📋 City Council Regular Meeting
Bellingham Arts Commission
← Back to All Meetings
Meeting Summary
The Bellingham Arts Commission convened for its January meeting to address two significant public art projects and discuss systemic changes to the city's percent-for-art program. The commission unanimously approved combining two major infrastructure projects — the Roeder Lift Station reconstruction and the Squalcombe Creek Estuary project — for a combined public art budget exceeding $400,000. This innovative approach reflects the commission's recognition that some infrastructure locations are poorly suited for public art viewing, while adjacent projects offer better visibility and community engagement opportunities.
Public Works Project Manager Tim Hohmann presented the proposal to integrate art into the Squalcombe Creek Estuary project, which will reconstruct three bridges and potentially realign the creek to improve fish passage and reduce flooding. The commission endorsed the city's plan to embed an artist early in the design process, following successful models from other regions where artists have collaborated with engineers from project inception to create cohesive, integrated public art solutions.
The commission also received an update on the Lakewood Underpass mural project, where Paper Whale organization is working with the WURST crew artists to create wayfinding-oriented artwork that incorporates both traditional and anglicized spellings of "Whatcom." The design concept features large hands pointing east toward mountains and west toward water, with subtle iconography embedded within the composition.
A significant portion of the meeting focused on addressing the city's growing backlog of percent-for-art projects. With over 20 projects worth approximately $2 million in the pipeline, staff proposed establishing an artist roster system similar to those used by Seattle and ArtsWA. This would streamline the selection process by conducting one comprehensive call for artists rather than individual competitions for each project, potentially reducing timeline from seven months to a more manageable timeframe while maintaining competitive selection standards.
Study Guide
## MODULE S1: STUDY GUIDE
**Meeting ID:** BEL-ART-2025-01-07
### Meeting Overview
The Bellingham Arts Commission met on January 7, 2025, to discuss two major public art projects: the Squalcombe Creek Fish Passage and Rotor Lift Station percent-for-art approach, and an update on the Lakewood Underpass mural project.
### Key Terms and Concepts
**Percent for Art (1% for Art):** A policy requiring that 1% of eligible capital construction project budgets be dedicated to public art. In this meeting, the combined Squalcombe Creek and Rotor Lift Station projects have over $400,000 available for art.
**Request for Qualifications (RFQ):** A procurement process where potential contractors or artists submit their credentials and experience, used to narrow down candidates before moving to the proposal stage.
**Artist on Design Team:** An approach where an artist is embedded with engineers and architects from the early stages of a project to integrate art seamlessly into the infrastructure design, rather than adding art as an afterthought.
**Art Roster:** A pre-vetted list of qualified artists that jurisdictions can use to select from for projects, potentially streamlining the artist selection process rather than doing individual calls for each project.
**WSDOT:** Washington State Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over projects involving state highways and must approve artwork visible from traveled roadways.
**Fish Passage:** Infrastructure designed to allow fish to move around human-made barriers like dams or culverts, in this case improving salmon access up Squalcombe Creek.
**Paper Whale:** The organization working with the city to coordinate the Lakewood Underpass mural project and manage artist selection.
**Tourism Commission:** A city body that provided input on the underpass mural project, requesting wayfinding elements pointing toward downtown and mountains.
### Key People at This Meeting
| Name | Role / Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Tim Hohmann | City Public Works staff presenting the Squalcombe Creek project |
| Gretchen Leggett | Representative from Paper Whale presenting the underpass mural update |
| Taylor | Arts Commission staff coordinator |
| Darby | Arts Commission staff |
| Tara | Arts Commission staff (referenced) |
| Jonathan Shilk | Parks project manager (referenced) |
### Background Context
The city of Bellingham is dealing with an unprecedented volume of percent-for-art projects—over 20 projects worth approximately $2 million in art funding. This creates both opportunities and challenges: opportunities to create significant public art throughout the city, but challenges in managing the administrative workload of individual artist selection processes for each project.
The Squalcombe Creek Fish Passage project represents a new model where the city is trying to embed artists early in the design process rather than retrofitting art onto completed infrastructure. This approach could lead to more integrated, meaningful public art but requires navigating complex procurement rules and federal funding requirements.
Meanwhile, the city is exploring whether to create an artist roster system similar to Seattle's, which would pre-qualify artists and streamline selection for multiple projects, though this raises questions about equity and opportunities for emerging local artists.
### What Happened — The Short Version
Public Works presented a plan to combine art funding from two projects—a sewer lift station reconstruction ($200,000) and the Squalcombe Creek fish passage project ($200,000+)—because the lift station location is too hidden for effective public art. They want to hire an artist as part of the design team for the more visible creek project. The commission approved this approach but clarified they want an actual artist embedded with engineers, not just a project coordinator.
Paper Whale updated the commission on the Lakewood Underpass mural, showing concepts that incorporate hidden text (including "Whatcom" in traditional and contemporary spellings) and directional hand imagery pointing toward mountains and water. The Tourism Commission requested wayfinding elements, which the artists are incorporating more subtly through symbols within the hand designs.
The commission also discussed creating an artist roster to manage their heavy workload of 20+ percent-for-art projects, weighing efficiency against ensuring opportunities for emerging artists.
### What to Watch Next
• The final artist selection process for the Squalcombe Creek project, whether through separate Arts Commission selection or integrated into Public Works' design team procurement
• March presentation of refined concepts for the Lakewood Underpass mural
• Development of the potential artist roster system and its impact on local artist opportunities
---