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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-01-20 City Council (10)TO: City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM:CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY SERVICES DATE:JANUARY 20, 1998 CMR: 115:98 SUBJECT:RENAMING THE PALO ALTO CULTURAL CENTER TO THE PALO ALTO ART CENTER This is an informational report, and no Council action is requested. The staff of the Division of Arts and Culture, and the Board of Directors of the Palo Alto Cultural Center Guild has recommended renaming the Cultural Center (Center) to become the Palo Alto Art Center. By City policy the City Manager can adopt and formalize such a name change. This report is to inform the Council that the City Manager has approved changing the name of the Palo Alto Cultural Center to the Palo Alto Art Center. Staff has been instructed to proceed with the name change and to take the necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition. BACKGROUND The Palo Alto Cultural Center was founded in 1971 as a visual art center. The first proposal in July of 1961 spoke to converting City Hall to an "Art Center." Every discussion and recommendation from that point on specifically emphasized an "Art Center facility" with "a program of excellence in the arts." Today the Division of Arts and Culture’s mission statement is to, "Instillpassionfor the arts in all its forms," and more specific.to the Visual Arts Program presented by Palo Alto Cultural Center facility and its staff, "Champion the value, the appreciation, and understanding of the visual arts." The Center’s goal is to present the best~ of contemporary f’me art, craft, design, special exhibitions, and new art forms, and outstanding supplemental educational programming to a broad and diverse audience. This is accomplished through exhibitions, classes and workshops for adults and children, lectures, symposia, publications, and training and educational opportunities in the visual arts for volunteers. Through exhibitions and classes for adults and children, more than 80,000 participants each year are given the opportunity to have a direct experience with the art, and an involvement in the process of art making.. Exhibitions cover a wide range of concepts with emphasis on the documentation of the art of the San Francisco Bay Area. A complete and multifaceted selection of high quality exhibitions and education programs are presented that are CMR:115:98 Page 1 of 3 interesting and accessible to the public, and specialized audiences. The Studio Art Program offers more than 400 classes and workshops for 4,000 adults and children, from beginning to advanced levels. Classes provide opportunities to gain and improve artistic skills through studio experiences, formal instruction, and critiques of work. Project LOOK! is the Center’s museum education program for children K-8; a docent-led tour and related hands-on activity in the Project LOOK! studio offer approximately 146 tours for 6,000 children. The program makes a direct connection between the creating and the exhibiting of art, and has become a supplemental part of the public school curriculum, with teachers bringing theh classes on repeated visits. The Volunteer Program trains and places 210 volunteers each year who contribute more than 6,500 hours of service. The program builds on the premise that people who volunteer are interested in learning more about art. Knowledgeable volunteers build a stronger art program. DISCUSSION Over the years, many individuals have expressed a desire to see the name of the Cultural Center changed to the Palo Alto Art Center. Staff, board members and volunteers were surveyed to assess the strength of this expressed desire for change. Their response was overwhelmingly in favor of the change. It is the belief of staff that changing the name of the Cultural Center to the Palo Alto Art Center is essential to the Center’s success. Such a name change will more appropriately convey what the Center is and what it offers. The name Cultural Center does not accurately reflect and/or describe what the Center is, and what the Center does, causing confusion to visitors, lenders, and potential benefactors. The Center’s program staff are art professionals, developing programs for visual art activities. As a rental facility, and as part of the Division of Arts and Culture, the Center is available for music, theater, and dance---all of which are performing arts activities. The name Cultural Center connotes more than what is presented and represented. The public expects programs in a wide range of subjects such as history, anthropology, cooking, and genealogy, all subjects that would come under the very broad umbrella of "culture." When visitors enter the facility by way of Embarcadero and see the sign, they do not recognize that the Center is an art facility and look to other facilities or programs that are immediately identified as art-based, such as the Stanford Museum of Art. Changing the name will give the public immediate recognition to the programs and activities of the Center. Marketing and audience development efforts become much easier, in that the Center will not have to explain continually and qualify programs. The name Palo Alto Cultural Center seriously affects exhibition program requests for art loans to exhibitions, non-City funding to support program needs, and traveling exhibitions. Over the last several years, the Center has developed three traveling exhibitions. The hardest part of this process is finding donors to support the expense of travel, and venues across the country to take the exhibitions. Museums and art centers are reluctant to take an exhibition because of the confusion about what the Center is. Often institutions will not respond because of the name. It does not convey that the Center is a serious art facility with the CMR:115:98 Page 2 of 3 professionalism required to exhibitions. handle free art. The same situation arises with lenders to It is timely that the change comes now. The Center has been offered pro bono services to redesign the logo and visual identity through an informational brochure about the Center, a new membership brochure for the Guild, and new signage for the comer of Embarcadero and Newell Road. With the change of the telephone area code, the Center’ s stationery and cards will be changed to reflect the new name at no extra cost. POLICY IMPLICATIONS There are no policy implications regarding changing the name of the Palo Alto Cultural Center to Palo Alto Art Center. The City Manager and City Attorney have reviewed the various policies and procedures regarding the naming of City facilities. Current policy suggests that the City Manager can authorize the name change as recommended. PREPARED BY: Leon Kaplan, Director of Arts and Culture DEPARTMENT HEAD: PAUL THILTGEN Director, Community Services 3~N~’FLEMIN¢~ ii~Manager CMR:115:98 Page 3 of 3