MAYOR MASIELLO UNVEILS RESTORED MAYORS'
PORTRAITS, SIGNS ART IN PUBLIC PLACES ORDINANCE
August 18, 1999
Contact: Peter K. Cutler (716) 851-4841
BUFFALO (8/18/99) - Amid the restored portraits of five former City of Buffalo mayors and a former City Council President, Mayor Anthony M. Masiello today signed a city ordinance that guarantees financial support for the display of works of art on all city-funded capital improvement projects.
"In the midst of these magnificently restored portraits, we recognize how important it is to maintain our connection with the rich legacy of our city," stated Mayor Masiello. "But beyond being historical records of our past, these portraits are true works of art, products of some of the most famous portrait artists of their time. And for that reason I am proud to sign the Art in Public Places Program ordinance, which will provide for the funding of artworks in and around every city-financed capital improvement project. This is a significant moment for our entire city; we have guaranteed for future generations a place for the display of works of art in public settings throughout the city."
The Mayor, joined by members of the Buffalo Arts Commission, unveiled the portraits of former mayors, including former Mayor, Governor and President Grover Cleveland (1882). The other restored portraits included two painted by the renowned portrait artist Raphael Beck - Edgar B. Jewett (195-97) and Erastus C. Knight (1902-05). Also restored were mayoral portraits depicting Captain Sheldon Thompson (1840) and George W. Clinton (1842). The portrait of former City Council President William P. Fisher (1944) was also included in the restoration project.
The portrait restoration project commenced in 1997 when the Buffalo Arts Commission, following a Request for Proposal process, awarded a contract to Westlake Conservation to conduct a survey of the city's mayoral and City Council portraits. Following the survey, an RFP was issued for the restoration of the most historically significant and most endangered portraits in the city's collection. McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc. of Oberlin, Ohio was awarded the contract in the fall of 1998 to restore the six portraits unveiled today by Mayor Masiello.
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The Buffalo Arts Commission, which oversees the city's collection of public art, contracts with conservators for the care and maintenance of the city's public art (McKay Lodge, in fact, is currently working with the Commission on a separate contract for the conservation of a number of outdoor sculptures in the city). The Arts Commission plans to complete the restoration of the entire portrait collection, consisting of over forty portraits, within the next five years. Every year a percentage of the city's capital fund is dedicated for the restoration project. Another RFP for the restoration of eight to ten portraits is expected to be issued in September 1999.
The Buffalo Arts Commission and then-Councilmember Barbara Kavanaugh drafted the Art in Public Places Program in 1998; the ordinance was passed unanimously by the Common Council on July 27, 1999. The new ordinance will go into effect within six months when the policies and procedures set by the Arts Commission are developed.
An amount equal to One Percent (1%) of the total budgeted construction and design cost of any capital improvement project:
1) either paid for wholly or in part by the City of Buffalo, and
2) equal to or greater than one million dollars,
shall be included in the budget for the planning, design, construction, repair and maintenance of public works of art.
"The Art in Public Places Program ordinance gives our city a tool to ensure that new works of art will always accompany our major development projects," stated Mayor Masiello. "This progressive legislation will bring the role of public art to its proper place in 21st century Buffalo."
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