Finalists:

Click to read Artist's Statements:

Finalists:

Winner:

Call to Artist

Press Release

Last November (2014), Tahoe Public Art put out a call to artists for art in the two new Kings Beach roundabouts. 38 artist proposals were received.  Jury #1 selected 14 semi-finalists; Jury #2 narrowed that down to five finalists. The community is Jury #3, and will vote for the two winners at a Community Meeting on Thursday, March 19, 5:30-7:30pm at the North Tahoe Event Center. 

The two winners will be reviewed and approved by CalTrans before they are installed!

Don’t miss this opportunity to help decide on the permanent art in the Kings Beach roundabouts.

Tahoe Public Art is a consortium of North Tahoe Business Association, North Tahoe Arts and Tahoe City Downtown Association. Tahoe Public Art's mission is to enhance and preserve the natural beauty and history of North Lake Tahoe through visual arts that promote environmental stewardship and cultural unity. 

Tahoe Public Art goals are to 

• Create and install meaningful art across the north shore communities
• Enhance community identity and sense of place
• Seek opportunities for artists to collaborate with community organizations, public agencies and private businesses and institutions
• Establish opportunities for North Lake Tahoe youth to participate in public art projects
• Encourage artists to use local and sustainable materials
• Stimulate our local economy

Last night, March 19, 2015, more than 425 voters turned out to vote for the two Kings Beach Roundabout Art pieces! Thank you everyone who came out to choose the art!  The vote was harrowing-ly close, we were stunned to find. 

The top two, therefore the winners to go into the roundabouts, are:
Congratulations to Troy and David and all finalists--Roger Berry (KBR 3), Brett Moten (KBR 36) and Robert Stokes (KBR 14): people really appreciated your beautiful visions and were quite enthusiastic! It is fair to say the competition last night was fierce.

Stay tuned: the next step will be CalTrans approval: they are the final authority on artwork on state roadways. This will be a matter of months, not weeks, so please bear with us as we move forward and check this website for updates.

 “Swimming With Friends,” a kinetic sculpture proposed by David Boyer to be placed in one of the new Kings Beach Roundabouts, has been replaced with “Da O Wa Ga,” a sculpture proposed by Brett Moten of Infinity Forge.

The “Friends” piece was selected by the community at a public meeting last March (2015), but because of its kinetic elements, Caltrans cannot have it in the public roadway. TPA is finalizing the details of the placement of “Swimming With Friends” on private property.

“Da O Wa Ga” came in third place in that public vote, just seven votes behind “Friends“ (out of 858 total votes cast). “Leaf Sails” by Troy Corliss, the piece selected for the other roundabout, remains planned for installation. “Da O Wa Ga” and “Leaf Sails” will undergo engineering review before final approval is given by Caltrans.

Although it is disappointing to TPA to make a shift in plans, everyone is well pleased that “Swimming With Friends,” will be placed on private property, including artist David Boyer. Notes TPA Executive Committee member Steve Miller, “In the long run, North Lake Tahoe will benefit by having three pieces of public art instead of two, all of them chosen by community vote!”

The Caltrans process, which until recently was halted statewide by the agency for policy updates, is anticipated to take several months. TPA plans to update the community through its website and facebook page. Any inquiries may be sent to tahoepublicart@gmail.com.