City Council in 1982, is having a greater impact this year because of the increase in developments.

Three developments have purchased and put on display sculptures with a combined value of about $60,000. Four other builders decided not to buy art but instead gave $55,000 to the city’s Fine Arts Committee. Seven other developments under construction are expected to bring in $300,000, said Michael Cart, the city’s chief librarian, who helps administer the program.

“We are beginning to see the fruits of the ordinance,” said Councilwoman Donna Ellman, who introduced the law when she was mayor. “I have always felt that Beverly Hills has something special to offer. We can have a Rodeo Drive, but I don’t think that is enough. I think that a community that gives so much to culture outside its borders should do something for itself.”

The ordinance requires builders of commercial developments valued at less than $1 million to give 0.5% of the cost of construction to the arts. Developers of projects costing more than $1 million must pay 1% of the cost of construction up to a maximum of $50,000. The builders are given the option of purchasing the art for public display or contributing to a city art fund for acquisition of paintings and sculpture.

So far the city has been saving the money. “The intent is not to make a lot of little purchases but to make major acquisitions,” Ellman said.

If the developer decides to purchase art--as several companies have agreed to do--the Fine Arts Committee reviews a rendering of the work, appraises the value and evaluates where it will be placed for public viewing. Cart said the art has to be located in a public area. “It if is placed in a board room, then that will never do,” he said.

The purchase cost is a tax credit.

Cart said Beverly Hills is not the first city to require developers to contribute to the arts. “It’s an idea that is growing,” he said. Similar ordinances have been adopted in Seattle and San Francisco. Ellman said she got the idea at a workshop attended by city council members from across the country.

Officials at Columbia Savings & Loan were pleased with the city requirement. A metal sculpture by Fletcher Benton is on display in the lobby of the savings and loan’s headquarters at 8840 Wilshire Blvd.

James McGuirk, director of corporate communications at Columbia Savings & Loan, said, “We are concerned about the environment for our people, customers and neighbors. We try to make our surroundings as pleasant, artistic and appealing as possible. We’re generally for anything like this and we think it is nice for the people to come in and enjoy fine art.”

Stanley Felderman, whose abstract sculpture “Temple” is in Le Triangle, 233 N. Beverly Drive, said, “Most developers are only looking at their projects in terms of dollars and cents, and if it was left up to them to put art in their spaces or provide funding for the arts it wouldn’t happen.

“When developers participate in this program it brings a greater diversity to the arts because (the selection of art) is not totally up to the control of government officials.”