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LAKE PLACID – The Lake Placid Arts Alliance plans to inventory and assess the condition of public art works across the region.
North Elba City Council voted last week to approve the Lake Placid Arts Alliance’s public art master plan. The Lake Placid Village Board of Directors already voted to approve the plan earlier this year.
The plan – drafted by the LPAA, which is part of the Community Development Commission – focuses on inventorying, maintaining and placing works of art around Lake Placid.
“We’re kind of responsible for figuring out where public art fits and how we handle that,” said LPAA President Lori Fitzgerald.
First, the alliance hopes to assemble an inventory map that lists existing works of art, where they are, if they need to be moved, and if they need maintenance. Fitzgerald said many existing works of art in the community need to be restored. The artistic plan also describes the possibilities “Artistic zones”, or areas of the city that could present a particular style of art. These areas would not be limited to popular tourist spots with Olympic sculptures, but would also encompass residential areas open all year round.
When it comes to launching new community art projects, Fitzgerald says the alliance will likely take two approaches: one would be if an individual artist approached the alliance to pitch a project idea. The alliance would then discuss the project together before making a recommendation to town and village councils. Alternatively, the alliance could come together to create their own art project, then ask artists in the community to submit proposals on how they would carry out the project. Then the alliance would form a sub-committee, comprising a voting member of the Arts Alliance and members of the community, who would then select the artist and the proposal to be submitted to the appropriate entity – most likely to the boards of town and village – with the community via a public forum.
The plan also encourages homeowners and real estate developers to consider allocating funds or space on their property for art integration. Fitzgerald says she doesn’t think the alliance can demand this from the developers, but they want to examine their options.
Fitzgerald said the public art master plan has been in the works since 2011, when the alliance’s original comprehensive plan was created by the Community Development Commission. Now that the artistic plan has been approved, Fitzgerald has said alliance members are ready to embark on more creative aspects of the plan.
At their next meeting on October 12, Fitzgerald said the alliance will look into funding these projects, as there is currently no budget for the artistic plan. She also said people came to the meeting ready to discuss their ideas on what the alliance’s first draft should be. Lake Placid Arts Alliance meetings are open to the community, and Fitzgerald says the alliance has many ad hoc members who attend meetings. Once the alliance begins commissioning projects from community artists, the referral subcommittee will include an alliance member and several community members.
The alliance has a few project ideas, although there is no set timeline or guaranteed approval for them. Fitzgerald discussed building a “Heritage park” around the ‘Miracle on Ice’ monument, or by creating an environmental art fence on the beach at Mirror Lake if the current temporary fence structure is replaced with a permanent fence.
Since their formal formation last year, Fitzgerald said the LPAA’s biggest challenge has been to bring art to the forefront not only of the minds of the community, but also of the minds of community leaders. community.
“They don’t quite understand why this is important… so we have to work to make sure it becomes a regular part of the conversation so that opportunities aren’t missed.” she said.
For this reason, the alliance has focused almost solely on creating and approving the public art master plan since its inception, which Fitgerald considers a success for the alliance.
North Elba board members voted in favor of the master plan at their September 14 meeting, stipulating that each alliance project should be presented to the board for individual approval.
At first, City Councilor Derek Doty said he felt uncomfortable with the proposal because he thought the plan was too broad and he didn’t know how the LPAA coincided with the City Council of North Elba. However, Fitzgerald said the LPAA must respond to city and village advice since the alliance is part of the Development Commission. She also added that the alliance would present each individual project to the board on a case-by-case basis. Doty then agreed that the project was a “Interesting mission”.
With the last word before the unanimous vote, City Councilor Emily Politi said that “at the very least, (the plan) puts art at the forefront of people’s minds,” a sentiment that Fitzgerald echoed on Tuesday.
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