You may have walked by “Civic Stage Set,” a painted steel sculpture by artist David Bottini, many times without noticing it, colorful but unobtrusive next to Parkside Hall in downtown San Jose. These days you can’t see it at all, as the pop art piece is behind construction fencing as work continues on projects on Park Avenue.
But, at some point in the future, “Civic Stage Set” will be moving to a new home at the Children’s Discovery Museum. San Jose Public Art Director Michael Ogilvie said the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs has been working on a relocation plan for years since plans were announced for the development originally known as Museum Place.
“It is a great example of ’80s pop minimalist sculpture as well as being indicative of David Bottini’s work from that time,” Ogilvie said. The Children’s Discovery Museum location was chosen because it’s another civic site with a design by acclaimed Mexican architect Ricardo Legoretta (who also designed the Tech) that complements the piece’s modern, geometric design, Ogilvie said.
“We believe this new location will respect, honor and celebrate this artwork and invite new audiences to enjoy it into the future,” he added.
Both the Children’s Discovery Museum and Bottini — a prominent Bay Area artist who graduated from San Jose State — have been involved in the moving plan, which actually is a direct result of what happened to Bottini’s previous contribution to downtown San Jose’s art inventory.
Bottini’s “Great Planes Study VII,” a 20-foot abstract sculpture, had been displayed on Market Street since the city bought it in 1976. It was modern and not universally loved (the Chamber of Commerce apparently planted a screen of trees around it to block it from their view), but it was San Jose’s first foray into public art.
Nearly a decade later, however, when the Fairmont Hotel was being built on the site, the piece was damaged when the contractor tried to move the 7,000-lb. sculpture, and it ended up being scrapped. Nobody said anything, either, until David Allen — the city’s public art coordinator — happened to be passing by months later and noticed it was missing from its base.
Bottini — who hadn’t been told “Great Planes Study” was being moved to make way for the hotel — could have raised quite a ruckus. The city helped smooth things out, though, by agreeing to spend $25,000 to buy “Civic Stage Set” for Parkside Hall, which served as the city’s convention center at the time. And San Jose’s Arts Commission added rules to make sure artists would be informed and involved when their pieces were being moved.
That’s why the Office of Cultural Affairs made sure Bottini — who is still in the area and working on pieces for a new show — was part of this change from the start.
TALKING COVID-19: Mike Hennessy, director of Hot San Jose Nights and host of “The Car Guy Channel,” recently started opening up about how COVID-19 knocked him out this summer. “I was embarrassed and did not want to tell anybody,” he said in an email. “I feel so different about this now. I want to share my experience, support and help others.”
To that end, he’ll be appearing Saturday to share his experience as a COVID-19 survivor on Santa Clara County Supervisor Dave Cortese‘s Town Hall on Facebook Live. The event will be streamed at 3 p.m., and you can see it at facebook.com/davecortesegov.
