REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
December 6, 2018
FROM: SCOTT L. MOZIER, PE, Director
Public Works Department
BY: RANDALL W. MORRISON, PE, Assistant Director
Department of Public Works, Engineering Division
CECILIO F. GARCIA, Engineer I
Department of Public Works, Engineering Division
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a vendor agreement with Sculpture Conservation Studio in the amount of $164,500 to provide non-professional maintenance services for 32 artworks located on Fulton Street between Inyo Street and Tuolumne Street (Council District 3)
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that Council approve a vendor agreement with Sculpture Conservation Studio in the amount of $87,500 for the first year, $62,000 for the second year, and $15,000 for as-needed conservation services; and authorize the Public Works Director or designee to sign the contract on behalf of the City with an option to renew the contract for up to three (3) additional one-year terms.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff has found that Sculpture Conservation Studio is uniquely qualified to perform the maintenance of the 32 artworks on Fulton Street due to prior experience with the relocation and restoration of said artworks as a sub-contractor on the Fulton Mall Reconstruction Project, and their credentials with the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). The scope of work consists of maintaining the 32 artworks on a monthly, bi-monthly, bi-annual, and annual basis. The contract with Sculpture Conservation Studio shall be in effect for two (2) years from the date of the Notice to Proceed and may be extended, at the City’s sole discretion, for 3 (three) additional, one-year increments.
BACKGROUND
The vendor agreement provides routine maintenance to 32 pieces of artwork on Fulton Street between Inyo and Tuolumne Streets. Sculpture Conservation Studio will send two (2) trained conservation professionals once a month for four (4) days to clean, conserve, and wax artworks for the first eight (8) months, and bi-monthly thereafter. In addition, artworks requiring a less robust maintenance schedule will be cleaned, conserved, and waxed bi-yearly or yearly per Sculpture Conservation Studio’s recommendation.
As part of the Fulton Mall Reconstruction Project, the City invested roughly $1.8 to restore the 32 art works located on Fulton Street that were in conditions ranging from stable to poor. The dedication for the re-opening of Fulton Street was on October 21, 2017, at which point the artworks and fountains were in good condition. However, due to calcium and other minerals in the fountain water, rain, dust, car, and other forms of pollution, the condition of the artworks’ appearance continue to degrade quickly.
In 2015, Sculpture Conservation Studio was sub-contracted to complete the cost-based maintenance, restoration, and relocation of the 32 artworks. Sculpture Conservation Studio, having previously completed the maintenance, restoration, and relocation of this artwork, is uniquely qualified to provide the preventative maintenance required. Sculpture Conservation Studio’s Principal Conservator, Andrea Morse, has been a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, AIC, since 1994. Ms. Morse has over 25 years of conservation experience with an emphasis on public art and museum surveys. From 1975 to 1993, she was a member of the conservation staff at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Department of Objects Conservation. In 1997, Ms. Morse joined Sculpture Conservation Studio as President and Principal Conservator. Since then, she has overseen the majority of the studio’s surveys and projects, including the Fulton Street project, specializing in the large-scale outdoor sculpture projects. The work Ms. Morse and her team have done on the Fulton Street artwork conformed to the strictest conservation standards and guidelines by the AIC and with the United States Department of Interior’s Standard for Historic Buildings. Staff recommends that the City Council approve a vendor agreement with Sculpture Conservation Studio, of Los Angeles, California, in the amount of $87,500 for the first year, $62,000 for the second year, and $15,000 for as-needed conservation services; and authorize the Public Works Director or designee to sign the contract on behalf of the City with an option to renew the contract for up to three (3) additional one-year terms
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
This item is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference was not applied, because Sculpture Conservation Studio is uniquely qualified and was selected based on unique technical qualifications not offered by local vendors. It should be noted that an attempt to locate a conservator with credentials similar to Ms. Morse within 100 miles of City Hall was executed and no candidates were found.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for these vendor services was included in the operating budget of the Public Works Department, as previously approved by the Council in the FY2019 adopted budget.
Attachments:
Memorandum of Unique Qualification
Vendor Agreement
Vicinity Map