Announcement: Public Arts Committee

The Public Art Committee serves the City Council of Sebastopol in a variety of ways, and is made up of a rotating group of volunteer community members. The PAC has been at the forefront of bringing public art initiatives to fruition, which has generated great excitement and impact to the public spaces of our local community.  “Why is art important? it kind of feeds us,” said Marghe Mills-Thysen, chair of the Sebastopol Public Arts Committee. “It’s usually nonverbal, emotional and physical. It’s about communication and connection.” 

The role and experience of public art is an important one in general, and is particularly resonant in our local community, as it is home to many wonderful practicing artists.  The Sebastopol Community Sculpture Garden opens the exhibiting of public art to a wider population, as it hosts non-commissioned “community” sculpture. It is a project that has been in the works for years as part of Ives Park master plan, and the PAC helped make it happen.  It is a very exciting achievement!

Additionally, the PAC commissioned an art installation at the front of the Sebastopol Regional Library from in-lieu dollars that come from commercial development projects in the city. Sonoma County artist Michael McGinnis was voted as the winning finalist for his large scale sculpture, "Grey Matter" placed on the exterior of The Sebastopol Regional Library. McGinnis describes the work:

"Composed of stainless steel, the work represents the mind. A library is a repository of ideas; a place for thoughts, expressions of creativity, a gathering of fact and collective knowledge and a bastion of freedom. It is a place to come to your own conclusions through informed discovery. Gray Matter is about a positive future where the mind will overcome the madness.”