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Purpose
The goals of the City's Art Procurement Policy should be three-fold:
(a) to build a collection representing works of the highest quality by professional artists and artisans as a lasting legacy for City residents;
(b) to support actively and encourage artists and artisans of the city, in recognition of the special dimension they contribute to community life.
(c) in establishing this collecting policy, the City of St. John's acknowledges that its collection is being formed in trust for the public and that it has responsibility for the proper care and preservation of the collection in addition to providing adequate public space for the collection.
To these ends, the City of St. John's commits funding for art purchases on an annual basis, under the following guidelines:
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Policy Statement
Eligibility
Preference will be given to professional artists or artisans residing or working in St. John’s or environs.
Methods of Purchase
Works may be acquired directly from artists or by purchase through dealers to whom they have been consigned. Works will not be acquired from third parties.
Art Procurement Jury
1. Selection of works for purchase will be through an Art Procurement Jury appointed by the Arts Advisory Committee and will act with an autonomous status reporting to Council. Membership of the Jury may consist of a practicing professional artist, a curator and/or community member knowledgeable about art, and a Councillor. The Archivist and Arts and Cultural Development Coordinator will serve as staff advisors and will not have any voting privileges.
2. Consultation will be made with members of the arts community, eg VANL, for jury composition.
3. Jury members are disqualified from directly or indirectly benefitting from their participation in the procurement process. Any City policy or By-Law respecting conflict of interest will apply.
4. Jurors may be asked to sit for two or more consecutive terms.
5.The jury will be convened during the spring of each year. Each jury member will be briefed concerning the objectives of the art procurement program, its guidelines and procedures, budgetary limits and the nature of the existing collection.
Selection Process
1. The City will publicize for three consecutive weeks an open call for submissions well in advance of the selection dates. This includes but is not limited to the local print media, and directly to applicable art organizations.
2. Artists will be invited to submit to the jury up to three pieces of artwork for consideration of purchase. For the purposes of pre-selection, artists will be required to submit either original artwork or slides or photographs of the item(s) that they are submitting.
3. Once an item has been pre-selected the artist may be asked to submit the actual work for further consideration. The artist will be required to sign a waiver exempting the City from liability in case of loss or damage to the artwork during the selection process.
4. The City will provide appropriate and adequate space for the selection process.
5. The jury will select works to be purchased within the spending limits as authorized by Council.
6. All unselected works, slides, and photographs will be returned to the artist at the end of the procurement process.
Criteria for Purchase
1. Art will not be acquired as an investment, that is with the intent to dispose of it for profit at a later date.
2. The care and maintenance of the piece of artwork will be taken into consideration during the selection process.
3. The work will be of a high quality within its field, with respect to its imaginative and expressive aspects and its technical execution.
4. All purchased artwork will be reasonably priced with regards to current market values.
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Application
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Responsibilities
Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Culture, Arts Advisory Committee.
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Monitoring and Contravention
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Approvals
Regular Meeting of Council - October 13, 1992; Arts Advisory Committee report - May 16, 2002; Regular Meeting of Council - June 17, 2002; Finance and Administration Standing committee report - November 30, 2005; Regular Meeting of Council - December 12, 2005.
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Review Period
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