News from City of San Jose Public Art Program

The City of San Jose's Environmental Services Department (ESD) and the Public Art Program are launching an exciting new collaboration that will have a direct impact on the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant (Plant) as it undergoes its most important renovation since it was built in 1956. The collaboration will initiate with two projects: a photographer-in-residence, and an artist to devleop interpretive artwork in conjunction with the Plant tours. The artists for these commissions were selected through an RFQ process and will be reviewed for approval at the July meeting of the Public Art Committee.

Nationally renowned, and photographer Robert Dawson will be the Public Art Program's very first photographer-in-residence. A San Francisco-based photographer and teacher at both Stanford and San Jose State University, Mr. Dawson has spent his career documenting and studying the water of Western United States for his ongoing "Water in the West" project. As he has stated "Water is the most compelling metaphor and prescient symbol for the legacy of attitudes that have profoundly shaped the landscape of the West. The full range of our nation's regard for the natural world has manifested itself in western water history."

Flooded Salt Air Pavi, Robert Dawson

Starting in September 2009, Mr. Dawson will document the people, places and operations involved in the daily workings of the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant. The Plant, operated by ESD on behalf of the 1.4 million residents and 16,000 businesses served by Cities of San Jose, Santa Clara, Milpitas, the West Valley Sanitation District, the Cupertino Sanitary District, the County Sanitation District 2-3, and the Burbank Sanitary District, is a 24 hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week facility that utilizes unique aspects of science, nature, and technology to ensure the safe treatment of 110 million gallons of sewage a day.

Oakland artist Mark Brest van Kempen will create interpretive artwork for the bust tours at the Plant. Mr. Brest van Kempen is a nationally recognized environmentally artist who has worked on several other water-based artworks, including the Ravenna Creek Project in Seattle and Views of the Greenbelt in Oakland.

The interpretive artwork is intended to be an integrative aspect of the current Plant tours that encourage visitors to reflect upon the issues that impact water conservation and use. Last year the Plant tour had approximately 4,000 participants. Education and outreach is a key goal of the Plant's development and planning. The public artwork will play an important role in expanding visitor's thinking about the Plant, its function, and the impact that every day decisions can have on our regional ecology. An Oakland artist,

According to Matt Krupp, planner on the Plant Master Plan and liaison between ESD and Public Art on the development of this important program, "The Plant wants its processes to be more transparent and accessible to the general public. We want to let everyone know what it is that we do and how our work helps safeguard the community and," Krupp continues, "the use of public art as a catalyst for community dialogue is a unique and exciting opportunity for Environmental Services and the Plant."

To learn more about the Environmental Services Department and to sign up for a tour of the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant, please visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov/esd/.

The Public Art Committee will meet on Tuesday, July 21st.

For more information on Robert Dawson, visit www.robertdawson.com.

For more information on Mark Brest van Kempen, visit http://www.greenmuseum.org/artist_index.php?artist_id=51.