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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2014
Vol. CXXIII, No. 78
OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE CITY OF TACOMA Devoted to the Courts, Real Estate, Finance, Industrial Activities, and Publication of Legal Notices
Published Published Since Since 1890 1890
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A rooftop test for Tacoma Dome Warhol flower Posted online Tues., April 22 Article By Todd Matthews, Editor Image Courtesy City of Tacoma The City of Tacoma will continue to explore the feasibility of decorating the roof of the Tacoma Dome with art designed by iconic pop artist Andy Warhol. The project dates back to 1982, when the Tacoma Dome was under construction and the City invited artists to submit proposals for a public art installation at the arena, which billed itself as one of the largest wood-domed structures in the world. Warhol submitted a proposal to paint a bright flower over the exterior of the dome's roof. Although Warhol's work was not selected, members of Tacoma's arts community have recently advocated for the project. On Tuesday, Tacoma City Council's Economic Development Committee was updated on the proposal by City of Tacoma Public Assembly Facilities Director Kim Bedier. According to Bedier, Rainier Industries, a local company that specializes in large-sized graphics, would digitally print the Warhol flower onto an adhesive film. The City plans to test the adhesive by applying it to a portion of the roof next month. The adhesive will remain in place for six months—and under a variety of weather conditions—in order to determine its impact on the roof's exterior surface, and how well the image holds up under the elements. The cost to design, install, and conduct the test is estimated to cost $900, which would be covered through the Taco-
ma Dome's operations budget. "Some of the things we don't know is how the material will react with the roof, what it would look like if we decided to take it off, and how long those bright colors would necessarily stay bright colors," Bedier told council committee members. She added that it was worth testing the material on a temporary basis because "it's worth knowing whether this material is good for our roof or not. "We've got a pretty good location on the roof where it's not going to look like a Band-Aid stuck on," added Bedier. "We want to put some bright colors on it because we want to understand if it's going to fade. But we obviously don't want people driving by thinking there is something weird happening with the roof, either. So we've got a pretty subtle location that will get a lot of direct sun and lots of weather." According to a report prepared City of Tacoma staff, design and installation for Warhol's flower would cost approximately $2.2 million. The roof would need to be cleaned annually at a cost of $150,000. These expenses would not come from City coffers but, rather, through private fundraising. The City of Tacoma and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts have been in dialogue about the project, according to City of Tacoma Arts Administrator Amy McBride and Rock Hushka, Tacoma Art Museum's Director of Curatorial Administration and Curator of Contemporary and Northwest Art.
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"About two years ago, on behalf of Amy, I met with Michael Hermann at the Andy Warhol Foundation in New York," Hushka told council committee members on Tuesday. "He is the head of marketing and licensing for the foundation. He signaled that there would be no obstacles to realizing this project, with two caveats. One is that this is not an original Warhol, but it would be a project collaboration with the foundation to realize this idea from 30 years ago. And then, secondly, that there would be a licensing agreement that would be required from the foundation. Both, he thought, would be very easy to realize or achieve quickly, or with little amount of pain. So they're very excited about this possibly happening, and they would throw their full support behind it." McBride added, "When I spoke with Michael Hermann on the phone, it was all, you know, potentiality, nothing real, but he indicated that because it would be a public project, he didn't see them charging a licensing fee for use of the imagery, which is huge because, were it a commercial endeavor, it could be millions of dollars just to pay for a licensing fee. We would need to have some sort of agreement, certainly, because they don't want the imagery to be misused in any way. They want to have some oversight in making sure that it represented Warhol, himself, and the foundation." Meanwhile, as the rooftop test is conducted, City staff will spend the next six months exploring naming rights and corporate sponsorships for the Tacoma Dome. A study recently commissioned by the City and conducted by Bonham/ Wills & Associates deterCONTINUED mined the Tacoma Dome ON PAGE 2