San Angelo Council OKs 2 Public Art Projects

SAN ANGELO, TX — The San Angelo City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved resolutions supporting two privately funded public art projects on city property, one along the Red Arroyo Trail and another on Chadbourne Street.

The 7-0 vote authorizes placement of the installations and directs the city manager to negotiate agreements with Art in Uncommon Places, a local nonprofit that works with area artists on public and private artwork. 

The first project, titled “Not as Small as They Seem,” would place eight large-scale mosaiced insect sculptures along the Red Arroyo Trail near College Hills Boulevard and Millbrook Drive. The organization values the series at $60,000.

Staff described the colorful, patterned sculptures as oversized versions of familiar insects meant to complement the trail and encourage viewers to look at the natural setting differently. The pieces would be made of formed cement with metal rebar and pipe, mosaic and grout, and a seal. Two pipes would anchor each sculpture to a base in the soil. 

The second project, “Stacked Stories of West Texas,” would add nine artistic totems along Chadbourne Street from Beauregard Avenue north to Fifth Street. Proposed motifs include hearts, an armadillo, bulls, boots, and a guitar. The organization values that series at $55,000.

Those pieces would be built from architectural Styrofoam coated with a cementitious layer, mosaiced and protected with epoxy grout. Each would be mounted on a 2 1/2-inch post attached to a metal plate bolted to concrete. 

Art in Uncommon Places would raise all money needed to create and install the work. Plans must meet city requirements and be approved by the director of planning and development services and the city engineer before any piece is placed in the right-of-way.

City staff recommended budgeting $5,000 in the first year for minor repairs and maintenance, saying annual costs are hard to predict. If a piece becomes a problem, the city would retain the right to remove or relocate it rather than spend money to repair or replace it. 

The city and the organization would enter an agreement covering creation, installation, placement and ongoing maintenance, similar to earlier collaborations. Approval of the resolutions allows the projects to proceed under those terms.