In 2001, the City expanded the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB) to its current size. In accordance with the City’s Civic Art Ordinance (Ordinance No. 99-1351, No. 2000-1301, and No. 2006-731), 1.75% of the total cost of the expansion was allocated within the Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department (CEFD) Consolidated Construction Fund for civic art installations and conservation. Upon consolidating CEFD and the Houston Convention Center Hotel Corporation to create the Houston First Corporation (HFC), the City delegated and assigned its rights and duties to a number of items formerly the responsibility of CEFD, including the CEFD Consolidated Construction Fund.
In the years following the 2001 expansion, the civic art funds have been used for other approved purposes, such as the commissioning of Margo Sawyer’s Synchronicity of Color in Discovery Green, as well as the conservation of other art installations within the Convention District and Theater District. As part of the current renovation of the GRB, HFC contracted with the Houston Arts Alliance (HAA) to commission a signature art piece to be featured in the new central atrium of the Convention Center. The selection committee, comprised of representatives of HFC and HAA, selected Houston artist Ed Wilson to receive the commission, and Mr. Wilson signed a contract for the work with HAA earlier this year. This item serves to complete payment to HAA from the required civic art component within the CEFD Consolidated Construction Fund for administering the commissioning of this work and payment to Mr Wilson. This ordinance will appropriate the remaining balance for civic art within the fund.
It is recommended Council approve an ordinance authorizing the appropriation of an amount not to exceed $1.031 million from the CEFD Consolidated Construction Fund and transferring those funds to HFC for the purposes stated above.
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Dawn Ullrich, Director Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department, and
President and CEO, Houston First Corporation