Report Prepared by: Jennifer Flachman, Senior Management Analyst
Title
SUBJECT: Approval of Community Outreach Plan for 2025/26 Public Art Funding
REPORT IN BRIEF
Approve the development and rollout of a community outreach plan to gather the community’s input on allocating $75,000 in City Council-directed funding for 2025/26 public art projects, with a focus on identifying the types of projects residents are most interested in.
RECOMMENDATION
Arts and Culture Advisory Commission - Adopt a motion to approve the development and rollout of a community outreach plan to gather the community’s input on allocating $75,000 in City Council-directed funding for 2025/26 public art projects, with a focus on identifying the types of projects residents are most interested in seeing.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve, as recommended by staff, or,
2. Approve, subject to other than recommended by staff, or
3. Deny, or
4. Refer to Staff for reconsideration of specific items, or
5. Continue to a future meeting.
AUTHORITY
Charter of the City of Merced, Section 200.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
As provided for in the 2025-26 Council Goals and Priorities: Public Works & City Beautification.
DISCUSSION
The Arts Project Subcommittee is requesting approval to move forward with a community outreach effort to engage residents in shaping upcoming public art projects.
As part of the 2025/26 budget, the City Council allocated $75,000 for public art. The Arts and Culture Advisory Commission (ACAC) will be recommending several installations on city-owned buildings, including park properties. Before the Commission makes those recommendations, the subcommittee wants to hear from the community about the types of projects they’d like to see-murals, sculptures, interactive pieces, or other creative ideas that reflect Merced’s identity.
The goal is to make sure the projects reflect our city’s history, diversity, and the values of our neighborhoods, while enhancing the public spaces we all use and enjoy.
To help guide this process, staff will set up a project site on Engage.CityofMerced.org <https://engage.cityofmerced.org>, where we’ll collect input from the community. Outreach activities will begin on July 21 and run through September 4. They’ll include social media posts, outreach to local artist groups, announcements at community events, and posters at the Civic Center.
Once the outreach wraps up, the subcommittee will review all the feedback and develop project recommendations for the Commission to review at the September 18, 2025, meeting. From there, the Commission will bring its final recommendations to the City Council on October 6, 2025.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
No impact on City resources at this time.