Carlsbad subcommittee advances four artists for Beach Chairs public-art project

Craddock Strobbs, Cultural Arts Manager for the City of Carlsbad and chair of the Public Art Advisory Subcommittee, opened a special meeting on May 15 to collect scores and select artists for the Carlsbad Beach Chairs temporary public-art installation.

Crystal Roa, program manager for the city’s Art in Public Places program, summarized the published rubric that guided scoring: artist statement and vitae (30 points), portfolio (40 points), public-sector experience (25 points) and schedule or value-added offerings (5 points). Over the course of the evening, the five voting subcommittee members read their rubric scores aloud while staff tallied weighted averages for all 25 qualified applicants.

Artists presented short pitches and examples of prior work. Sasha Furlan described a collaborative, community-focused chair celebrating Carlsbad history and intended to be highly interactive; other presenters emphasized mosaics, generative-print techniques, mixed media and community workshops.

After staff displayed consolidated averages, the committee reviewed the top-ranked proposals. Staff reported the current top-four ranking as Christie Beniston, Phoebe Nelson, Anna Pearson and Nolan Lee, with several other applicants placed on a shortlist for future projects. Subcommittee member Susan Berson raised a concern about representation, saying “we don’t have any BIPOC representation” among the top four and urging the committee to consider opportunities to broaden cultural perspectives in public art.

Members discussed how placement and final site selection — which will be handled with the Arts Commission under the Art in Public Places program — could influence the match between artist and location. Roa told the committee staff and the Arts Commission would work together during the next phase to recommend site selection and coordinate artist engagement.

Geeta Nasiri moved and Michelle Bridal seconded a motion to advance the top four ranked artists to prepare concepts for the project and to place remaining applicants on a shortlist. The motion passed unanimously. Chair Strobbs thanked staff and applicants and adjourned the meeting at 8:03 p.m.

Next steps: staff will coordinate with the selected artists and the Arts Commission on site recommendations, community engagement, and timelines as the four artists develop design concepts for approval.