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Pasadena, California - Public Art Archive

Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Population: 138,101
Type of Requirement: Ordinance

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Contact Information

Physical Address:
Planning & Community Development Department, Cultural Affairs Department
175 North Garfield Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Main Contact:
Rochelle Branch, Cultural Affairs Manager
Email Rochelle | 626.744.6915

Program Summary

The Code establishes that the following projects are subject to a mandatory public art requirement:

  • Commercial, industrial, mixed-use projects, and parking structures over twenty-five thousand (25,000) square feet. The floor area calculation includes parking garages;
  • In the Northwest Boundary Area: all renovated commercial, industrial, multi-family residential (three (3) units or more), mixed-use, or parking garage project with a value of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) or more; and
  • In the Downtown and Old Pasadena Redevelopment Areas: all new or renovated commercial, multi-family residential, mixed-use, or parking garage project with a value of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00) or more.

Such projects are subject to a public art allotment that is at least one percent (1%) of the new development building valuation. Depending on the type of development and location, the developer may be required to incorporate art into the project, contribute the entire fee to the City’s Cultural Trust Fund, or satisfy the requirement with a combination of artwork installation and fee contribution. See the code referenced above for specific percentage requirements of fee allocation for artwork installation.

View Ordinance


Convergence (2011). By Jon Seeman. City of Pasadena, CA, Collection. Courtesy: City of Pasadena Public Art Program