“What makes Cal. Ave. special?” Elise DeMarzo, Palo Alto’s public art program director, asked a dozen residents gathered at Palo Alto Central on Monday afternoon. The question was posed during a meeting on new artwork that the city will install as a part of the to-be-constructed public safety building near California Avenue.
The object of the meeting, as well as future discussions of the project, was to source public input on the new installation, Public Art Program Director Elise DeMarzo said.
“When you put art in the public space, dialogue needs to happen,” DeMarzo said. “We want to create a robust picture of what California Avenue is and will be.”
The city of Palo Alto has commissioned artist Peter Wegner to create an artwork for the city’s new public safety building at 250 Sherman Ave., which is expected to be complete by fall 2021. Wegner attended the meeting seeking input and inspiration.
“I’m really starting from scratch,” Wegner said. “I don’t pretend to understand the inner workings of the (California Avenue) experience.”
Though only recently acquainted with California Avenue and the surrounding neighborhood, Wegner was eager to hear residents’ visions for themes and ideas the art could incorporate. He hopes to get a feel for the character and history of California Avenue to inform his creative process, he said.
“(The neighborhood) seems well-used and well-loved,” Wegner said.
Jessica Roth, a fourth-generation Palo Alto business owner and resident, emphasized the importance of representing values that she and her fellow residents hold dear, such as the confluence of many cultures and backgrounds that Palo Alto is known for, as well as environmental consciousness.
“We have such diversity here, which is amazing,” she said to Wegner at the meeting. “Try to bring the environment into your design too. I feel like that is the one thing everyone in this area is kind of about.”
Other residents brought up the distinction between downtown Palo Alto where the police station is currently located and California Avenue, where the station will move when the public safety building is complete. Henry Gordon, a resident who graduated from Palo Alto High School in 2016, said he sees people come from all over the world to shop and dine on University Avenue, while California Avenue remains somewhat of a “locals-only” destination. Gordon would like to see California Avenue’s unique vibe represented in Wegner’s art, he said.
“University Avenue is more ‘Bay Area,’ while California Avenue is more ‘Palo Alto,'” Gordon said. “And California Avenue is a really interesting reflection of what Palo Alto has become in the past 10 years.”
Beyond Palo Alto’s recent changes, other meeting attendees looked to the history of California Avenue for inspiration. Burt Bloom, who moved onto California Avenue in 1961, helped found the Country Sun Natural Foods, one of the street’s longest-standing stores. He hoped the art would include homage to the market he co-founded, which he described as “an anchor in the Palo Alto community.”
“People feel comfortable approaching you if you’re working with their public space,” Wegner said. “It’s a great feel to be in dialogue with people. I’m really happy to have the chance to make another work in Palo Alto.”
The city of Palo Alto chose to commission Wegner for the work after an open call to artists in fall 2017, according to the city’s Public Art Program. After 63 artists applied for consideration, four finalists were eventually chosen, Wegner among them. He then appeared before a panel of “key stakeholders, community members and art professionals,” who made the recommendation to the Palo Alto Public Art Commission that Wegner be chosen for the project.
Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business features two of Wegner’s public artworks: “Monument to Change as it Changes,” and “Monument to the Unknown Variables.” In title alone, it is clear that Wegner’s work often works deals in metaphorical representation.
“Before I start thinking about the art, I focus on the people who would live and work in the immediate vicinity of my artwork,” Wegner wrote in an art development process statement distributed at the meeting. “That remains the focus of my process and inevitably, that’s where I end up.”
Wegner’s philosophy on public art is twofold: A work in the public space should have context and purpose, he said. He is faced with the challenge of creating art that will honor the administrative uses of the public safety building and become a part of the neighborhood’s history.
“I think it would be ideal if (the art) could have some of the ethos of the activity in the building,” Wegner said. “What the art will be is perhaps a little more abstract than that alone … but at the end of the day, I have to factor it in.”
I hope Mr. Wegner’s art doesn’t use electricity or water. How about a lovey sculpture – could be modern or classical. But please — no lights and no water fountains. Let’s preserve our natural resources. Words written with neon lighting that moves (such as at the Stanford Graduate School of Business) — this is a trend that will go out of fashion. Let’s not make that mistake.