Village Savant // your guide to a creative existence

10/10/2003 Entry: "Lead the Parade"

It's not often we get to submit to the creative process of San Jose public art, but here's your chance.
A "parade of permanent floats" sculpture will mark key entryways to the new Civic Center when it opens in 2005. The 16 sculptures will reflect various themes of San José - past, present, and future - and, community members have an opportunity to help identify those themes. Visit the "Lead the Parade" website (click here)...deadline is Nov. 15th.

Anno Domini will be one of the panelists reveiwing submitted themes.

Lead the Parade

San José encourages community to submit ideas
for public art sculpture at new Civic Center

San José, California – A “parade of permanent floats” sculpture will mark key entryways to the new Civic Center when it opens in 2005. The sculpture will reflect various themes of San José – past, present, and future – and, in a unique approach to public art, community members have an opportunity to help identify those themes.

Traditionally, Santa Clara Valley festivals have enlisted the involvement of community groups, clubs, businesses, and civic bodies for designing and decorating floats for parades and processions. Keeping with the valley history, this is an opportunity for community members to contribute to the identity, vitality, and diversity of San José’s new Civic Center in a meaningful and tangible way.

From October 15, 2003 through November 15, 2003, community members are invited to participate in the development of themes for the float sculptures by submitting a written description of their float ideas to leadtheparade@sanjoseca.gov. A panel of artists, historians, and community members will select the final 16 themes from the ideas submitted. The panel will review submissions based on the following criteria: appropriate reflection of the community; depiction of the essence of San José; and a balance of images representing San José’s past, present, and future.

As part of the development of the new Civic Center, the San José Public Art Program commissioned nationally acclaimed artist Andrew Leicester to design an artwork to be located on North and South Fifth Street. Mr. Leicester was asked to produce an artwork that will evoke a sense that the Civic Center is a special place and that will visually connect City Hall to San José State University and surrounding neighborhoods.

Mr. Leicester’s proposed artwork is a permanent parade of 16 sculptural “floats” that conceptually recall various processionals throughout the world_civic parades, religious parades, springtime celebrations and historic commemorations.

Andrew Leicester’s is renowned for such notable projects as the Zanja Madre installation at 801 Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, was used by Warner Bros in the movie Batman Forever; the Cincinnati Gateway, a 450-foot water course that marks the entrance to Cincinnati Ohio’s Bicentennial Commons park at the Ohio River; and the Ghost Series, five terra cotta wall murals in New York’s Grand Central Station.

Once the final themes are chosen, Mr. Leicester will create specific images consistent with the aesthetic standards set for the project. The final designs will be on display for the public prior to the Arts Commission’s review in February 2004. Information is available on the City of San José web site (http://www.sanjoseca.gov) by going to the “Lead the Parade” link.

San José’s Public Art Program is managed by the Office of Cultural Affairs, a division of the City’s Department of Conventions, Arts & Entertainment. By City ordinance, 2% of the budget for any capital improvement project is used to enhance the appearance of the City by incorporating works of art into public places and to encourage the use of art to commemorate the City’s rich history and ethnic diversity. Funds for the “parade of permanent floats” project have been included in the new Civic Center budget from the beginning.