Santa Claritans could soon help a Los Angeles artist learn more about the local culture and history of the area for the development of artwork at the new Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
The Santa Clarita Arts Commission will look Thursday to approve proposed artist Roberto Delgado to complete a community engagement plan, which will detail his art proposal for the new facility, according to a city staff report.
The new station, currently under construction on Golden Valley Road, between Centre Pointe Parkway and Robert C. Lee Parkway, will be a two-story, approximately 45,000-square-foot building with a 4,000-square-foot service garage and helipad.
Delgado was selected among five other finalists by the Arts Selection Committee, which is made up of members of the Arts Commission, community and professional artists.
Delgado’s work, ranging from easel work to public art murals, is inspired by “the people and circumstances that I encounter, with both being an appreciation of the human figure,” according to his website. The concepts behind his proposal for the SCV Sheriff’s Station project include lobby murals hand-painted in acrylic polymer, glasswork with printed ceramic frit ink on laminated tempered art glass, and designs that show the past and present in the culture and history of the SCV community, according to his response to the request for proposals.
“The mural example would use profiles of deputies, pictures of community people representing all demographics, the District 6 insignia and Tataviam petroglyphs from Vasquez Rocks. These images are horizontally bisected by the area’s uniquely iconic Mint Canyon Formations of uplifted rock,” the RFP response reads.
To achieve this, Delgado would plan audio-visual show-and-tell and Q&A sessions with the sheriff’s station, local community centers and middle schools.
“This is not only useful as a design resource but serves to develop a sense of participation in the project, giving the youth and their families a proprietary interest in the artwork,” said Delgado. “In my exterior artwork, this has gone a long way in mitigating graffiti and vandalism.”
Should the Arts Commission approve Delgado as the artist to complete a community engagement plan, he will utilize input collected from “the engagement efforts to develop a proposal for the artwork to be installed at the station,” which will then need final approval from the Arts Commission and the City Council, the staff report said.
To learn more about Delgado and his artwork, visit titodelgado.com.
