In April of 2023, the City of Costa Mesa Arts Commission recently approved a new Art in Public Places Report created by consultant, Arts Orange County, to supplement the Arts and Culture Master Plan initiatives related to public art.

   Mural by Joshua Madrid, TeWinkle Park     The Ram, by Charles O. Perry, 1979

The purpose of the consultancy was to recommend formal policy guidelines and procedures for the Art in Public Places program based on industry best practices that incorporate existing policies and any recommended policy updates and cover the following elements:

1. Establish purpose, goals and objectives for citywide Public Art Policy that ties into and utilizes data from relevant stakeholders collected from the Arts & Culture Master Plan;
2. Criteria for the siting of Public Art projects;
3. Definitions and distinctions between Temporary and Permanent Public Art projects;
4. Distinctive policies and procedures between Temporary and Permanent Public Art projects which should include the current Utility Art Box Program, permit processes for murals on private property as part of temporary Public Art processes and a general process by which artists are commissioned and selected for temporary and permanent Public Art;
5. Guidelines for inclusion of Public Art in public and private development projects;
6. Policies for the management of commissioned art projects including, but not limited to, City/artist/stakeholder roles and responsibilities, contracting requirements, and any applicable regulatory requirements;
7. Standards for maintenance plan and managing Public Art inventory;
8. Develop funding considerations and or plan;
9. Policies for acceptance of donated/gifted artwork;
10. Policies and procedures for deaccession of artwork;
11. Process for incorporating imaginative design in all of the City’s functional elements and fixtures: streetlights, playground equipment, fitness stations, bus shelters and benches;
12. Comparison and or case study of comparable Public Art policies in other Orange County cities.

 Review the Art in Public Places Report