The NBA Kings will commit $5.5M to a "public art program" at the team's new downtown arena and surrounding plaza, and the club will possibly draw on "local and national artists to provide sculptures, mosaics and other art pieces," according to Kasler & Bizjak of the SACRAMENTO BEE. Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Exec Dir Shelly Willis said that the project’s art budget is the "largest in the 37-year history of the city’s Art in Public Places Program." She added that it could "alter the city's art landscape, given the site's downtown location." Kings President Chris Granger said that the arena art program is an "important element of the project for team owners." Granger: "We talk about the arena being bigger than basketball, in terms of providing broad, diverse community benefits. ... We envision this as being akin to a museum, and (a place for) performance art." Willis said that the commission has "formed a nine-person panel to administer the program." The panel "contains a representative of the team ownership group." Art officials said that it is "too early to tell how many art pieces will be commissioned, what size they will be and where they will be installed." However, Willis said that she "expects several pieces to involve $100,000-plus commissions" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 5/2).
ARE WE THERE YET? Kasler & Bizjak note while "vowing the deal will get done, Sacramento officials and the owners of the Kings on Thursday postponed releasing a huge pile of documents spelling out the final deal terms" of the proposed arena. Granger said, "We are 99.9 percent done. It is just complicated" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 5/2).
