Artists sought for Maple Park
CITY HALL — Glendale parks officials are seeking artists interested in incorporating their work into a new look at Maple Park.
In June, city officials heralded the Maple Park renovations, which they called a “critical component” of the city’s park system because of its location in a south Glendale neighborhood with many high-density housing units.
The face-lift to the park’s 13,000-square-foot community building will include modernizing the second-floor gym and adding handicap-accessible bathrooms and an elevator. A 5,400-square-foot addition to the building will allow for larger rooms and an expanded computer lab.
Parks officials are working on crafting a public art component into the project. Any artist based in Southern California is invited to apply with proposals for art to be installed within the community building, according to a notice released Monday.
The request for proposal is keeping the art options as open-ended as possible, officials said.
“We are leaving it open to the artist,” said Dave Ahern, capital projects manager for the Community Services & Parks Department. “We have an interior hallway that can be utilized for display of art. We also have floor that could be used for an art tile project.”
The artwork will be chosen by a selection committee, including representatives from the Arts & Culture and Parks, Recreation & Community Services commissions.
The art component has a $25,000 budget, officials said, which will pay for artist fees, installation, administration and other incidental costs.
The Maple Park project originally had $4.75 million in funding, with $3 million from the state and $1.75 million from the city’s General Fund, but parks officials have said they expect the project to come in under budget due to a competitive construction market.
The City Council in April approved a $2.5-million construction contract with AWI Builders Inc. that came in far below the original estimate for the work.
Maple Park is one in a series of park facilities set to receive public art components, officials said, with the new Adult Recreation Center or the new civic pool at Pacific Park also on the radar.
“I think the pool project can also present an interesting art component,” said Community Services & Parks Director George Chapjian. “So that’s going to be kind of neat.”
Maple Park renovations are scheduled to be complete sometime this spring, officials said.
The deadline to respond is 5 p.m. Dec. 17. All submissions should be sent to Ripsime Marashian, Community Services and Parks, 613 E. Broadway, Room 120, Glendale, CA 91206.