Town of Basalt adopts 2025 arts capital improvement plan
Town looks to install art along Midland Avenue, in Willits Town Center
Regan Mertz/The Aspen Times
Basalt Town Council unanimously adopted a 2025 Arts Capital Improvement Plan during last week’s town council meeting.
The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) was completed by staff and the Basalt Public Arts Commission (BPAC), whose bylaws charge the commission with creating the 10-year CIP. The last CIP was created in 2015 and established the BPAC as an advisory committee to the Basalt Town Council on matters related to public arts.
The purpose of the CIP is to guide the acquisition, display, and funding of public art throughout Basalt with strategies laid out for the next 10 years, according to a presentation during the town council meeting.
Over the past several years, the town of Basalt, through the BPAC, has acquired or commissioned several pieces of public art and supported the performing arts. BPAC members are appointed to the board by the town council and can accommodate up to nine members.
“I think this is awesome,” said Mayor Pro-Tem Ryan Slack. “This has been in the works since I started … so this is really cool to see, and I think it’s an awesome road map to the creative art district.”
The town of Basalt and BPAC chose a handful of categories for public art, keeping diversity and variety in mind. The categories are intended to guide the types, locations, and duration of public art.
Permanent public art pieces are intended to remain as part of the town’s inventory of public art for the lifespan of the art piece. Examples include sculptures made of stone, metal, or wood, murals, or art-designed infrastructure, like bike racks or trash containers that are painted or wrapped with designs.
Temporary public art pieces are short lived, like installations made of plants, sand, or other organic material. This type of art can also be on a temporary loan or lease from an artist with a specific start and end date.
Seasonal public art pieces are created and installed related to or in celebration of a specific season. Examples include snow or ice sculptures or spring flower installations.
Rotating public art pieces will be placed in designated locations for a limited period of time. Rotating art provides the opportunity to keep public spaces fresh, treating the public space as a canvas for art, providing visual interest, and enhancing vitality, the presentation stated.
Performing public art includes mediums like dance, music, and theatrical presentations that may be experienced by the public. Examples include street performers, like stilt walkers, jugglers, living statues, tumblers, and storytellers.
“I really like that there’s performing arts in this,” said Mayor David Knight. “I like the categorization in general. I think it’s good to have a game plan as far as what you can do and where but definitely on the performing side, too. This is going to be a nice plan to work off of.”
In addition to the type of art, the location must also be considered in terms of compatibility, materials and maintenance, intent, site design, cost, and distribution.
Potential locations in East Basalt identified by BPAC include Midland Avenue Downtown Business District, Art Alley, parks and trails, and the Southside Neighborhood. Potential locations in West Basalt include Willits Town Center, the roundabout, parks and trails, and the Willits Rugby Field.
Public art will be obtained through a variety of methods, including a call for artists application process and an art consignment program that will promote the work of artists by displaying an art piece in a designated location for a fixed amount of time.
“This is similar to arts programs you might see in restaurants or coffee shops,” said Basalt Senior Planner Sara Nadolny.
Other methods include an art exchange program that will allow Basalt and participating communities to swap pieces of public art for a designated period of time and the BPAC grant program which is administered once a year and includes several criteria that must be met for a successful application.
“Which has been a very successful program since its inception, particularly in the last year,” Nadolny said. “These both require direct funding through the town.”
The BPAC is interested in developing a matching sponsors grant program that will extend the available funding of the BPAC grant program, while recognizing the sponsors as patrons of the arts.
“At least last year, we got more applications than we were able to fund, so this is a good problem to have and a way to extend that program,” Nadolny said.
Art can also be donated. The town of Basalt, through the review and recommendation of the BPAC, considers short-term or long-term art on loan, or permanent donations of art pieces to the town’s public art inventory.
Basalt Town Council member Richard Stevens reflected on the statues of the children in front of Alpine Bank and the fly fisherman on one of the town’s corner — art projects that were acquired a while ago, he said.
“One of the things that was emphasized was, and this came from The Washington Post, was the idea that Basalt was a quintessential mountain town and that the environment, the location, the geography, the terrain, the culture, was a critical mass of what we really believe was art,” Stevens said.
He went on to say that Basalt is filled with creative people, and he wishes for the staff and BPAC to keep in mind that there is a give and take between nature and some of the places that have been offered up as locations for art.
“That’s just my point of view,” Stevens said. “I think this is great. I just think it needs to be well managed and well thought out so that it maintains a good balance in the community.”
Nadolny said there are checks and balances within the CIP for thoughtful consideration. BPAC is also a recommending body to the town council, so check-ins will happen between the two parties.
“I don’t think the BPAC would have the ability to go hog wild without having some check-ins with the council on placement, items, and big purchases,” she said.
Over the next ten years, BPAC will work to apply for grants, develop a sponsor partnership program to fund art scholarships for high school graduates, promote the Basalt Creative District, and rotate public art along the Midland Avenue Streetscape and in the Willits area.
Regan Mertz can be reached at 970-429-9153 or rmertz@aspentimes.com.
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