Coming to downtown Boise: A 23-foot-tall tree with benches and swaying pink leaves
The City of Trees is set to get another — but it doesn’t quite look like the pines and oaks you may be used to.
Commissioners from the Capital City Development Corp., Boise’s urban renewal arm, voted Monday to approve new public art to be built at the corner of 11th and Bannock streets downtown as part of a new park being built there.
They approved Gentle Breeze, an installation designed by upstate New York artist Matthew Mazzotta. The project consists of a 23-foot fake tree with dangling pink leaves that sway in the wind and benches surrounding the main tree. The fake tree will provide significant shade in the park, Karl LeClair, Boise’s public art program manager, told the commission.
The idea of the project, according to Mazzotta’s notes, is to document the “essence of slow pace.” The aesthetic is listed as an ”oasis and childlike experience.”
The tree will be put in as part of the Westside Urban Park, being built in conjunction with a 10-story office building that Boise developer Rafanelli & Nahas is putting up at the corner of 11th and Idaho streets. The park will also have public restrooms and space for bike storage.
According to the request for qualifications Boise made when it sought artists, the goal of the art installation is to create an “icon of Boise” and a landmark for the surrounding neighborhood. A committee representing CCDC, the Arts and History Department and neighbors selected Mazzotta for the job.
Gentle Breeze was one of two options Mazzotta offered. He also proposed Night Light, a large, glowing, house-shaped structure surrounded by colorful faux trees.
The city solicited public comment on Mazzotta’s options. Of the nearly 200 comments received, 121 supported Gentle Breeze, and 42 supported Night Light, LeClair told the commission. (Other comments were in favor of or against both projects.) That feedback was then shared with the community panel in charge of choosing art, which recommended Gentle Breeze to the commissioners.
Commissioner Maryanne Jordan said she thought the public process was robust, but she was concerned that an out-of-state artist was chosen for the project. Dana Zuckerman, chair of the commission, said she was on the committee that reviewed applicants, and Mazzotta was the most qualified.
“Like you, I would love to support local artists, whether they be Boise artists or Treasure Valley artists or even Idaho artists,” Zuckerman said. “There just wasn’t anybody who proposed who proved qualified to build at this scale the kind of thing we were looking for.”
LeClair said that of 46 applicants, four were local, but they lacked experience with large projects like the one expected. Mazzotta, a Guggenheim Fellow whose work has appeared around the nation, has built several projects of that scale.
Commissioner David Bieter asked if any preference is given to a local artist when selection committees have to make close decisions. Zuckerman said the decision to choose Mazzotta was not close. LeClair added that in the formal purchasing process, geographic locations cannot be favored.
The commissioners voted 6 to 1 to recommend approval, with Jordan dissenting.
The proposal will now go before the Boise City Council for final direction. The artwork is expected to be installed next spring, around the time of the park’s anticipated opening.
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