More art projects will be established in East Lansing if developers decide to invest in the city.
In the public component of the Percent for Art, the name of the ordinance approved 3 to 1 on Oct. 7, the city will appropriate 1 percent to East Lansing’s general fund of all public facilities or capital improvement projects, East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett wrote in an email.
Triplett wrote the public component in the 2015 fiscal year is projected to be $10,426.
“Making a payment to the Public Art Fund is only one of the three options available to developers to comply with the public art requirement,” Triplett wrote.
Besides making the payment, developers of projects with total costs of more than $500,000 have the option to either incorporate public art into their project or donate a work of art.
“The public art requirement will become part of the city’s regular site plan review and approval process,” Triplett wrote. “The ordinance sets forth a very specific procedure for how compliance with the public art requirement will be evaluated and enforced.”
The East Lansing Arts Commission will be in charge of approving the works of art submitted by developers.
East Lansing Arts Festival Director Michelle Carlson said this ordinance would make art accessible for the community.
“It brings artworks to the city and makes it available to the public,” Carlson said. “People can take pride on their community.”
Carlson said an important aspect of East Lansing is how appreciative are residents of the arts.
“Our festival has been around for 52 years, and the reason why it has such longevity is because the people of our community appreciate art,” Carlson said. “The artists report when they are here that the patrons of the arts festival are very knowledgeable about art.”
The Percent for Art is not unique to East Lansing.
The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority created the first Percent for Art program in the United States in 1959.
“Similar Percent for Art public art requirements exist in over 350 cities and have been implemented with great success across the United States,” Triplett wrote. “Rather than reinvent the wheel, East Lansing has modeled its public art requirement after those tried and true models.”
Triplett said art helps to retain talent in the city.
“It adds uniqueness to our communities, humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces,” Triplett said.
