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12/02/2024 12:32 pm

A rendering of a lobby with a staircase and suspended light installation

Ratio Architecture rendering of the Civic Campus East Tower Lobby with Narduli Studio Light Installation.

City Hall | A Percent for Public Art Project

Raleigh Arts

Updated: Dec 2, 2024

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Public Input Survey About the Artwork About the Artist Project Background About the Percent for Public Art Program About Raleigh Arts

Public Input Survey

Please visit the engagement portal to view the public engagement process.

About the Artwork

The public art project planned for Raleigh's new City Hall is a generative light installation that will learn and evolve with its environment. The artwork will exist in two realms: the physical environment, experienced through sight, and the virtual environment, experienced through sound.  

The LED light installation will be suspended from the ceiling in the two-story lobby and up the Grand Stair.  The fluid form will be a warm, welcoming gesture at the entry and public terrace that’s visible from Hargett and McDowell Streets, 

The interactive component of the work is a grid of programmable LED lights connected to a stream of Open Data Portals, illuminating the ongoing activity of the city.  Real-time and archival data from data.raleighnc.gov will determine how the lighting moves in the artwork. Braille signage within the building and a link/code on project-related sites are the threshold to the virtual environment that allows the viewer to explore the artwork and data-generated space.  

In addition to the LED light strands, sculptural elements clustered to represent a willow oak canopy floats within the light structure. Through a process of 3D mapping, the artist will create a digital landscape of the Willow Oak. The Willow Oak was selected for the landmark Willow Oak that graced Nash Square from the late 1800s until 2019.

Exterior of glass office tower in the evening with warm glowing light.

About the Artist

Modern stairway with light based artwork surrounding a woman walking up.

Susan Narduli | Narduli Studio 
Art & Technology & Architecture

 

Susan Narduli is an artist and architect who works at the intersection of art, media, technology and architecture. She leads an interdisciplinary art studio, Narduli Studio, with a focus on design research and is director of experiential and interactive projects for Cheeky Films. 

Narduli has a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Architecture from UCLA's School of Architecture and Urban Design, and is currently a licensed architect. Narduli Studio has received many awards throughout the years, including the Americans for the Arts Year in Review PAN Award in 2017, 2012 and 2010, a CODA Merit Award, the AIA Award of Excellence, and the AIA Honor Award. Prior to having her own studio, Narduli worked as a project designer for Frank Gehry, collaborated on public art projects with Liz Larner and partnered with Gemini GEL founder Elise Grinstein. 

Project Background

 

The City included Percent for Art funds for the City Hall Project (known as the Civic Campus Capital Improvement Project) in the Council Approved FY2017 CIP budget. Per COR Public Art Policy, the Public Art & Design Board unanimously voted to allocate the eligible Percent for Art funds to City Hall on May 28, 2019.  The Civic Campus Master Plan, approved by City Council in 2018, identified Public Art as part of a key goal to leverage the building program on the Upchurch block to replace the existing RMB with a modern, architecturally compelling building or buildings that will function as a center for democratic interaction and anchor a government-centered complex that also features a vibrant mix of land uses, public open space, and public art. 

Artist Selection

Raleigh Arts advertised a Call for Artists for the new City Hall Public Art in January 2020. The Public Art & Design Board appointed the Artist Selection Panel of nine community members to review 153 applications. Four semi-finalists were chosen for interviews in March 2020. In April 2020, the panel selected Susan Narduli of Narduli Studio because of the strength of her portfolio, her art and architecture studio’s innovative use of technology and materials, and the unique set of qualifications the Narduli team has from working on similar projects and experience coordinating art in a complex construction project.  

The transparent public art process requires us to promote a Request for Qualifications on the city websites and state websites, but we also post the opportunity on public artist registry sites, NC Public Artist sites, newsletters, and social media. For the Civic Campus Public Art Project, the RFQ was advertised in December 2019. The deadline for submission was March 2, 2020.  153 applications were received for this project. Out of that number, only two people from Raleigh and twelve artists from other cities in the State of North Carolina applied. 9%

 The City of Raleigh's public art policy also requires an artist selection panel appointed by the Public Art & Design Board for every public art project. The panels consist of local artists and design professionals, community members, and business/non-profit community members. For such a large and complex construction project calling for integrated public art, the community artists selection panel scored applicants on five criteria: technical expertise, innovative approaches to public art, and project management experience. Four semi-finalists were selected for the interview.

The City Hall artist selection panel reviewed the applications for a full day in the first round and selected four finalists for an interview. The focus of this panel was to determine if the applicant's work would be appropriate for a project of this scale and complexity, how the applicant would use the budget to provide the maximum impact possible, and their ability to engage the public viewers who will use the space daily. From this extensive review process the panel chose Susan Narduli. 

Phase One Design:  2021-2023

In January 2021, the Public Art & Design Board appointed a Community Advisory Group to steer Phase One of the design process for the Civic Campus public art. During this phase, community feedback input was received from this group, focus groups and open forums. Participants in meetings and surveys asked for the artwork to be integrated into the building and visible both from the interior space and exterior space of the building, with viewability during the day and the night.

Phase Two Community Engagement: Fall 2024 – Spring 2025 

Public input will be solicited for types of data that will be programmed for the public artwork. While the data can be changed indefinitely, the artist will work to build out 10-50 data sets to create regular activity for the proposed light installation.

About the Percent for Public Art Program

The Percent for Art program's goal is to create and integrate diverse artworks into Raleigh's landscape to establish a vibrant, visual environment that provides public places with civic distinction and foster meaningful connections between people and place.

Investing in artwork is an investment in our communities. It celebrates community identity while improving quality of life. Through public art, communities gain cultural, social, and economic value. Learn more.

About Raleigh Arts

Raleigh Arts, a part of the City of Raleigh’s Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources Department, fosters and promotes the arts in Raleigh by administering the programs of the Raleigh Arts Commission and the Public Art and Design Board and supporting the Pullen and Sertoma Arts Centers.

Contact

 

Kelly McChesney
Public Art Director
kelly.mcchesney@raleighnc.gov

Supported Services

 
Public Art
Arts Programs
Universal Access & the Arts
Back to Arts
Back to Engage With the City
Department:
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources
Service Categories:
Raleigh Arts
Related Services:
Public ArtArts ProgramsUniversal Access & the Arts

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