AGENDA CAPTION:
Title
Consider approval of Resolution 2024-192R, approving the installation of a permanent stained glass public art piece at the San Marcos Public Library; authorizing the City Manager, or her designee, to sign any documents or take other steps as necessary to procure such installation; and declaring an effective date.
Body
Meeting date: October 2, 2024
Department: Convention and Visitor Bureau/Arts
Amount & Source of Funding
Funds Required: $20,000.00
Account Number: 12024226.56006
Funds Available: yes
Account Name: Permanent Art
Fiscal Note:
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Background Information:
This commissioned stained-glass artwork, a public art project of the Arts Commission, is inspired by world renowned artist and San Marcos native Bill Hutson's Homestead, which is a painting that stems from the artist’s memory of his family’s multi-generational property at 733 Center Street. The stained-glass art, designed by local artists Sondra Kretschmar and Kathryn Welch of River City Glassworks, will be installed at the library with council approval.
About Bill Hutson:
Bill Hutson was born in San Marcos in 1936 and spent his early years here. His father, Floyd Waymon Hutson, was a musician, and his mother, Mattie Lee Edwards, was a custodian at the Southwest Texas State Teachers College. After serving in the US Air Force and briefly studying art at San Francisco State University, Hutson moved to Europe in the 1960s and spent almost two decades there. He later worked at the National Museum in Lagos, before returning to New York. He travelled widely in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa.
Hutson taught at Ohio State University and Johns Hopkins before coming to Franklin and Marshall College in 1989, where he served as professor of painting, and Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Art, Art History, and Film.
In his distinguished career, Hutson enjoyed over twenty solo exhibitions, including the 2022 citywide exhibition titled “The Art of Bill Hutson: Homestead” which was the first presentation of his work in San Marcos. He participated in more than fifty group exhibitions all over the world.
Hutson died in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on September 21, 2022.
Council Committee, Board/Commission Action:
The Arts Commission voted in favor of the project in June 2024. The library board support letter is attached. .
Recommendation:
Arts Commission and Library Board support the project.