Public Art Task Force
A new task force focused on public art could be coming to Naperville.
Commissioners at the most recent Special Events and Cultural Amenities meeting discussed the idea of the Public Art Task Force.
“When we go in to the SECA process itself, if public art only comes up in one or two applications, and the application isn’t strong or is missing information, it’s hard for us to recommend funding for that,” said SECA Chairman Melvin Kim.
Origins of the Idea
The idea first came up at the February 4 City Council meeting, when council amended SECA’s recommendation to include a $50,000 grant to the Century Walk.
SECA liaison Theresa Sullivan said the commission felt uncomfortable granting money to Century Walk without knowing what projects they could fund. But Century Walk can’t know what projects they can do without knowing how much money they will receive.
Goals of the Task Force
The task force will act independently from SECA, and will focus on bringing permanent and temporary art displays to Naperville. Some SECA commissioners could also serve on the task force.
It’s still unclear where the task force’s funding would come from. Kim said several options are on the table – it could come out of SECA’s budget, a tax on new development, or somewhere else.
“I don’t think we have any set idea of what it’s going to cost or where the funding is going to come from,” said Kim. “I do feel though, that having it be a directive from city council itself means that they do find it important and significant for us to invest in.”
SECA is funded by a one percent food and beverage tax. NCTV17 is partially funded by a grant from the SECA Commission.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.
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